MP3: Morrissey – “Maladjusted” from Maladjusted (Expanded Edition) out now on Island (UMG).
The 1997 album, produced by Steve Lillywhite, has been re-sequenced by Morrissey and remastered, adding several b-sides and ditching two songs (“Roy’s Keen” and “Papa Jack”). Packaging includes a new cover, a 24-page booklet, a new essay by Morrissey, and rare photos.
This was during my Morrissey blackout period, so I might actually have to pick this up…
Let’s say you’re like me—an XTC fan—and you meet someone who’s never heard of the band. Where to begin? With so many stellar albums to choose from, it’s tough to recommend the one where novices should start with.
It’s at this point where I’m resigned to recommend starting with the very same record that turned me into an XTC fan, Black Sea, an album so near-perfect that you’re most assuredly going to delve deeper into the band’s catalog after listening to it.
Black Sea marks the end of their “drums and wires” period, the culmination of the quirky guitar pop of their first three albums. With each album, they got better and Black Sea shows the perfection that all of their rehearsing and touring provided.
