YOUR ARSENAL by Morrissey (1992)

Musicians: Morrissey (composer, vocals) - Boz Boorer (guitar) - Spencer Corbin (drums) - Gary Day (bass) - Alain Whyte (guitar)

"After The Smiths broke up, Morrissey bounced back with the great Viva Hate, but its sound seemed to still capitalise on the style of his former band. Kill Uncle, on the other hand had been pretty underwhelming and disappointingly weak. We can hence argue that at this point in his career, it was important for Morrissey to establish himself as a solo artist, and not just live off his past reputation - which is something that no doubt he would never have wanted anyways. 

That is what primarily makes Your Arsenal so remarkable, and by all means an essential record. From the crashing sound of the opening track You're Gonna Need Someone on Your Side, we can tell that we are listening to a thundering statement, and a new world of noise opening up in the self proclaimed ringleader of the tormentors' discography.

Much of the credit for the compact sound of the album goes to the guitarist Boorer, but also Alain Whyte who also co-wrote most of the songs and gave the album a sense of swagger the likes of which are a mixture of punk bravado and jangle pop sophistication. His rockabilly influenced style gets a revisiting that had fuelled the rock and roll period of the seventies, with glam rock bands like T-Rex and Morrissey's beloved New York Dolls. For him to have worked with a key figure of that period of modern music Mick Ronson, who produced the album, must have been inspirational, and this excitement of this collaboration transpires in tracks like Glamorous Glue, Tomorrow and the delightfully quirky Certain People I Know. On that note, it comes as no surprise that Bowie covered I Know It's Gonna Happen.

But apart from the sound, and his usual meticulously studied vocal antics that make his voice so unique and highly regarded, Your Arsenal exhibits some of the things that were lacking in Kill Uncle and which we have come to expect from Morrissey since he burst out into the scene; a penchant for lyrics. Intelligent, occasionally funny and constantly provocative, to the point of controversy like the well known one regarding The National Front Disco which gave him the unlikely reputation as a skinhead sympathiser (not to mention We'll Let You Know which was somehow seen as a hooligan sympathising anthem by people unable to think outside the box), lines like 'I used to dream and I used to vow, I wouldn't dream of it now' strengthened his legacy as one of the most interesting lyricists that ever graced the pop music scene.

Your Arsenal is such a strong album that it is impossible to clearly pick out a stand out track. It's diverse but compact, and thus makes for a very rewarding listen throughout. Its pictorial nature both confirmed and renewed the figure of Morrissey in modern music and ensured him a success and ongoing legacy, but what is even more remarkable is that he did so by being consistent and not selling out like many others did."

Tracklist: You're Gonna Need Someone on Your Side (Morrissey / Mark E. Nevin) - Glamorous Glue (Morrissey / Alain Whyte) - We'll Let You Know (Morrissey / Alain Whyte), The National Front Disco (Morrissey / Alain Whyte) - Certain People I Know (Morrissey / Alain Whyte) - We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful (Morrissey / Alain Whyte) - You're the One for Me, Fatty (Morrissey / Alain Whyte) - Seasick, Yet Still Docked (Morrissey / Alain Whyte) - I Know It's Gonna Happen (Morrissey / Mark E. Nevin) - Tomorrow (Morrissey / Alain Whyte)