Taking Sides: Vauxhall and I vs. Your Arsenal

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this is it: the battle only i care about. Moz's finest solo moments at war.

im going to say Vauxhall in a very close race.

― JD from CDepot, Tuesday, 30 November 2004 02:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Vauxhall smokes Your Arsenal. The YA songs were all done much better on Beethoven was Dead.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 02:54 (twenty-one years ago)

i go for YA. I think Vauxhall has higher peaks but deeper troughs.
Plus i like the Mick Ronson sheen on YA.

― gallantseagull, Tuesday, 30 November 2004 03:02 (twenty-one years ago)

i strongly disagree with your statement that these two albums are Moz's finest solo moments. Clearly, Viva Hate is perfect but that's beside the point here. i've got to say, at the time of each albums release, Your Arsenal got more air time than Vauxhall so point of release, YA wins. Vauxhall gets the prize in hindsight though on the strength of Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself alone. Often overlooked, WDYFOFY constanty creeps into my head in the same way I Don't Mind if You Forget Me did when Viva Hate was still his only full-length solo album. Vauxhall wins by a nose but your question is flawed to begin with. Viva Hate is the best Moz solo album. should i restate the entire post one more time?

― biznotic, Tuesday, 30 November 2004 03:02 (twenty-one years ago)

I did not care for the production on YA, Mick Ronson had a ripping guitar tone for the old bowie stuff, but it never arrived on this album. I think YA, is generally underwritten, and they did not really gel as a band yet. I think the writing was far better on VAI and the playing was far superior as well. The production values on that record are far more subtle and complement Morrissey far more than YA's psuedo-bombastic rock sheen.

― Disco Nihilist (mjt), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 03:14 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.oz.net/~moz/images/vauxhall.gif

Better cover, and better album.

― Mary (Mary), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 03:27 (twenty-one years ago)

bona drag

― ivy (ivy), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 05:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Seconded

― Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 05:41 (twenty-one years ago)

I'll take Vauxhall, although I do love a lot of YA. Vauxhall is fantastic. They're def. my two favourite albums, straight through.

I'm enjoying Kill Uncle lately, in spite of the bad rap it gets from everyone. It's nice and understated; i esp. like Mute Witness, King Leer, and Driving Your Girlfriend Home.

The best Moz song: Hairdresser on Fire.

― derrick (derrick), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 05:43 (twenty-one years ago)

"Your Arsenal". Never a huge fan of his solo stuff (compared to his previous band), but if I had to pick my 10 favourite Morrissey songs - at least 4 of them are on that record. The "pseudo-bombastic rock sheen" mentioned upthread is the whole point! I've never seen the man live, but Moz tearing through "Glamourous Glue" in the Gold lame shirt on SNL back in '92 is still one of my favourite television moments ever.

― J-rock (Julien Sandiford), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 06:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Viva Hate with 8 bonus tracks is his most cohesive ,I'd rather pick the singles off each album or buy a greatest hits - BONADRAG is still playable..english heart was gr8.
no smiths album had more than 3 gr8 songs so i'm not tempted to buy smiths cds but their greatest hits are nearly perfect.
i made my own cd with the best 12 smiths and hte best 12 morrisey singles - 24 tracks = 8 x great,8 x very good ,8 x good
smiths best - this charming man,morrissey's best is suedehead

― ouija boy, Tuesday, 30 November 2004 06:54 (twenty-one years ago)

----no smiths album had more than 3 gr8 songs

You don't appear to actually ENJOY Morrissey's work v much, Ouija Boy.

― Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 06:58 (twenty-one years ago)

"no smiths album had more than 3 gr8 songs"

???????

― J-rock (Julien Sandiford), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 08:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh for goodness sake, Your Arsenal is much much better. Thundering Ronno producn, glamstomp tunes and a nice bit of controversy too.

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 08:09 (twenty-one years ago)

'Vauxhall smokes Your Arsenal. The YA songs were all done much better on Beethoven was Dead.' - Ned 100% OTM

however, if it was Beethoven was Dead vs. Vauxhall And I, I would probably go for Beethoven was Dead (which is also better than Rank, but not as good as the Queen is dead...)

― Robin Goad (rgoad), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 09:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Re Ouija Boy's comment - are there actually people who out there who believe that Morrissey solo is better than the Smiths??? I suppose that there are, but it just seems so strang.

My feeling is that that they may be American, in the same way that Americans seem to prefer later St Etienne to the first 2 albums. Thats sounds like a bit of a generaliztion, but I think it has more to do with exposure and contaext than good taste vs bad taste

― Robin Goad (rgoad), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 09:43 (twenty-one years ago)

The Smiths' body of work is undoubtedly better than Moz's solo. But if they'd stayed together, I can't imagine their next album being better than Viva Hate (or their next run of singles being better that Suedehead, Ev. Day is like Sunday, Last/Famous)

― bham, Tuesday, 30 November 2004 10:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Vauxhall & I is the best album Morrissey's made since leaving The Smiths.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 12:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Again, Kill Uncle.

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 15:00 (twenty-one years ago)

I've never understood the rating of V&I over YA. "Lifeguard Sleeping, Girl Drowning" is one of the worst songs ever by anyone, and too many of the other tracks are slight on melody, though I do enjoy "Now my Heart Is Full," "Spring-Heeled Jim," "Billy Budd," and "Speedway."

On the other hand, YA contains only two throwaway, Moz-by-motions tracks ("Certain People I Know" & "You're The One For Me, Fatty") and the rest of the album is really fucking solid - and, despite what others may think, I say BWD is a drop-dead boring live album - I'd much rather listen to the studio versions.

In short, Mick Ronson good, Steve Lillywhite bad.

― Kent Burt (lingereffect), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 06:46 (twenty-one years ago)

The YA songs were all done much better on Beethoven was Dead.'
_________________________________
however, if it was Beethoven was Dead vs. Vauxhall And I, I would probably go for Beethoven was Dead

heh. I heard he was deaf, too. In any case, he's still dead.

― It's hard to kill a horse with a flute (AaronHz), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 06:55 (twenty-one years ago)

He's deaf as a doornail.

― Bumfluff, Wednesday, 1 December 2004 06:58 (twenty-one years ago)

The best Smiths CD is The Queen is Deaf.

― It's hard to kill a horse with a flute (AaronHz), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 07:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Is that the one with "Girlfriend with glaucoma" ?

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 10:45 (twenty-one years ago)

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