Meat is Murder
Riding the tidal wave of praise brought on by their monumental self-titled 1984 debut, The Smith’s sophomore effort, bearing the very obviously vegetarian-minded Meat is Murder, debuted at a surprising but somewhat expected #1, becoming their only album to reach that lofty position in their short career. But their only #1 album is also their weakest, especially in comparison with the twin landmarks of their debut and the following year’s The Queen is Dead, but not necessarily because the music is always inferior; its weaknesses are analyzed and realized only after listening to the whole thing from beginning to end, as Morrissey’s frequent descent into either terminally adolescent melodrama or, especially in the case of the failed, uninspired anti-meat rhetoric of the title track, an even blend of self-pity & protest, which is most certainly not what he has ever been suited best for. One can easily get the impression from the fine pseudo-rockabilly experiment “Rusholme Ruffians”, the dramatic yet energetic “Nowhere Fast” or the tense “Headmaster Ritual”, which come before the record’s weakest moments towards the end, that this is a great follow-up to a fantastic first outing, but when songs like the uneven “What She Said”, the almost disco-fied faux-funk (as played by contemporaries ABC) of the seven-minute, anti-capital punishment rant “Barbarism Begins at Home” or the overly cutesy-sounding “Well I Wonder” roll around, the flaws of Meat is Murder become readily apparent. It’s hard to tell whether or not it was a mistake for Sire, the band’s US label, to put the mini-masterpiece and American dance club hit of a single that is “How Soon is Now?” in the middle of the record (the middle? where did that idea come from?): as a plus, that’s one less six-plus minute song when listening to the original nine-track UK edition, as this reviewer did, which makes the pace seem much better without the grand total of three songs over the six minute line you’d have with it on there; on the other hand, when listening to the now-standard ten-track issue with the song, it also makes for a truly brilliant song on an album that has a few of The Smith’s great songs, but not enough of their brilliant classic singles, and perhaps boosts its credibility while making it easier to ignore the other two overwrought long numbers. As for the title track, which no doubt was intended by outspoken animal rights advocate Morrissey to be a revelation and a harbinger of change for carnivorous guys & gals ’round the world, it ends up being disappointingly trite, especially the monotonous refrain of some variant of “And *insert meat-related activity here* is MURDER!” throughout and unnecessary bookends of the simulated sounds of bovine cries & butcher’s blades. The message is fine, even if this reviewer personally doesn’t agree with it, but the overwrought performance and, almost sadly, overly melodramatic vocals by a singer known for lifting melodrama from terminal adolescence make it a failure and a self-absorbed protest that won’t be making most listeners turn vegan/vegetarian in this day & age, where we hear this sort of message all the time and have become numbed to it. And Morrissey’s overwrought vocalizing becomes a problem quite often, even at times on the great ballad “That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore”, and that only further mars Meat is Murder. Aside from that, it’s a well-produced, all fine & good album, but it should have been as absolutely fantastic as it could’ve easily been.
- Release Date: 1985
- Rating:
TRACK PICKS: “The Headmaster Ritual”; “That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore”; “Nowhere Fast”
