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Morrissey / “Vauxhall and I”: 20th Anniversary Definitive Master

By Paul Sinclair

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Morrissey‘s 1994 solo album Vauxhall And I will be reissued in June, just four months after Parlophone Label Group re-released its 1992 predecessor Your Arsenal.

Vauxhall And I will be a two-disc set, although the previously unreleased concert which is included (Theatre Royal, London 1995) is a bonus CD rather the DVD that came with Your Arsenal. This ’20th Anniversary Definitive Master’ thankfully appears to leave the album proper well alone, with nothing removed, no new mixes and no dodgy four-track demos inserted into places they don’t belong!

Despite this, Morrissey still can’t resist ‘tweaks’ to the front cover, changing the typefaces, removing the quotation marks around ‘Vauxhall And I’ and adding a horrible red square Parlophone logo, bottom right. The latter is like a splat of blood drawing unwanted attention to itself and rather spoiling the beauty of the matinee-idol front cover image with its soft pink hues.

Vauxhall And I was Morrissey’s fourth solo album and is widely regarded as one of his very best, although this writer still thinks Viva Hate has the edge. The record was produced by Steve Lillywhite and features the hit single The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get. It also saw significant commercial success for the singer with the album reaching the top 20 in the US and number one in the UK.

The reissue will be available as a one-LP heavyweight vinyl record as well as the two-CD deluxe edition.

Vauxhall And I is reissued on 2 June 2014.

2CD Deluxe Edition (2014 remaster)

Vinyl Edition (2014 remaster)

Track listing

Disc: 1

  • 1. Now My Heart Is Full (2014 – Remaster)
  • 2. Spring-Heeled Jim (2014 – Remaster)
  • 3. Billy Budd (2014 – Remaster)
  • 4. Hold On To Your Friends (2014 – Remaster)
  • 5. The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get (2014 – Remaster)
  • 6. Why Don’t You Find Out For Yourself (2014 – Remaster)
  • 7. I Am Hated For Loving (2014 – Remaster)
  • 8. Lifeguard Sleeping, Girl Drowning (2014 – Remaster)
  • 9. Used To Be A Sweet Boy (2014 – Remaster)
  • 10. The Lazy Sunbathers (2014 – Remaster)
  • 11. Speedway (2014 – Remaster)

Disc: 2

  • 1. Billy Budd (Live At The Theatre Royal Drury Lane)
  • 2. Have-A-Go Merchant (Live At The Theatre Royal Drury Lane)
  • 3. Spring-Heeled Jim (Live At The Theatre Royal Drury Lane)
  • 4. London (Live At The Theatre Royal Drury Lane)
  • 5. You’re The One For Me Fatty (Live At The Theatre Royal Drury Lane)
  • 6. Boxers (Live At The Theatre Royal Drury Lane)
  • 7. Jack The Ripper (Live At The Theatre Royal Drury Lane)
  • 8. We’ll Let You Know (Live At The Theatre Royal Drury Lane)
  • 9. Whatever Happens I Love You (Live At The Theatre Royal Drury Lane)
  • 10. Why Don’t You Find Out For Yourself (Live At The Theatre Royal Drury Lane)
  • 11. The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get (Live At The Theatre Royal Drury Lane)
  • 12. National Front Disco (Live At The Theatre Royal Drury Lane)
  • 13. Moon River (Live At The Theatre Royal Drury Lane)
  • 14. Now My Heart Is Full (Live At The Theatre Royal Drury Lane)

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17 Comments

17 thoughts on “Morrissey / “Vauxhall and I”: 20th Anniversary Definitive Master”

    1. Pretty sure that’s it for the reissues because Southpaw and Maladjusted were reissued in 2009 with new artwork and track tinkering. Unless he decides to change them around yet again….maybe My Early Burglary Years could be reissued though?

  3. People should really listen again to the 3 most recent Morrissey releases, Quarry, Ringleader, and Refusal. They are absolutely brilliant imo, and sold really well here and USA. Moz certainly considers them to be his best work as revealed in the book. Fabulous.

  4. I’m pleased as punch I needn’t choose just one. As with all the artists I love most, the best is a variable based on what is bringing me to the artist at a given time – which is usually a given song rather than an album anyway. There are so many from every period. That said, I’m sick to the back teeth of Jesse Tobias as his chief collaborator. I miss the Boorer/Whyte era a lot.

  5. Vauxhall and I is quite rightly considered his best album and for me that includes anything by The Smiths. Like most great albums it has a consistent feel that makes even the lesser tracks essential.
    Viva Hate, in contrast, is a mixture of the sublime and the mediocre. The great b-sides from the Suedehead and Every Day is Like Sunday singles should have been on the album.

    Fedge’s comment sounds like somebody who couldn’t be bothered and as a result missed out on a lot of great songs throughout the 1990s.

    I agree that b-sides would be pointless on this release as they have been available on CD for years. The price could be more generous though.

    1. Yes, brilliant track, although my personal favourite is “Why Don’t You Find Out For Yourself”. One thought, instead of messing around with the typography, wouldn’t this reissue have been cool with no words on the front cover, just that superb shot of Mozza. It’s strong enough on its own, really.

  8. Huge sigh of relief from me on this one.

    I can take the ‘blood-splat’ Parlophone logo, and even quite like the new type-face (looks like they’ve colour matched it to his eyes). The key thing for me is that I’m finally going to be able to get ‘Vauxhall and I’ on vinyl – without butchered track-list (a la ‘Viva Hate’) or ‘what-the-hell was-he-thinking’ artwork (see ‘Kill Uncle’). And if this sounds anywhere near as good as the ‘Your Arsenal’ vinyl reissue I’ll be a very happy man indeed.

  10. Really looking forward to this, certainly one of my favourites especially tracks like Now My Heart Is Full and Speedway. Bit disappointed that Speedway is missing from the setlist, but I have read that Shoplifters that was played after was marred (no pun intented) by stage invasions so maybe Speedway was the same. 4 of these tracks were released on the b-sides to the Boy Racer, and sound great and really please to see a live version of Jack the Ripper, one of his (many) great b-sides. I did think the “Introducing Morrissey” DVD may have been packaged with this, but maybe that will be released separately.

  11. This is still my favourite, but possibly because t just sounds like The Smiths. The sound quality on these reissues has been excellent in my view, despite the bizarre editing of some of the tracks. This is the last one to be reissued isn’t it? Southpaw and Malajusted came out in those repackagings a few years ago…

  12. I don’t agree with you, fedge.
    Viva Hate is surely his best, but lots of things by Moz that came after are significant.
    This album is one of those.
    IMHO, of course.

  13. Depending on price, this might just about be worth it for the live CD, but as always with Moz, pointless tinkering has taken the place of creating any kind of “definitive” edition, that could easily have included the accompanying single B-sides, and even the non-album “Interlude” and “Boxers” tracks whcih came shortly afterwards…

    “V&I” tends to get the plaudits as Moz’s “best” album, as it’s the one that comes closest to the sound and quality of songwriting of The Smiths, though I tend to agree that the whole “Viva Hate”/”Bona Drag” era saw him really come across as someone trying to prove a point creatively in a way he’s not really matched since…

    1. Since the massive (and cheap) “Hmv / Parlophone Singles 88-95” compilation did cover the 62 singles & B-Sides tracks from “Suedehead” to “Sunny” , I do prefer to have an unreleased live CD from the era.

  14. I agree with you Paul — Viva Hate is his best “solo” album, it its original, non-tweaked version. This due to Vini Reilly. After Viva, I disconnected, feeling Morrissey had said all he needed to, the rest being largely unnecessary.

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