“THE SPIDERS FROM MOZ” – 30 YEARS OF ‘YOUR ARSENAL’

27 July 2022

He arrived on stage dressed in black and opened with a song from a long-lost era.

Morrissey chose ‘We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful’ to launch his recent residency at The Colosseum in Las Vegas.

Thirty fathoms ago that track was the debut single from his ‘Your Arsenal’ record.

Released on 27 July 1992 ‘Your Arsenal’ would climb to four in the UK charts and 21 in the US Billboard 200.

 The album’s most significant position, perhaps, was the place it had in reviving Morrissey’s solo career.

Madchester was in full swing and Britpop emerging. Morrissey was outside of both scenes and outside of everything else for that matter.

Five years on since the split of The Smiths, Morrissey releases were becoming subject to more and more ridicule from the weekly music press.

Melody Maker described ‘Your Arsenal’s’ lead single as ‘feeble’ with a damning and dismissive review. To them Morrissey had become ‘self-parody’ with ‘charisma covered in fluff’.

‘Your Arsenal’ was Morrissey’s third studio LP following ‘Viva Hate’ (1988) and ‘Kill Uncle’ (1991).

The album offered a more physical, rockier sound with glam rock and rockabilly elements.

For me, ‘Your Arsenal’ is the Morrissey album that has everything,

Some of his greatest lyrics, his most immense love songs – ‘Seasick Yet Still Docked’ – thumping great singalongs ‘You’re The One For Me Fatty’ and ‘We Hate It…”

The record has the most driving guitar work of any Morrissey album. There’s glorious movie clips between songs, within songs and blurred over songs.

There’s an over-obsession with the word ‘Gonna’, there’s songs of hope, joy and heartache. There’s hilarious humour. There’s a haunting piano outro. There’s feedback and football hooligans.

And I always thought ‘I Know It’s Gonna Happen Someday’ was one of the most magnificent odes to mental heath ever put down on record.

‘My love wherever you are, whatever you are, don’t lose faith. I know it’s going to happen someday.’

There’s pop, glam rock, politics and an anti-racist song ‘The National Front Disco’ – which in some quarters was deemed controversial based purely on its title.

If the influential weekly music press had daggers out, the quality magazines still held Morrissey dear despite reservations about his future…

“There comes a point in many major artists’ careers where they have to make an album of some significance or the game is up. Morrissey is exactly at that point.” – Q Magazine, Sept 1992.

‘Your Arsenal’ was produced by Mick Ronson – a multi-instrumentalist, producer, arranger and songwriter from Hull.

He achieved critical acclaim and worldwide commercial success with David Bowie’s Spiders From Mars, Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and Elton John.

The fact that Ronson was able to transform Morrissey’s sound was even more remarkable given he was seriously ill while he worked on the album.

Barely a year after the album’s release Ronson would be dead from cancer aged just 46.

“Mick Ronson saved ‘Your Arsenal’ and by extension, he saved me” – Morrissey, 2013.

“Mick Ronson is Morrissey’s ideal producer” – wrote Q Magazine in its appraisal of ‘Your Arsenal’.

“His glam background matches Morrissey’s 70s fixation, giving it a beefy sound with sparingly used power chords…”

New songwriting partner Alain Whyte contributed eight songs to the album while Mark E Nevin created the music for two tracks – ‘You’re Gonna Need Someone On Your Side’ and ‘I Know It’s Gonna Happen Someday’.

Alain Whyte’s influence cannot be underestimated at this juncture in Morrissey’s sound.

‘Saved’ from a job in environmental services at Camden Council, Whyte was suddenly propelled to Morrissey’ songwriter in chief.

Whyte was a 24-year-old rockabilly weighing in with ‘We’ll Let You Know’, ‘Seasick Yet Still Docked’ and should’ve-been-a-massive-hit ‘Tomorrow’.

‘Your Arsenal’ kicked off with angst ridden guitars of ‘Your Gonna Need Someone on Your Side’.

A cacophony of noise – like a Batman chase scene –  the perfect foil for Morrissey’s lyrical lifeline to a friend in need.

There was no let up to the glam rock with ‘Glamorous Glue’ and its attack on London, Tories and what was once dear old Blighty.

The rockier sounds of the album soon made way for delicate moments with ‘We’ll Let You Know’, ‘I Know It’s Gonna Happen Someday’ and one of Morrissey’s greatest ever songs ‘Seasick Yet Still Docked’.

Scottish fan Gordon Frew was 18 when the record came out.

“I bought the album on release day. I was a second year apprentice desperate to part with my cash for Morrissey’s latest release.

“I don’t think I could believe the album. The stomp and pomp of the opener, the Bowie-esq ‘Glamorous Glue’, then boom ‘We’ll Let You Know’ with his great lyrics coupled with the football crowd noise straight into the pile-driving ‘The National Front Disco’.”

The US, UK and European tour dates to support ‘Your Arsenal’ saw hysterical scenes in theatres and arenas.

And if Morrissey was under attack at home (I could write an essay about Finsbury Park but we’ll leave that for another day) he was simply loved overseas.

US Fan Tiffany was 16 in the summer of 1992.

“I bought ‘Your Arsenal’ on tape the morning it was released. It was so different from ‘Kill Uncle’ – a much more gritty album with new band members creating a sound that thrilled me. Morrissey sounded so perfect, older, confident and snarky.

“I loved that Morrissey was using himself as the cover art. Another sign of his ever-growing confidence.

“One Sunday night, while visiting my auntie, we were watching MTV. ‘Tomorrow’ came on and I just started sobbing watching Moz and the boys in black-and-white looking so cool.”