46 minutes, 16 seconds

Morrissey
Viva Hate

Music critics looking for a shorthand way to refer to Morrissey inevitably seem to come up with some variation of "the prince of loneliness" or "brooding crooner" or some other pastiche of words in the "depressing," "sad," and "melancholy" category. And, sure, he's all those things. But he's also clever and funny. So many of his songs, dating back to his days with the Smiths, display a preponderance of corrosive wit that outweighs (or at least leavens) his darker, more lamentational (some would say whiny) side. I mean, how can you listen to, say, "Vicar in a Tutu" or "King Leer" and fail to hear the humor?

Anyway, Viva Hate, from 1988, was his first solo album, following the breakup of the Smiths. I can't decide whether I like it a little better than 1992's Your Arsenal, which was also a very strong group of songs. Viva Hate is probably also among the more sonically adventurous of his solo albums, thanks largely to Durutti Column's Vini Reilly and his distorted, manic guitar arpeggios (check out "I Don't Mind If You Forget Me" to hear what I'm talking about.)

Morrissey has enjoyed something of a revival recently, and as I write this he's in the middle of a long tour to support his most recent album, Ringleader of the Tormentors. I've kept up with him faithfully, but it's funny to imagine him maintaining this pace. He's never seemed like one of those pop stars who'd be keeping at it in his 60s. Have you heard "Get Off the Stage," a B-side to the Piccadilly Palare single?

Also today:

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46:15 Lush, Gala
46:14 The Retrosic, Prophecy
46:13 Gaping Chasm, Fragments of War
46:13 Weihan, Galder
New arrival! 63:48 Bipol, Ritual