The perpetual and principal problem revolving around the concept of a greatest hits album is that no one is really ever pleased with the project. There are two specific complaints at work here: 1) the album lacks certain tracks that said fans deem as necessary and crucial or 2) the entire effort is a ploy to have the fans buy yet another compilation album filled with music they already own in other formats. Granted, there are always attempts to spice up the release: new songs are added, unreleased B-sides are included, and live concert footage is tacked on inside a bonus DVD. And just because these are attractive options that tend to entice even the most cynical of music fans to make the purchase, the consumer is still aware of what’s just happened.
So, when the illustrious Morrissey, acclaimed solo artist and former frontman of the inimitable ‘80s rock band The Smiths, announced that he was issuing forth a new greatest hits record, there was a bit of an outcry, mostly because there have only been two records - 2004’s You Are The Quarry and 2006’s Ringleader Of The Tormentors - since his last “career-spanning” effort. This version of the Greatest Hits, Moz’s first on his new record label Decca, depends rather heavily upon those two recent releases and suffers a bit for it, as over half of the tracks (eight of fifteen) come from those two (excellent) albums. The disappointing result is that the entire endeavor is off-kilter. Moreover, out the remaining seven songs, two are new (“That’s How People Grow Up” and “All You Need Is Me” are both high-quality songs) and one is a Patti Smith cover (“Redondo Beach”), causing the other four to disproportionately and unfairly be reflective of the earlier two-thirds of the singer’s memorable career. Admittedly, all of the older songs chosen were UK Top 20 singles, giving them great credibility and cause for inclusion here, but it would be negligent of this particular Morrissey fan to bemoan the absence of classic Moz cuts like “Do Your Best and Don’t Worry,” “November Spawned A Monster,” or “We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful.” Yes, it’s impossible to please everyone all the time, but when an artist with Morrissey’s stature, history, and fan base deems his entire corpus worthy of a new Greatest Hits album, it had better be more than outstanding.
-- Adam P. Newton [May 5, 2008]
