Vauxhall And I

Product Information

Vauxhall And I was Morrissey’s fourth solo album and is widely regarded as one of his very best, although this writer still thinks Viva Hate has the edge. The record was produced by Steve Lillywhite and features the hit single The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get. It also saw significant commercial success for the singer with the album reaching the top 20 in the US and number one in the UK. Vauxhall And I (AlbumReissueRemastered) - Discogs release: https://www.discogs.com/release/5752777-Morrissey-Vauxhall-And-I Vauxhall And I (Album) - Discogs release: https://www.discogs.com/release/9105157-Morrissey-Vauxhall-And-I Volk, Steven (7 April 1994). "Morrissey: Vauxhall and I". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 29 June 2001 . Retrieved 15 June 2020.

And then there is Morrissey himself. Probably the most crucial reason Vauxhall and I is so special is that he sounds so comfortable, charitable, and good-humored, at least for him. His downright playfulness on “The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get” helped make that song his only significant mainstream hit in the US. It’s actually tough to imagine the 2014-model Morrissey asking another human being, without irony, to “let me in”, even if doing so is to “take the easy way and give in.” Nor would it be likely, these days, to hear him advising to “hold on to your friends” at all costs because “there just might come a time when you need some.” There are hints of the bitterness and persecution complex that would color much of Morrissey’s subsequent work, but even these are good for a coy turn of phrase like “Speedway”’s “All of the rumors keeping me grounded / I never said that they were completely unfounded.” And plays the martyr. It may not mean much to us now, but when you understand where he is coming from, and what he is trying to say, it’s quite an interesting lyric. As said in the review of Your Arsenal, Morrissey was highly out of public favour in Britain at the time. Yet despite everything, he still held himself in the highest regard.Morrissey’s emotional over-enunciation takes on new dimensions on Vauxhall and I, to mixed results. “The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get” became a hit single on both sides of the Atlantic, and for reasons that are still evident: it’s a sterling pop gem, jangling yet airy, with Morrissey going the extra mile to put the “play” in wordplay. “I will be in the bar/ With my head on the bar”, he croons, grinning at his own deceptive daftness. But he’s also toying with his own public image as a sexless recluse while neatly turning the tables on his hordes of obsessive fans by lampooning the way they might feel about Morrissey himself. Vauxhall And I: 20th anniversary remastered edition and bonus live recording release information, sleeve artwork. - release information (March 27, 2014)

Another great title, another great refrain, another flurry of great couplets (“Beware! I bear more grudges/ Than lonely high court judges,” anyone?) – in short, another great single from someone who went from being a disciple of the art to one of its consummate practitioners. Ali, Lorraine (27 March 1994). "Morrissey, 'Vauxhall and I'; Sire/Reprise". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 5 December 2014. However, from then on – and with the exception of the already-mentioned songs – we are treated to a succession of slow-paced ballads that range from the interesting and poignant (“Hold on to Your Friends” and “The Lazy Sunbathers”) to the bland and incredibly self-absorbed (“Used to Be a Sweet Boy”, “Why Don’t You Find Out for Yourself” and “Lifeguard Sleeping, Girl Drowning”). Because of this, the album sounds much longer than the 39 minutes it takes to go through its eleven songs. Viva Hate, Your Arsenal, and Vauxhall And I: Limited-edition vinyl pressings to be available in the UK on 20 June - release information (June 8, 2015)In our complete guide to the solo career of Morrissey we look at one of the true godfathers of Britpop… Written by David Burke. The album's title may be a reference to the 1987 film Withnail and I. Vauxhall is an area of London noted for its gay clubs, and there is also a British car manufacturer of the same name. Dave replaces his girlfriend’s name with ‘Moz’ on his car windscreen, and later splits from ‘Karen’ when she rejects his gift of a framed record, presumably one of Morrissey’s. After the break-up the roles are reversed, with Morrissey now pursuing Dave… it doesn’t end well. The callused fingerprints of guitarist Jesse Tobias are all over this strident lead single from the majestic Ringleader Of The Tormentors. The highbrow references in the lyric mentions Pier Paolo Pasolini’s classic 1961 film Accattone (a tale about prostitution in the slums of Rome), the Italian actress Anna Magnani and Italian director Luchino Visconti, as Morrissey’s love affair with the Mediterranean outpost is fully consummated. The second single from You Are The Quarry, after Irish Blood, English Heart, The First Of The Gang To Die gave Morrissey his first brace of Top 10 hits since The Last Of The Famous International Playboys and Interesting Drug in 1989.

Without doubt the most personal album that Morrissey has been involved in since the debut album by 'The Smiths' over 10 years earlier. Although the whole London thing provides the only moments of humour on the album, they also brilliantly serve to highlight Morrisseys loneliness in his 'fish out of water' existence away from his northern roots, which only accentuates further his loss.Vauxhall And I (AlbumStereo) - Discogs release: https://www.discogs.com/release/12355178-Morrissey-Vauxhall-And-I Morrissey's second best album. When it was released in 1994, Vauxhall and I was presented as Morrissey’s final album. Of course, Moz being Moz, he didn’t follow through such promise. Then again, you couldn’t exactly blame him for making such a grand statement, given the context that gave birth to the singer’s fourth record as a solo artist. The late Tim Broad directed The Smiths’ videos Girlfriend In A Coma and Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before. For Morrissey’s debut promo as a solo artist, the video starts in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea where Moz’s nephew, Sam Esty Rayner, delivers a copy of Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince, to the singer.