"I Am Not A Dog On A Chain" released (March 20, 2020)

I Am Not A Dog On A Chain - tagged articles
I Am Not A Dog On A Chain - tagged reviews
Please note: for fans of reviews, the above tag will update as new reviews come in and is a good way to check any you may have missed.

Morrissey's 13th solo studio album being recorded was first mentioned in SER's interview with Morrissey June 24, 2019 and then formally announced November 28, 2019.
It was recorded at Studio La Fabrique in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France and additional work (like Thelma's vocals) was done at Sunset Sound in Hollywood, California. It was produced by Joe Chicarelli who stated about his 4th Morrissey album:

“This is his boldest and most adventurous album yet. He has pushed the boundaries yet again - both musically and lyrically.
And once again proving that as a songwriter and singer, he is in his own category.
In truth, no one can be Morrissey but… Morrissey!”


The official Morrissey mailing list email from March 20 cites the following reviews in its promotion:

"PRAISE FOR ‘I AM NOT A DOG ON A CHAIN’

“Morrissey delivers his best music in years” - AP*
"His best album in years." - NME
"As great as anything he has ever written." - THE TELEGRAPH
“A mature work, the album stands apart in his catalog, displaying a hard-fought air of confidence that defies his roots in misery.” - RIFF MAGAZINE
"Hungry, tenacious & valid" - XS Noise
“Arguably his strongest collection in years.” - Louder Than War Magazine
"Ideal quarantine record.” - The Post Millennial
“An 11 track outing which quite frankly is one of his best albums to date... it sees him in fine form, with witty and acerbic lyrics, and a rich baritone voice that appears to be actually getting stronger the older he gets." - Wall Of Sound"

(*AP = Associated Press)


Album promotional poster (Leeds):

( clever.swine / IG)

The main 3 formats available today:
(Clear vinyl, 'Test Presses" & cassettes haven't been sighted yet).

( Denisc1 / IG)

There is no matrix message on either version of the above vinyl.

The front cover art is credited, again, to Liam Lynch (using an image by Christopher Stewart of Morrissey at Manchester G-MEX, December 22, 2006).
The rear cover is by John Fekner and is described on his site as:

"In the summer of 1980, John Fekner stencils Broken Promises, Falsas Promesas, Decay, Broken Treaties, Last Hope and Save Our School on the walls and buildings of Charlotte Street in the South Bronx. The message of the Charlotte Street Stencils focuses on pointing out the deteriorating conditions and issues that plagued the community since the 1960s. Fekner’s main purpose is to bring attention to inadequate housing, poor services and deplorable social problems that afflicted the neighborhood residents for decades."

For a gallery of this project and further details - please see: here.

For the liner notes and lyrics - see: here.

The initial assertion that the red vinyl was 'indie' record shops only changed later to include HMV - who are selling all 3 formats above.

More reviews are expected and please see the tag link to follow them as they come in.

Regards,
FWD.

 

[GodEmperorMorrissey]

excellent, sweetheart! here we go...
View attachment 55252

Mine should be arriving sometime today. I'm pretty excited. I just got the black vinyl though but that red looks nice?

 

[herge65]

Just had my first play...! Wow! Pure Moz but new and reinvigorated! It feels wonderfully retro in parts yet fresh and groundbreaking in others. I’m 54 and can identify quite strongly with a number of tracks. Immediate stand out moments for me are I Am Not A Dog On A Chain, My Hurlung Days Are Done and the sublime, The Secret Of Music...!

I need to play it again right now! This will be on repeat for the foreseeable future while I unearth it’s treasures! Lots more to discover here!

This man is obviously not going anywhere soon!

Viva Moz!

 

[BookishBoy]

Can anyone offer an explanation as to what maybe happened between LIHS and IANADOAC? (Putting CS to one side, even though I enjoy lots of the songs on it.) LIHS is pretty much crap apart from two or three songs, whereas IANADOAC is pretty much brilliant apart from two or three songs.

I guess in a way it's similar to Kill Uncle being followed by Your Arsenal?

 

[Uncleskinny]

This man is obviously going nowhere soon!

Err...what?

 

[Bluebirds]

Strong opener.

 

[Anony]

Can anyone offer an explanation as to what maybe happened between LIHS and IANADOAC? (Putting CS to one side, even though I enjoy lots of the songs on it.) LIHS is pretty much crap apart from two or three songs, whereas IANADOAC is pretty much brilliant apart from two or three songs.

