Bona Drag

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Released in February 1988, the NME said: “It makes you feel vulnerable and provokes emotions you’ve forgotten about.” On the whole, Morrissey’s post-Smiths career could hardly be called prolific – 13 studio albums in all, some of variable quality. However, when he’s good, he’s great – especially on the aforementioned Viva Hate and Vauxhall And I, alongside 2004’s You Are The Quarry. The name recognition that Morrissey garnered from his time with the Smiths afforded him the luxury of an unorthodox approach to his early solo career. After the release of Viva Hate, the Moz resolved to temporarily abandon the full-album format in favor of releasing a string of non-album singles. None of those singles were intended for inclusion on a studio LP, but the artist's commitment to the idea wavered when he had trouble filling out the full-length follow-up that would eventually become Kill Uncle. This led to the release of Bona Drag, which collected all of Morrissey's early singles and B-sides (including those associated with Viva Hate) and added one entirely new single in "Piccadilly Pilare". The end result not only serves as the best introduction to Morrissey's early solo work, surpassing the comparatively uneven Viva Hate, but gets my vote as one of the best compilation albums of its era. At No.3 in the UK, it was his highest-charting single ever along with Irish Blood, English Heart. Read more: This Is Morrissey review Only For The Brave

MORRISSEY: He asked me what kind of LP I wanted to make, and I said, “One people would listen to for a very long time,” and he said, “Oh, all right then,” as if I’d asked him to put the cat out. It then moves to the streets of Fairmont in Indiana, the boyhood home of James Dean. It features the film star’s school and the cemetery where he’s buried alongside footage of Rebel Without A Cause. I don't agree with those critics who castigate both Morrissey and The Smiths for being depressing. Sure the lyrics are caustic and despondent but the underlying attitude is one of resolve and resignation whilst retaining a sense of humour about the absurdity of it all – and all wreathed in the jangliest of guitar sounds. Interviewed by Stuart Maconie for Q magazine on the release of Vauxhall And I, Morrissey asserted it was: “The best record I’ve ever made”. All these years later, he might just be right. Whatever the reasons for the Smiths’ demise in 1987, eyebrows were arched at the prospects for an enduring Morrissey solo career without the musical nous of Johnny Marr. Yet, 34 years on years on from the release of Viva Hate, Moz continues to confound the critics – occasionally appearing to go out of his way to piss them off – by metaphorically waving his gladioli for perennial outsiders everywhere.Plagenhoef, Scott (15 October 2010). "Morrissey: Bona Drag[20th Anniversary Edition]". Pitchfork . Retrieved 15 October 2010. Of course, the presence of the Midas-blessed Steve Lillywhite on production doesn’t hurt – nor does the uncredited presence of the then Mrs Lillywhite, Kirsty MacColl, on B-sides, Used To Be A Sweet Boy and I’d Love To, which is every bit the equal of The More You Ignore Me…

Dingwall, John (18 April 2006). "The Worst Lyrics in the World..Ever – The Daily Record". Daily Record. Archived from the original on 9 June 2011 . Retrieved 10 February 2015. While _Bona Drag_ is listed as a compilation, it certainly feels like a new Morrissey solo studio record; its high quota of singles lends it its strong, well-written, and well-rounded flavour. Musically and sonically it can be most closely filed under "indie" or "jangle pop," but really it has its own unique and attractive sound. Morrissey’s final album of the new millennium’s first decade would also be producer Jerry Finn’s swansong – he died of a brain haemorrhage shortly after recording was completed. It’s not a bad legacy to leave, as he oversaw a set that is equal parts amusing and acerbic – staple Morrissey, in other words – and somewhat concerned with issues of mortality. Stephen Street’s services were dispensed with on Morrissey’s transitional second solo full-length. With Boz Boorer yet to be employed, the singer turned to Fairground Attraction’s Mark Nevin. An odd couple for sure, with Nevin later admitting that he felt frustrated at times by Mozzer’s working methods. And yes, that’s an Italian children’s choir augmenting The Father Who Must Be Killed, The Youngest Was The Most Loved and At Last I Am Born with beautiful innocence, on an album high on ambition but strangely low on customary lyrical genius.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.