5. “Tomorrow” – Morrissey
(From the album Your Arsenal)
1992
While Morrissey’s early solo career had been successful and he had shown he could thrive outside of his partnership with Johnny Marr, his more recent solo career was causing doubt he could maintain that success. After ending his writing partnership with Stephen Street Morrissey had struggled to find a new partnership that worked for him. Morrissey had struggled to work with Langer and Winstanley and his work with Mark E. Nevin had largely been lackluster. So Morrissey had moved in a new direction, hiring real rockabilly musicians as his new backing band and beginning a songwriting partnership with guitarist Alain Whyte (and later with his other new guitarist Boz Boorer as well) that resulted in the excellent album Your Arsenal. Produced by David Bowie’s former guitarist Mick Ronson Your Arsenal is the perfect blend of rockabilly, glam, and Morrissey’s own jangly pop past. It was a tougher, harder sound for a new decade, yet one that perfectly suited Morrissey’s voice and lyrics, while also not rejecting his past work. The music Alain Whyte creates for Morrissey on Your Arsenal perfectly uses the past to reframe the present, a perfect sound for Morrissey who has always loved to draw on the imagery and iconography of the past as a way to frame his music. Your Arsenal is full of excellent songs. The album opens with the hard rocking “You’re Gonna Need Someone On Your Side” (one of two songs written with old writing partner Mark E. Nevin but given a toughness and rawness by Morrissey’s new band and Ronson’s production that was desperately missing on Kill Uncle) which is the heaviest song Morrissey had ever released to this point. Your Arsenal also features the glam/rockabilly stomp of “Glamorous Glue” and the snappy rockabilly of “Certain People I Know”, the humorous rush of “We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful”, the jangly pop of “You’re The One For Me, Fatty”, and the prog-rock meets Sinatra balladry of “I Know It’s Gonna Happen Someday” (famously covered by Bowie). Indeed, there isn’t a weak track on Your Arsenal. However, all of these ideas and sounds and styles are brought together on the album’s final track and superb third single “Tomorrow”. “Tomorrow” feels like it draws on all of these disparate influences and styles and Morrissey makes them all work together and makes them his own. “Tomorrow” is the summation of Your Arsenal and this phase of Morrissey’s solo career, finding the partnership between him and Whyte and Ronson working together to make one of the finest pieces of music that Morrissey ever would release.
Follow all the posts at the Alternative Reality site: www.alternativealbumsblog.wordpress.com
Alternative Reality: An Alternative Music Blog 