Morrissey - Revelation

by Anthony Strutt

published: 26 / 3 / 2010

Label: Piccadilly
Format: LP

intro

Vinyl only and unofficial collection of both impressive and disappointing unreleased late 80s and early 90s tracks from Morrissey

‘Revelation’ is something of a rarity and, while at one level a bootleg, this vinyl release is of importance as it includes nine unreleased songs which come from the periods of Morrissey's first three solo albums, ‘Viva Hate’ (1988), ‘Kill Uncle’ (1991) and ‘Your Arsenal’ (1992). Only one that was given to Sandie Shaw for her 1988 Rough Trade album, ‘Hello Angel’, has appeared in any form before. It has been doing the rounds since last November and has the rather expensive tag of £20. ‘Striptease with a Difference’ is a strong early Morrissey solo number, quite heavy on the piano and sounding a lot like latter-era Smiths. ‘Please Help the Cause Against Loneliness’ was the song given to Sandie and, having a ‘A Town Like Malice’ groove but musically sounding a lot like ‘November Spawned a Monster’, plods a bit. ‘Fantastic Bird’ is a full-on and hands-in-the air rockabilly number which finds Morrissey in cheerful mood. It is something like ‘Another Girl, Another Planet’ in places.‘You Should Have Been Nice to Me’ which ends the first side is reflective, slow and elegant. The second side only has five tracks but still the whole album comes to a mere 25 minutes in total. ‘Lifeguard on Duty’ again is a hands-in-the-air sing-a-long number, a track which the Smiths might have done, and, very upbeat and bubbly, is a song that only Morrissey could have got away with. ‘Happy Lovers Unite’ is a head bopper, mid album filler really. ‘Born to Hang’ is odd, lyrically decent, but quirkily like a mid-80’s Rolling Stones. ‘Oh, Phoney’ is again heavy on piano, a song for the lonesome, which could have again been written by the Smiths. ‘Honey, You Know Where to Find Me’ is the last track and the album is worth buying for this alone as it is absolutely brilliant, a great, heartfelt, lonely and anthemic number. ‘Revelation’ really needs to grow on you as a record and will be both loved and hated by Morrissey fans.

Track Listing:-

1 Striptease With A Difference
2 Please Help The Cause Against Loneliness
3 Fantastic Bird
4 You Should Have Been Nice To Me
5 Lifeguard On Duty
6 Happy Lovers United
7 Born To Hang
8 Oh Phony
9 Honey You Know Where To Find Me

Band Links:-

http://www.true-to-you.net/
http://www.morrissey-solo.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morrissey
https://www.facebook.com/Morrissey
https://twitter.com/morrisseysolo

profiles

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Autobiography (2013)

live reviews

Capital FM Arena, Nottingham, 13/3/2015

Anthony Strutt watches Morrissey, despite promoting his album from last year ‘World Peace is None of Your Business’ which is now impossible to buy, play an impressive set at the Capital FM Arena in Nottingham on his first UK tour in four years

Wireless Festival, Hyde Park, London, 27/6/2008

MEN Area, Manchester, 22/5/2004