The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, December 07, 1989, Image 6
— Page 6 The Battalion Thursday, December7, ( THE GRAPEVINE 201 Live Oak College Station, TX 77840 Behind La Quinta 696-3411 mv Morrissey stands alone Insightful lyricist goes solo after The Smiths’ breakup By Andrew Gardner SfiCCDrSlEimu:^ Of The Battalion Staff Alterations • All kinds of alterations in ladies and men’s clothing • Adjustments in new dresses, pants, coats, shirts, etc. • Custom made dresses for ladies, out of patterns • Fast service Professional quality Reasonable prices Free estimates Mo appointment needed 300 Amherst College Station (Off Southwest Pkwy) 764-9608 Monday-Friday 9-6 p.m. Morrissey “Viva Hate" Sire Records Oh so alone. Steven Patrick Morrissey, lead singer for the now-defunct Smiths, stands alone. He has gone solo since the breakup of The Smiths, but more significantly, he stands alone in spirit and in the skillful way he expresses this stance in his music. Since launching his solo career, Morrissey has released an album and two maxi singles. He is now recording a second album, which has no set release date. With its melancholic outlook, Morrissey’s mu sic continues in the tradition of The Smiths, and yet it is thoroughly original. From the wailing electric guitar in “Alsatian Cousin” to the string interludes in “Angel, Angel, Down We Go Together” to the classical guitar in “Margaret on the Guillotine,” the most striking aspect of “Viva Hate" is a musical variation that was not achieved by The Smiths, a four-piece band. Although the melodies on “Viva Hate"are not as upbeat as those of The Smiths, the essential contrast between despairing lyrics and pleasant tunes still remains: the songs’ deeper truths un dermine an outward show of “normalcy.” The music, somewhat simpler than Johnny Marr’s brilliant tunes for The Smiths, serves mainly as a tool to carry and set the mood for Morrissey’s wonderfully insightful messages. On “Viva Hate,” Morrissey continues to decry what he perceives as the sad spiritual state of the world. “The Ordinary Boys” chronicles the sad tual state of modern society and Morrisse, jection of it. “Ordinary boys,” he says.areli knowing nothing / happy being no one soothes those who stand alone: “you werey ferent / you had to say no / when those fools / tried to change you, and claim you.. The significance of his words is refreshing next to most of the pop music that gets airplay, music that Morrissey abhors. In “Panic,” a Smiths tune, he says, “Hang the DJ... / because the music they constantly play / says nothing to me about my life.” In “Bengali in Platforms,” the fourth of the generous thirteen tracks, Morrissey advises, “Bengali / oh shelve your Western plans / and un derstand / that life is hard enough when you be long here.” But Morrissey himself belongs only in a super ficial sense. He writes music for those like him — those who are alone and yet do not want to be part of the empty world they resent. Oh so alone. For the existentialists, this alouenessisar mon bond that allows humans to reach outit another. For Morrissey, however, itisstrioi isolating factor, a chasm between the sight of an ordinary boy and his own percep.. Morrissey cut three tracks for eachofliii singles, The Last of the Famous Intern® Playboys and Interesting Drug. The music sounds like a move backtowaii sound of The Smiths and away from theg emotive, varied tunes on “Viva Hate". Martd inated The Smiths’ sound, and without hist; cal genius, trying to recapture that sound! dangerous move. Still, Morrissey continues to express thee view he has espoused since the beginning^ singing career. His message is just as strong in these works as it was with The Smiths, and as: doubtedly w ill be in his next album. Morrissey sparks an uncharacteristic of hope, however, in “Margaret on theGuI ne,” the last track of “Viva Hate". Although “kind people" who “haveasvoti ful dream... / make me feel so tired,"he seeches them in the last lines of the sob change the world, to “make the dream real" Until they do, Morrissey will remaino: alone in spirit and in the quality of his artists pression. TEXAS AGGIE CREDIT UNION Aggies Helping Aggies No Minimum Balance Checking-With Low $5.00 Monthly Service Charge No Service Charge Checking-With $500 Mimimum Balance Low Interest Auto Loans Signature Loans & Other Collateral Loans-With Loan Officer Approval Money Market Accounts and High Interest CD's Available Studenk£oan Program «7 ^ A The Choice Is Yours— Support Your Fellow Students Through Membership in YOUR TEXAS AGGIE CREDIT UNION By Of j F Mot EM sho out weii Hot toll thes For j Fixa A E la 01 m ed tir ca th is When you have a selection of free glasses as larg as ours,you need a coupon this big. 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