Years of Refusal

Recording for the album commenced in late November 2007 and ended in late December in Los Angeles at Conway Recording Studios. An additional track for the album was recorded in late May according to drummer Matt Walker.[http://moderndrummer.com/md-blogs-archive/300001321/Matt%20Walker] {{webarchive |url=https://archive.today/20110714110106/http://moderndrummer.com/md-blogs-archive/300001321/Matt%20Walker |date=14 July 2011 }} Keyboardist Michael Farrell left the band prior to the album's completion so Morrissey recruited Roger Manning to fill in. Manning previously played on Morrissey's 2004 album You Are the Quarry. Manning had this to say about the recording of the album:

{{cquote|I've spent over six weeks recording with Morrissey and his incredible band for what will hopefully become his latest solo effort later this year. Producer Jerry Finn and I have had a long fun filled history together in punk pop heaven with groups like Blink-182 and found ourselves both being invited back for our second Morrissey album. I think fans will be pleasantly surprised by this new solo offering. It was all tracked live which added a great punk, garage, DIY urgency to the tracks. I am so used to recording keyboards in the more traditional overdub scenario that being asked to invent parts "on the fly" and track with the band while Morrissey sang live was a very refreshing and challenging experience.{{cite web |url=http://www.kittyradio.com/community/threads/roger-joseph-manning-jr-jellyfish-air-beck-new-album.37901/ |title=Roger Joseph Manning Jr ( Jellyfish, Air, Beck) New Album | Kittyradio |date=12 February 2008 |website=Kittyradio |access-date=17 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217074658/http://www.kittyradio.com/community/threads/roger-joseph-manning-jr-jellyfish-air-beck-new-album.37901/ |archive-date=17 February 2015 |url-status=dead}}|}}

In an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live with Tony Visconti, the producer stated that his new project would be "the next Morrissey album", though that this would not be forthcoming for at least a year. However, in an interview with the BBC News website in October 2007, Morrissey said that the album was already written and ready for a possible Autumn 2008 release. In December, Morrissey signed a new deal with Decca Records, which included a Greatest Hits album and a newly recorded album to follow in Autumn 2008.{{cite web |url=http://true-to-you.net/morrissey_news_071203_01 |title=Morrissey Signs to Decca | True to You |website=True to You |access-date=17 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217074314/http://true-to-you.net/morrissey_news_071203_01 |archive-date=17 February 2015 |url-status=dead}}

It was announced in November 2007 that Jerry Finn, the man behind Morrissey's 2004 album You Are the Quarry, would be producing the new album instead of Tony Visconti.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1047448/morrissey-eyeing-new-album-2008-tour |title=Morrissey Eyeing New Album, 2008 Tour | Billboard |last=Nagy |first=Evie |date=2 November 2007 |magazine=Billboard |access-date=17 February 2015}} A reason for the change was rumored to be related to Kristeen Young, Morrissey's opening act at the time, and Visconti's supposed involvement.

On 30 May 2008, true-to-you.net posted the following on Morrissey's 2008 album:

{{cquote|Morrissey's new studio album Years of Refusal is now complete, and is set for a September release by Polydor UK (Universal). It has yet to be decided which Universal label will release the album in the US. Years of Refusal has 12 tracks and is produced by Jerry Finn.{{cite web |url=http://true-to-you.net/morrissey_news_080530_01 |title=Years of Refusal: New Album Information; Southpaw Grammar: Remastered Version Details; Ireland Festival and Concert Dates | True to You |date=30 May 2008 |website=True to You |access-date=17 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141210154921/http://true-to-you.net/morrissey_news_080530_01 |archive-date=10 December 2014 |url-status=dead}}| }}

Featured tracks "That's How People Grow Up", "All You Need Is Me", "Something Is Squeezing My Skull", "Mama Lay Softly on the Riverbed", "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris" and "One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell" were all debuted on Morrissey's 2007–2008 Greatest Hits tour.

Of the 12 tracks, current guitarist Boz Boorer wrote four{{cite web |url=http://www.adam-ant.net/bozb.html |title=Boz Boorer Interview |website=Adam-Ant.net |access-date=17 February 2015}} and former guitarist Alain Whyte wrote five.{{cite web|url=http://www.indie1031.com/7504_JJ_-_media.php?id=14 |title=Indie 103.1 FM – Jonesy's Jukebox Media Page |website=Indie 103.1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080902031606/http://www.indie1031.com/7504_JJ_-_media.php?id=14 |archive-date=2 September 2008 }} The remaining three tracks are Jesse Tobias compositions. Though he wrote nearly half the songs on the album Whyte did not participate in the recording. Years of Refusal marks the first time since 1992's Your Arsenal that Alain Whyte has not performed on a Morrissey album.

