Morrissey - Viva Hate (re release) (Mar. 26, 2012)

Should have gone the whole hog and renamed it "Education In Reverse".

 

The song that will replace Ordinary Boys is dreadful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pW8VYO1L_Y

And Ordinary Boys is a great song, guess Moz is happy knowing nothing.

 

Or Viva Hate -now with xtra hate!

 

I bet you think it's very clever to be cruel.

 

I think he should call it 'Drawn To The Deep End II'.

 

It's weird that he makes all of these changes to his original albums. At least in this instance, Viva Hate is the easiest of all of his releases to find (I'm talking vinyl), so you can just go pick one up for pretty cheap. However, he made several albums that were only available on vinyl in the UK. So if he messes up the track order and artwork on those, then it's almost as disappointing as never releasing them in the first place.

I was happy with the Bona Drag reissue. The artwork was at least similar, and the added tracks were on side D so you could take them or leave them. It was a double LP and sounded very good. And while I like the extra line in one song, I wonder why he edited another.

At least I have all of the original albums so I don't have to worry about it. But as a collector I probably would have bought them. But now, I don't think so.

 

This is essentially a Beatles forum, so imagine this: Macca re-releases "Abbey Road" this year and drops "Because" from the track list, replacing it with the '69 version of "Ain't She Sweet".

I mean, it's not like the old version is gone, right? I think you know what the reaction would be.

AFAIC, "Viva Hate" is what it is, and I like it that way. It's over 20 years old. If he hadn't messed with it, I probably would have bought the re-release. But now he's lost at least one sale.

 

What was edited on the recent Bona Drag? I know Piccadilly Palare got back it's 'missing' verse.

 

This has nothing to do with the fact that Ordinary Boys remains on original pressings. I get that. It's all about revisionism. Morrisey wants to re-write history. Why not go nuts and excise some of the lame/spotty songs from countless albums of yore. It's a slippery slope. Going back to an earlier posters Beatles analogy (and no, I don't agree that it's a Beatles forum): I personally think Obla-Di-Obla-Da and Maxwell's Silver Hammer suck big time, but I can't imagine either of those albums without those crappy tracks because someone loves them. That's why we skip tracks. Don't tinker with history, you'll disrupt the galactic timeline.....

 

Actually it's a Macca forum, at least this week.

 

I think Morrissey is a pretty easy target. I mean, it's hard not to think that, although much of his early solo work was pretty good, it's still far below the quality of the Smith's best stuff. That said, at least Morrissey really tries to live up to the legend and puts his neck out there. I mean, I notice there are very few people demanding a deluxe reissue of "Boomslang."

 

Ouija Board, Ouija Board is edited so that it goes straight from the solo to "well, she has now gone..." Totally excised the portion with his first name being spelled out.

They have yet to confirm whether or not this version of Treat Me Like A Human Being is indeed the same as the version released with Glamorous Glue last year. If so, it is really egregious to replace a track on a studio album with a demo of poorer audio grade mid-album. While Fantastic Bird was recorded three years prior to Southpaw Grammar, at least it was a formal studio take and not a scratchy demo.

It's all been so haphazard - it would have made more sense to put Striptease with a Difference and Born to Hang on the Bona Drag reissue and put Please Help the Cause Against Loneliness and Lifeguard on Duty on the Viva Hate reissue. There's enough disc space so, at the minimum, why not the contemporary B-sides at least? Or the STUDIO version of Safe, Warm Lancashire Home? I can't tell if it's willful perversity or apathy.

He would do well to leave Vauxhall & I alone.

 

Striptease With A Difference is a great song... I heard it was junked from the bonus disc of the 'Suedehead' best of (along with the alt. mix of Born To Hang and everything else) because he supposedly hates the song.

I honestly thought he'd leave things alone after the Southpaw Grammar and Maladjusted reissues, as these were two albums that took a bit of a kicking first time around, I assumed he just wasn't happy with them. The original Bona Drag is the best Morrissey CD one can buy (including Smiths) so I was surprised to see him take liberties with the original flow of the compilation... but as a compilation rather than a real album, I could just about understand why he could expand on Picadilly Palare... The version that previously appeared could have been something of a single edit from a scrapped album that never appeared, hence the unedited version this time around (I dunno).

Messing around with the likes of Viva Hate is where things start to get really weird, especially as The Ordinary Boys is a good song and by no means one of the weakest.... why not Bengali In Platforms or Dial-A-Cliche? Why not just leave them all alone? Also, it's head and shoulders above Papa Jack and Roy's Keen from the original Maladjusted... worrying.

I kind of assumed he wouldn't touch the other 'classic' albums (perhaps not even bother with Kill Uncle, after all, the b-sides are crap too), or would he?

 

I'll stick with my original LP release

 

yes you are correct. Morrissey is an easy target. While his solo stuff is not quite as good as the Smiths, it is still great.

One thing is for sure - it is on another planet better than anything Johnny Marr has put out since the Smiths demise. Even thou electronic's first album was good.

 

Perhaps the re-issue of Viva Hate will be edited so that Margaret On The Guillotine now plays as David On The Guillotine to make it more relevant in 2012?
Did the press release say anything about this?
If he is so keen on rewriting history perhaps he can pretend he has written the song now.

 

I think you hit the nail on the head. It's marketing to the younger, "Ed Hardy" tattoo obsessed kids.

Yuck.

My orig Sire cd sounds very, very good. I'm not expecting any improvement from the remaster. Good luck to Morrissey, though. I hope he wins new fans.

 

No no -- it's marketing to his HUGE HUGE HUGE contingent of latino / Mexican / South American fans. Who are probably his biggest audience these days.

 

I got the CP32 last year and it sounds great! It is definitely a unique mastering and sounds better than the domestic CD. No Hairdresser on Fire, though.

 

Yeah, after writing that last post, this fact definitely occurred to me. Not to derail the topic of the thread, but I've often wondered what it is about him that's so appealing to this segment of his fan base. It's kind of an interesting cultural phenomenon.

 

I always figured it was because he offered things that traditional latino culture suppresses, especially in males.

 

You're both wrong - it's marketed at fans of 'From Genesis To Revelation' and those of 80s kids show Knightmare.

 

Here's an interview with Street about the reissue. http://louderthanwar.com/stephen-street-exclusive-interview/

If anyone has heard the Blur remasters, please let us know about the sound. I'm not sure if I have high hopes on Stephen Street's "Remastering" ability...

The thing that ticks me off is that Morrissey's taken out a big chunk of "Late Night Maudlin Street" according to Street.

 

OK, well, i'm just going to stop reading this thread.

 

Great interview and terrible idea.

I know, right?