Vauxhall And I
	Produced by Steve Lillywhite
	Released on March 14, 1994
	UK CHART POSITION #1 . . . US CHART POSITION #18
	Find it at GEMM
45451-2 cover [high resolution scan]

K ronomyth 6.0: A MAUVING PERFORMANCE FROM THE VAUXLIST. “Tell all my friends (I don’t have too many...)” Thus begins in earnest the return of the king. The Queen was dead, The Smiths with them, and Morrissey—handed the crown with Viva Hate—finally earned it here, baby. Produced by Steve Lillywhite (those words a frequent harbinger of high praise), Vauxhall And I is hands-down the best thing he’s ever done since leaving The Smiths. It is the end of a beautiful day on the beach, the cold nipping of evening creeping on sun-warmed skin, joy amid sadness, regret commingled with fond remembrance. Guitarists Alain Whyte and Boz Boorer are the perfect foils for Morrissey’s wilde and winning ways, the yin (Whyte) and yang (Boorer) that stir the boiling poet below the calm exterior. Scorned by the light, embraced by the night, Morrissey haunts the old headstones of lost friendships, loves, lives, with a grieving grace not seen since the Ferryman last came these ways or a certain romantic lad lingered at the cemetery gates. The opening moments set the stage for a brilliant parade of songs; filled with doubt and noisy uncertainty, “Now My Heart Is Full” is lifted on the wave of that line and the listener is lifted with it, back into the perfumed arms of the old days when Morrissey could bring you inside his outsider’s life with one well-placed word. Everything on Vauxhall And I flows gracefully, from the dappled delight of “The Lazy Sunbathers” to the perfect pop songs like “The More You Ignore Me,” “Hold On To Your Friends” and “I Am Hated For Loving.” It is an elegiac album, as many have pointed out, but the music never gives way to maudlin melodies, instead maintaining that bright and buoyant sound of The Smiths. As Vauxhall makes plain, Morrissey is at his best when he doesn’t get what he wants, and that (Morrissey at his best) is all we’ve ever wanted.

45451-2 gatefold sleeve

TRACK LISTING

1. NOW MY HEART IS FULL    (Morrissey/Boz Boorer)    4:57
2. SPRING-HEELED JIM    (Morrissey/Boz Boorer)    3:47
3. BILLY BUDD    (Morrissey/Alain Whyte)    2:09
4. HOLD ON TO YOUR FRIENDS    (Morrissey/Alain Whyte)    4:03
5. THE MORE YOU IGNORE ME, THE CLOSER I GET    (Morrissey/Boz Boorer)    3:44
6. WHY DON'T YOU FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF    (Morrissey/Alain Whyte)    3:20
7. I AM HATED FOR LOVING    (Morrissey/Alain Whyte)    3:41
8. LIFEGUARD SLEEPING, GIRL DROWNING    (Morrissey/Boz Boorer)    3:42
9. USED TO BE A SWEET BOY    (Morrissey/Alain Whyte)    2:49
10. THE LAZY SUNBATHERS    (Morrissey/Alain Whyte)    3:08
11. SPEEDWAY    (Morrissey/Boz Boorer)    4:30

CREDITS

MORRISSEY -- vocals
BOZ BOORER -- guitars
JONNY BRIDGEWOOD -- bass
WOODIE TAYLOR -- drums
ALAIN WHYTE -- guitars, backing vocals
Chris Dickie -- engineer
Dean Freeman -- photography
Jake -- back cover photo
Whores In Retirement -- concept
Greg Ross -- art direction

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