The photo on the album cover for Years of Refusal is a portrait by Jake Walters. The baby pictured with Morrissey is Sebastien Pesel-Browne, who is the son of Charlie Browne, Morrissey's assistant tour manager. Sebastien's mother met Charlie at a Morrissey concert in Boston.{{cite web |url=http://true-to-you.net/morrissey_news_081205_02 |title=Years of Refusal: Album Cover Artwork and Information | True to You |date=5 December 2008 |website=True to You |access-date=17 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217073402/http://true-to-you.net/morrissey_news_081205_02 |archive-date=17 February 2015 |url-status=dead}}

It was later announced that 23 February 2009 would be the new release date for Years of Refusal. Finally, in a press release from Universal Music it was announced that the final release date for the album would be 16 February 2009 with the first single, "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris", preceding the album a week earlier on 9 February 2009.

Years of Refusal reached number 3 in the UK Albums Chart.{{cite web |url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/_/morrissey/ |title=Morrissey | Artist | Official Charts |website=Official Charts |access-date=17 February 2015}}

{{album ratings

| MC = 79/100{{cite web |url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/years-of-refusal/morrissey |title=Reviews for Years of Refusal by Morrissey – Metacritic |website=Metacritic |access-date=17 February 2015}}

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/years-of-refusal-mw0000807674 |title=Years of Refusal – Morrissey | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |website=AllMusic |access-date=17 February 2015}}

| rev2 = The Guardian

| rev2score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/feb/13/morrissey-years-of-refusal |title=Morrissey, Years of Refusal | Music | The Guardian |last=Petridis |first=Alexis |date=13 February 2009 |website=The Guardian |access-date=17 February 2015}}

| rev3 = Mojo

| rev3score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite journal |date=March 2009 |title=[Years of Refusal review] |journal=Mojo |page=104}}

| rev4 = NME

| rev4score = 8/10{{cite web |url=http://www.nme.com/reviews/morrissey/10089 |title=NME Reviews – Album Review: Morrissey | NME.com |last=Thornton |first=Anthony |date=18 February 2009 |website=NME |access-date=17 February 2015}}

| rev5 = The Observer

| rev5score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite news|author=Garry Mulholland |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/feb/15/morrissey-years-of-refusal |title=The Observer review |work=The Guardian|date= 15 February 2009|access-date=2013-02-28 |location=London}}

| rev6 = Pitchfork

| rev6score = 8.1/10{{cite web |url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/12640-years-of-refusal/ |title=Morrissey: Years of Refusal | Album Reviews | Pitchfork |last=Ewing |first=Tom |date=3 February 2009 |website=Pitchfork |access-date=17 February 2015}}

| rev7 = Q

| rev7score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite journal |date=March 2009 |title=[Years of Refusal review] |journal=Q |page=90}}

| rev8 = Rolling Stone

| rev8score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/years-of-refusal-20090205 |title=Morrissey Years of Refusal Album Review | Rolling Stone |last=Hermes |first=Will |date=5 February 2009 |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=17 February 2015}}

| rev9 = Spin

| rev9score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web |url=http://www.spin.com/reviews/morrissey-years-refusal-lost-highway/ |title=Morrissey, 'Years of Refusal' Review |last=Gross |first=Joe |date=28 January 2009 |website=Spin |access-date=17 February 2015}}

| rev10 = Uncut

| rev10score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web |url=http://uncut.co.uk/music/morrissey/reviews/12751 |title=Album Review: Morrissey – Years of Refusal – Review – Uncut.co.uk |last=Kelly |first=Danny |website=Uncut |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807135121/http://www.uncut.co.uk/music/morrissey/reviews/12751 |archive-date=7 August 2011 |access-date=17 February 2015}}

}}

On 11 December 2008, Morrissey, along with Polydor president Ferdy Unger-Hamilton, unveiled Years of Refusal in London to a select group of journalists with a special listening of the album at Piccadilly's Pigalle Club. First impressions of the album were universally positive.{{cite web |url=http://news.q4music.com/2008/12/morrissey_rocks_out.html |title=Morrissey Rocks Out – News – QTheMusic.com |date=11 December 2008 |website=Q |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216001401/http://news.q4music.com/2008/12/morrissey_rocks_out.html |archive-date=16 December 2008 |access-date=17 February 2015}}{{cite magazine |url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/266117/morrissey-unveils-new-album-in-london |title=Morrissey Unveils New Album in London | Billboard |last=Cohen |first=Jonathan |date=11 December 2008 |magazine=Billboard |access-date=17 February 2015}}{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2008/dec/11/morrissey-years-of-refusal-review |title=Jude Rogers: A First Review of Morrisey's Years of Refusal | Music | The Guardian |last=Rogers |first=Jude | author-link = Jude Rogers |date=12 December 2008 |website=The Guardian |access-date=17 February 2015}}

