Morrissey – 40 Hits Collection (2008)

1. My Love Life
2. Alma Matters
3. November Spawned a Monster
4. Ammunition
5. Interesting Drug
6. Why Don’t You Find Out for Yourself
7. He Cried
8. He Knows I’d Love To See Him
9. Hold On To Your Friends
10. Piccadilly Palare
11. Yes, I Am Blind
12. Everyday Is Like Sunday
13. I Am Hated For Loving
14. Glamorous Glue
15. King Leer
16. You’re The One For Me Fatty
17. Boxers
18. Lucky Lips
19. I Know It’s Gonna Happen Someday
20. Redondo Beach
21. Let Me Kiss You
22. Seasick Yet Still Docked
23. Wide To Receive
24. The More You Ignore Me The Closer I Get
25. We Hate It When Our Friends Become Succesful
26. Come Back To Camden
27. Trouble Loves Me
28. Will Never Marry
29. Tony The Pony
30. Driving Your Girlfriend Home
31. Our Frank
32. The National Front Disco
33. Tomorrow
34. We’ll Let You Know
35. Sing Your Life
36. Certain People I Know
37. Sunny
38. Now My Heart IS Full
39. You’re Gonna Need Someone On Your Side
40. Suedehead

Dear old Morrissey doesn't make it easy for himself, does he? Always one for controversy and self-importance, his recent spat with the NME only goes to show that his love of a good fight is still as vibrant as it ever was. He'll need all that energy to convince anyone other than his legion of obsessive fans to purchase this, the fifth compilation of his career - not because of the quality of the tracks on offer but because, in all honesty, who wants these tracks that doesn't already own them? In fact, almost all Morrissey fans would be able to make this album at home for the price of just two downloads - as it conforms to the now omnipresent 'Best Of' practice of including a pair of new songs.

For the record, neither That's Why People Grow Up or All You Need Is Me are anything special, though the latter has a reckless throwabout charm that suggests his next studio release - pencilled in for later this year - will be a more than worthy successor to the tantalisingly fresh Ringleader Of The Tormentors. As for the rest, the picks reflect a brilliantly pedantic approach to a Greatest Hits package that only the archly arrogant Morrissey could have. All 13 tunes are indeed hits, with nine of them having made it into the top ten. But that emphasis on making the name an absolute truth means that some of his finer singles have been left by the wayside in favour of weaker, more recent work which probably only achieved such lofty heights because of the way singles sales have slumped.

Certainly, the brooding Irish Blood, English Heart, the bounce of First Of The Gang To Die and the dramatic splendour of You Have Killed Me are more than capable of holding their own next to the established excellence of Suedehead and Everyday Is Like Sunday, but to have discarded Alma Matters, Certain People I Know or the unholy epicness of November Spawned A Monster simply because they didn't make it as high up the charts as average offerings such as I Just Want To See The Boy Happy or the frankly lumpen Redondo Beach simply doesn't make sense.

Yet, that's why we love Morrissey, isn't it? Greatest Hits is neither the best starting point for a bequiffed novice or a true reflection of his 20 year career - instead, it is an exercise in sheer bloody-mindedness and anyone who recognises the singer for what he is: a genuinely enigmatic, occasionally cantankerous, eternally intriguing genius, wouldn't have it any other way. --Chris Long, BBC Review

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