Well, I’m finally back in the game. I had to take a week off due to some family issues and traveling to concerts and such, but here’s a review that some of you might be into. I saw Morrissey at the Intuit Dome in LA this past weekend, and it was an incredible show. I’ve seen him lots of times, but honestly, this was the best performance so far. He pulled out all the stops and managed to play every song I really wanted to hear that night. It was a sold-out crowd, and it was surreal to hear an arena full of people singing all of those songs along with him. The crowd was extremely diverse… people of all ages and nationalities. In line, I even managed to meet a couple guys who had also traveled out from Las Vegas and were very excited to see Moz. I should also mention that Social Distortion as the opening act (which Morrissey rarely has) was also incredible. I can now say that I’m a fan of theirs as well.
As I mentioned in some other posts, I was able to see the opening night of the US portion of this current tour in Reno, and now the closing night for 2025. There are a couple make-up dates scheduled in January that are reasonably close by, so I might make the effort to secure a ticket for one of those as well. Every night is different, and if you are a fan and haven’t seen the show, I highly recommend it. As per usual, my main side quest of the evening was to secure signed copies of whatever vinyl they were selling, and I really lucked out. I was able to grab (another) Beethoven Was Deaf (this time with a beautiful, large white signature), and also a copy of The Best Of Morrissey signed the same fashion, but in red. The red ones sold out almost immediately and were primarily what I was after, so I consider myself lucky. They weren’t cheap at 250.00 a pop, but worth it for a superfan such as myself.
By coincidence, I happened across this new unofficial Morrissey release that I am going to talk about today, and I thought it lined up pretty well with the timing of the concert. A similar coincidence will take place for the next post as well, since I am going to see Zakk Sabbath on Thursday back in California. Exciting times to be sure. But what is this Morrissey Unplugged record all about? Unplugged is a single LP that comes on a cool grey marbled wax, compiling a series of “acoustic and semi-acoustic” recordings. First of all, it looks great with the classic Morrissey design and blue checkered artwork. The sleeve is high quality, and the record itself is nice and heavy. My copy was clean and flat, but I cleaned it anyway just to make sure.
According to the back of the jacket, it also claims to be a “concept album”. After listening very closely, I’m not sure that the label knows exactly what a concept album is. If you aren’t familiar, the most famous concept albums of all time would be Pink Floyd’s The Wall or The Darkside of the Moon… and to a lesser extent, the rock opera Tommy by The Who. If these disconjointed Morrissey songs told some kind of a story, I couldn’t tell what I was supposed to be about. In any case, what we do have is a record filled with great and in some cases, unusual versions of classic Moz tracks. Here are some of the highlights that stood out to me…
Morrissey Unplugged by Morrace Records
A1 Nobody Loves Us
A2 The Boy Racer
A3 I Know Very Well How I Got My Name
A4 That’s Entertainment
A5 Oh Well, I’ll Never Learn
A6 Seasick, Yet Still Docked
A7 A Swallow On My Neck
B1 Dial A Cliché
B2 It’s Hard To Walk Tall When You’re Small
B3 Safe Warm Lancashire Home
B4 Moonriver
B5 Everyday Is Like Sunday (Banjo Version)
B6 Best Friend On The Payroll (Miraval Studio Outtake)
“Boy Racer” has a full band playing, but it is technically using and acoustic guitar, so we could call this an “unplugged” version of sorts. It has a different kind of feeling to it than the standard recoded version, but it’s not radically different. “Seasick, Yet Still Docked” is kind of similar in that way. I think that people who really love the usual version will definitely find something to enjoy with this track. Many fans probably wonder what “Everyday Is Like Sunday” sounds like with a banjo, and it certainly is cool and very different. The most noticeable change is the missing keyboards, especially now that I am used to hearing Camila Grey play her lovely version of the song live with the stunning piano intro. The drums and bass guitar are still in the mix, making this a full band effort. The only real disappointment on the whole album for me is that this one cuts off a bit abruptly. It doesn’t really mess up the song, but it’s a bit startling.
“Dial A Cliché” also sounds pretty good as a stripped-down number, and there is some studio banter at the end of it as well. The album ends with another one of my favorite songs, “Best Friend On The Payroll”, which of course was originally found on the extremely costly and elusive (for vinyl collectors, at least) Southpaw Grammar. I have to say that I was looking forward to this track the most, but it was kind of a letdown compared with some of the others. It’s a nice version and it’s totally different, but I certainly prefer the original version and think there might have been better options for songs to do unplugged. Still, it’s a strong finish to an unofficial album that’s different and quite refreshing.
The pressing itself is immaculate and only has the tiniest bit of surface noise. Solid 9/10 there. There’s a lot of music on this single LP, and the price I paid was more than fair. I got lucky and saw it in a record store ad on Facebook, but I’m sure you can find a copy by doing a Google search. Morrissey Unplugged is an import, or course, and I know these are weird times to be buying anything from overseas if you are in the US like I am. If you are anywhere else, I think it might prove easier to locate a copy. The packaging and labels are high quality and look great. Especially the B Side label, so it’s a 10/10 there. The audio source quality varies by track since this is a compilation, but overall, everything is studio level quality, and I would say an average of around 8.5/10.
If you are a cultured bootleg fan such as myself and enjoy Morrissey, check back within the next few weeks for a very exciting release that should be making its way to me soon. There is a very exciting recording from this tour coming up, and the setlist is killer. Supposedly, it’s exclusive IEM audio source, so I have quite high hopes for it. I’ll also have some killer new wax from Ancient Pyramid Records that’s been making its way around the globe, and you won’t want to miss that.
I will see you in far-off places.