Thursday, February 09, 2006

Morrissey - Vauxhall and I (1994)

Vauxhall and I is a 1994 album by Morrissey, generally considered his best. The release cemented Morrissey's success in the US, giving him a top 20 album and his first hit single with the song "The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get." This is Morrissey's second album that reached the top of the charts in Britain. The first was Viva Hate.

Vauxhall and I represents Morrissey at his most mature and reflective. Several songs see the artist commenting on his mistakes and on the course his life has taken. With its blend of guitar rock, largely acoustic ballads, and wry classic rock, Vauxhall and I stands in stark contrast to Morrissey's other work. It is distinguished by its ironic and introspective nature as well as its somber and emotional mood.

Morrissey had also recently suffered the loss of three people close to him: Mick Ronson, Tim Broad, and Nigel Thomas, which may have had the effect of giving Vauxhall and I somewhat of a funereal feel. Indeed, just two years later Morrissey acknowledged that he felt at the time that this was going to be his last album, and that not only was it the best album he'd ever made but that he would never be able to top it in the future. This has largely held true as both Southpaw Grammar and Maladjusted were received with critical and commercial ambivalence (and not-infrequent disdain), although the latter-day You Are the Quarry from 2004 sold well and was critically well-received.

The lead single off the album, "The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get" became the only song by Morrissey or the Smiths to achieve chart success in the United States, where it reached #46 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also became a #1 Modern Rock Tracks chart hit. In the United Kingdom, the song hit #8 and was the only single by Morrissey to reach the top ten during the 1990s.

The album's title appears to be a reference to the 1987 film, Withnail and I. Vauxhall is an area of London, and there is also a British car manufacturer of the same name.

1 COMMENTS:

Anonymous said...

buen disco pero donde esta la descarga¿?

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