In a prior review, I confessed my love and nostalgic feelings for all things The Smiths. Originally, by extension, I also became a solo Morrissey and solo Johnny Marr fan. At this point, I can comfortably view all of these entities as totally separate, which seems the ideal thing to happen when a band breaks up. To this day, almost 40 years later, Morrissey and Marr are still touring, and still making great music. Hopefully, it will be welcome news to some of you that I have some more fantastic unofficial releases from the early days of The Smiths that will eventually be making their way to this site in review form. Cue the anticipation!
I was lucky enough to see Mozzer this past week at the House of Blues in Vegas, and it was truly an amazing show. This was on the final night of a four-night residency, and he and the band showed absolutely no hint of slowing down. Just a few days later, they announced an extended tour starting in October. If you are a Morrissey fan, I assure you that attendance is a no-brainer. If you are a fan of The Smiths and have not yet taken the dive into Moz’s solo work, it’s a great opportunity to become a Morrissey fan. The band he’s touring with are all great musicians, but lead guitarist Carmen Vandenberg was a real standout to me in live performance. You can and should check out her band BONES UK, as well as her work with the late, great Jeff Beck.
The concert had all kinds of cool merch available, of course, but the real standout was the new LP which just came out a couple weeks ago. You’ll notice that one of my copies in the photos is signed. I was able to pick that up at the show, as Moz signed about 100 to sell at the booth each night. These sold out almost immediately at every show, so tactical planning was the order of the day. When the dust settled, I managed to get a couple of them over the course of different nights. His signatures can go for well over 1,000 USD, so paying 250.00 USD at the merch booth seemed like a real score to me.
But what about the actual album, which is the subject of this review? Well, this is a re-issue of Morrissey’s 1993 solo album Beethoven Was Deaf. This is a live recording, captured in Paris (and probably London) right around the time his album Your Arsenal came out. There are 16 tracks on the album, which is quite a lot for single LP. The original record is a bit sought after and can easily run well into the 150.00 USD plus range. Since this is a great show, I was very happy to see a re-press.
Live Recording – Le Zénith De Paris – Paris, France 22nd December, 1992
A1 You’re The One For Me, Fatty
A2 Certain People I Know
A3 National Front Disco
A4 November Spawned A Monster
A5 Seasick, Yet Still Docked
A6 The Loop
A7 Sister, I’m A Poet
A8 Jack The Ripper
B1 Such A Little Thing Makes Such A Big Difference
B2 I Know It’s Gonna Happen Someday
B3 We’ll Let You Know
B4 Suedehead
B5 He Knows I’d Love To See Him
B6 You’re Gonna Need Someone On Your Side
B7 Glamorous Glue
B8 We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful
I don’t have an original to compare this re-release to, but really, it’s quite nice. This is a single LP that comes in a gatefold jacket. The photos are great, the printing is high quality, and I do like the new cover. I have seen some people complaining about the fact that the original artwork wasn’t reused, but what’s the fun in that? You can get the record on either orange or black biovinyl, and it’s also available on CD as well. I got (several) orange copies and recently purchased a black one, but it hasn’t arrived yet.
What is biovinyl? Apparently, it’s produced with “renewable energy and recycled raw materials, such as cooking oil or industrial waste gases”. My limited research has also indicated that biovinyl is supposed to have the same acoustic properties as conventional vinyl. As far as visuals are concerned, mine pretty much looks like a standard orange record. It is translucent if you look closely enough, and it is a nice weight. The orange version comes with a cool orange hype sticker which touts the new artwork, the re-mastering (which was done at Abbey Road), and of course the amazing biovinyl material.
Outside of a vague sense of pride that I’m doing my part to save the planet, there was no discernable difference between this waste-gas special recipe orange record and any other orange record I have. It’s nice and flat with no visible defects and was clean right out of the jacket. I still cleaned it anyway, of course, and was excited to give it a spin. There’s no distracting or unwanted noise, so that’s always a great start.
After listening, I have to say that everything sounds incredible. The only issue I can find is that there are a ton of tracks jammed on here, and it might have been better to make this a 2 LP set. As it is, the record is definitely quiet compared to what I normally listen to, so you might have to crank the volume to get it to where you want it to be. I couldn’t find a single unwanted or invasive pop or crackle, which is impressive for a modern record made of any material.
Overall, I would rate this a 10/10 on packaging and production. This is a well-made, great looking gatefold jacket, and the colored vinyl also looks cool. If having ecofriendly material to press the music on means something to you, then that’s also a plus. Audio wise, this is a solid 9/10, with the only issue being the low volume. If you are just getting into Morrisey as a solo artist, I think this is the record to get. It’s a live show, but the crowd isn’t overwhelming at all, and a bunch of great hit songs are here. Also, this is a brand-new release, so it won’t be hard to find. The orange vinyl itself seems a little scarce in the US, but the black copies are abundant. You can get the black issue for less than 30 dollars at the time of this writing. If you want the orange though, you might have to import it, which should be in the 45-50 USD range. In any case, pick up a copy and VIVA MOZ!