Morrissey "Years of Refusal"

All the heavy lifting of his comeback finished, Morrissey settles into a robust middle age on Years of Refusal, an evocation of his thick Your Arsenal sound that doesn't feel like a conscious re-creation -- rather, this just is who Moz is, an old brawler who refuses to hang up his gloves or settle a grudge. The sound remains the same but the songs don't quite: although this is also produced by Jerry Finn, this isn't the deliberate revival of You Are the Quarry all sharp edges and metallic sheen, the better to rope in the young emo kids who came of age after Maladjusted, nor is it the gentle prog pretensions of the Tony Visconti-produced Ringleader of the Tormentors. Years of Refusal is comfortable in its settled nature, in its roaring guitars and swaying melodies, sometimes ratcheting up the aggression -- especially so on the tight, compacted opener, "Something Is Squeezing My Skull" -- but often just riding along, assured in its might and wit, never feeling the need to change for change's sake. Nothing here is surprising, of course, but Years of Refusal is a full-bodied, full-blooded album that also happens to be fully realized -- even if it is on a rather modest scale.

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Track Listing:

1) Something Is Squeezing My Skull
2) Mama Lay Softly on the Riverbed
3) Black Cloud
4) I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris
5) All You Need Is Me
6) When Last I Spoke to Carol
7) That's How People Grow Up
8) One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell
9) It's Not Your Birthday Anymore
10) You Were Good in Your Time
11) Sorry Doesn't Help
12) I'm OK by Myself