The last time Morrissey released two good solo albums, (Your Arsenal and Vauxhall And I), he followed up with the slightly disappointing Southpaw Grammar; therefore expectations of how he would follow up the return to form of You Are The Quarry and the more personal Ringleader Of The Tormentors were mixed.
Luckily Years of Refusal is up there with the best of his solo records. As usual the album is full of wonderful lyrics with lines such as “it’s a miracle I even made it this far” (‘Something Is Squeezing My Skull’), “I was a small fat child in a welfare house” (‘All You Need Is Me’), and “Life is nothing much to lose” (‘Mama Lay Softly On The Riverbed’) being particularly notable. Of course, no Morrissey album would be complete without his take on unrequited love, with “only stone and steel accept my love” (‘I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris’) and “but there is nothing I can do to make you mine” (‘Black Cloud’), being particularly misanthropic.
Musically, the album takes in everything from the glam rock of ‘Your Arsenal’ on Something Is Squeezing My Skull, to mariachi style horns & guitar on ‘When I Last Spoke To Carol’, and on the typical Morrissey epic ‘It’s Not Your Birthday Any More’ he effortlessly out-bombasts the Killers. Simply put, this is another excellent Morrissey album.