I guess in a way it's similar to Kill Uncle being followed by Your Arsenal?

I thought the music on High School was actually pretty great. It was largely ruined by the words. Creepy sexual stuff or misguided socio-political commentary. Even the song titles were awful. 'When you open your legs', 'In your lap' etc. Yuck!
So now we have great music again but with non-creepy/cringy lyrics.

 

[herge65]

Err...what?

People have speculated that this may be his last album. I’m saying that he’s obviously still got lots to give!

Maybe it’s a Yorkshire phrase? ?

 

[agent]

Err...what?

Did you buy it, though?

 

[Bluebirds]

The title track is hilarious

 

[That's Enough For Me]

6 full listens in and the top 3 tracks are:

1. Once I Saw The River Clean
2. My Hurling Days Are Done
3. Jim Jim Falls

 

[Roman Holiday]

It stinks to high heavens. I gave it a 1 out of 10. There are a few decent songs on it (My Hurling Days Are Done, The Truth About Ruth, What Kind of People Live in These Houses?) but when the intro to the first track played, I wasn't sure if I was listening to a Morrissey album or if a Spotify glitch had re-directed me to the Prodigy. The nadir of Morrissey. This electro-disco-rave stuff is awful beyond measure. Sometimes it pricks the mind to consider how early deaths like Marilyn Monroe and Kurt Cobain spared them the indignity of age, corruption, and dementia.

 

[That's Enough For Me]

It stinks to high heavens. I gave it a 1 out of 10. There are a few decent songs on it (My Hurling Days Are Done, The Truth About Ruth, What Kind of People Live in These Houses?) but the fact that when the intro to the first track played I wasn't sure if I was listening to a Morrissey album or if a Spotify glitch had re-directed me to the Prodigy marked the nadir of Morrissey for me. This electro-disco-rave stuff is awful beyond measure. Sometimes it pricks the mind to consider how early deaths like Marilyn Monroe and Kurt Cobain spared them the indignity of age, corruption, and dementia.

Did you want him to sound like one particular era indefinitely?

Personally, I felt he was in dire need to change it up and he's been brave, albeit not to everyone's taste.

 

[Roman Holiday]

It's possible to change things up without going in for a sound redolent of disco balls and drum machines.

 

[That's Enough For Me]

It's possible to change things up without going in for a sound redolent of disco balls and drum machines.

Yes, of course it is, but that's not what every song sounds like.

 

[Roman Holiday]

It's more than 2/3rds, and while "The Secret of Music" does not hold to that description, it's certainly no better. It would be accurate, I think, to say that the predominant sound of this record is "electro-dance."

He could very well have twerking dancers in a video at this point. But unlike when Nick Cave did it, it would not be ironic.

 

[GodEmperorMorrissey]

Can anyone offer an explanation as to what maybe happened between LIHS and IANADOAC? (Putting CS to one side, even though I enjoy lots of the songs on it.) LIHS is pretty much crap apart from two or three songs, whereas IANADOAC is pretty much brilliant apart from two or three songs.

I guess in a way it's similar to Kill Uncle being followed by Your Arsenal?

I don't agree with your analogy because I love Kill Uncle but I think all the media attacks and our crumbling society invigorated his muse. I still think LIHS is a good album though, especially the singles

 

[That's Enough For Me]

It's more than 2/3rds, and while "The Secret of Music" does not hold to that description, it's certainly no better. It would be accurate, I think, to say that the predominant sound of this record is "electro-dance."

He could very well have twerking dancers in a video at this point. But unlike when Nick Cave did it, it would not be ironic.

I understand.

I had tired of wilting Indie Moz. I never liked pub rock Moz and in fact I haven't liked a huge amount of his output since Southpaw.

This is new (for him) it's fresh, it's upbeat but it still contains classic moz sentiment and therefore, I like it.

Agree on the Secret of Music though.

 

[Roman Holiday]

I don't agree with your analogy because I love Kill Uncle but I think all the media attacks and our crumbling society invigorated his muse. I still think LIHS is a good album though, especially the singles

Well, it's good to know that not only do you insult Morrissey with your macho alt-right fandom, but that your taste in his music is to prefer his absolute worst. There's some kind of consistency there.

 

[GodEmperorMorrissey]

Yes, of course it is, but that's not what every song sounds like.

Him and a few other trolls on here just wanna shit on this day but the power of Morrissey's new record outweighs their gamma behavior

 

[Roman Holiday]

#kinggamma