Review Summary: Get out your pitchforks and torches! Here comes a positive Morrissey review. *gulps*
Let's address the elephant in the room before we begin. Morrissey's recent political opinions have been ill judged and at odds with the majority of his fanbase. His support of the right wing, anti-Muslim 'For Britain' party was repugnant, while certain soundbites such as his assertion that Chinese people "are a subspecies" certainly haven't helped either.
It's a huge shame that Morrissey won't stop shooting himself in the foot, because 'I Am Not A Dog On A Chain' is literally his best album since 1994's 'Vauxhall and I'. No need to beat around the bush or reel around the fountain here. This LP is an absolutely fantastic return to form. Not that it will matter for the hoards of people he's turned away with his tone deaf comments.
All artists have to go through an obligatory electronica phase if they last long enough in their career, and so it is here for Morrissey with this album. Let's just pause a moment and throw that back out there. An electronica album. From Morrissey. It sounds like a really terrible idea on paper, as those are two things that don't really seem to pair together. But bizarrely, they actually do.
Channelling the pulsing post punk electronica of Depeche Mode, Morrissey sounds fresher and more vital than he has done for a very long time. Tracks like the lead single 'Bobby, Don't You Think They Know' and 'Once I Saw The River Clean' have a pristine dance groove to them, something that has rarely been seen on a Morrissey record. Other thrumming electro efforts such as opener 'Jim Jim Falls' and 'Love Is On It's Way Out' offer up obscene amounts of catchiness in a more dynamic fashion than his usual style.
Even the more traditional Morrissey moments such as 'What kind Of People Live In These Houses' and the title track and shot through with alluring arrangements and slick lyrics. Speaking of lyrics, you'd be forgiven for thinking that a record entitled 'I Am Not A Dog On A Chain' would be full of vengeful wrath and vitriol. Especially because it's Morrissey we're talking about here. But surprisingly, his righteous indignation is pretty much limited to only the title track. Even then, it's not particularly harsh, merely expressing how mainstream media manipulates people's thought process. There are many more harshly worded, vitriolic songs contained on 2004's 'You Are The Quarry' than there are here.
There isn't much in the way of negative things to say about this album. Which is odd because even Morrissey's best works have the occasional misfire on them. Here everything just seems to tick along very nicely. Even the eight minute rhythmic dirge of 'The Secret of Music' is hypnotically satisfying. The album flows extremely well and the song quality is kept consistent and high. The weakest song is easily the piano led 'The Truth About Ruth', but even that adds something meaningful by way of variety.
It's a weird situation when a modern pariah releases something so good. But there's no denying it. Morrissey has knocked this recording out of the park. If you can divorce the man's politics from his art, then 'I Am Not A Dog On A Chain' is Morrissey back to his very best.