Early reviews of the album suggested a return to the form of You Are the Quarry, with Clash commenting that it is "in a word, 'brilliant'" and that "it's hard to listen to this album and not conclude that it's one of his best as a solo artist".{{cite web |url=http://www.clashmusic.com/reviews/morrissey |title=Morrissey – Years of Refusal | Reviews | Clash Magazine |date=12 January 2009 |website=Clash |access-date=17 February 2015}} Tom Ewing of Pitchfork, along with giving the album an 8.1 rating, lauded Years of Refusal highly for its "rejuvenation" of Morrissey:

{{cquote|Years of Refusal comes as a gratifying shock: It's his most vital, entertaining and savage record since 1994's Vauxhall and I. Rather than try and reinvent himself, Morrissey has rediscovered himself, finding new potency in his familiar arsenal. Morrissey's rejuvenation is most obvious in the renewed strength of his vocals. For much of Years of Refusal Morrissey is turning his fire outwards – taking on lovers, enemies, wannabes, or some combination of all three. This is Morrissey's most venomous, score-settling album, and in a perverse way that makes it his most engaging.|}}

Q magazine, who gave the album a three star rating, praised and criticized the album saying: "So there is that fabulous voice, the felicitous turn of phrase, the ability to hit universal truths that transcend one middle-aged Mancunian's ingrained sense of being hard-done-by – but there's also too much grudge-bearing, too much self-justification, too much undistinguished guitar thump.

Morrissey has described it as his "strongest work to date".{{cite web |url=http://www.nme.com/news/morrissey/40582 |title=NME News Morrissey to Write Autobiography | NME.com |date=22 October 2008 |website=NME |access-date=17 February 2015}}{{cite web |url=http://true-to-you.net/morrissey_news_090130_01 |title=Years of Refusal: Album Release Details, Pre-Ordering Information | True to You |website=True to You |access-date=17 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217072933/http://true-to-you.net/morrissey_news_090130_01 |archive-date=17 February 2015 |url-status=dead}}

{{track listing

| title1 = Something Is Squeezing My Skull

| writer1 = Morrissey, Alain Whyte

| length1 = 2:38

| title2 = Mama Lay Softly on the Riverbed

| writer2 = Morrissey, Whyte

| length2 = 3:53

| title3 = Black Cloud

| writer3 = Morrissey, Boz Boorer

| length3 = 2:48

| title4 = I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris

| writer4 = Morrissey, Boorer

| length4 = 2:31

| title5 = All You Need Is Me

| writer5 = Morrissey, Jesse Tobias

| length5 = 3:13

| title6 = When Last I Spoke to Carol

| writer6 = Morrissey, Whyte

| length6 = 3:24

| title7 = That's How People Grow Up

| writer7 = Morrissey, Boorer

| length7 = 2:59

| title8 = One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell

| writer8 = Morrissey, Boorer

| length8 = 2:57

| title9 = It's Not Your Birthday Anymore

| writer9 = Morrissey, Whyte

| length9 = 5:10

| title10 = You Were Good in Your Time

| writer10 = Morrissey, Whyte

| length10 = 5:01

| title11 = Sorry Doesn't Help

| writer11 = Morrissey, Tobias

| length11 = 4:03

| title12 = I'm OK by Myself

| writer12 = Morrissey, Tobias

| length12 = 4:48

}}

{{track listing

| headline = iTunes US bonus tracks

| title13 = Because of My Poor Education

| writer13 = Morrissey, Whyte

| length13 = 2:56

| title14 = Shame Is the Name

| writer14 = Morrissey, Whyte

| length14 = 3:49

}}

: Note: Given the CD is a mockup of a vinyl record, the words "shame is the name" appear on the runout grooves.

Special edition DVD

1. "Wrestle with Russell" (an interview with Russell Brand)
2. "That's How People Grow Up" (performed live on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross)
3. "All You Need is Me" (performed live on Later... with Jools Holland)
4. "All You Need is Me" (promotional video)

{{Col-begin}}

{{Col-break}}

• Morrissey – vocals
• Boz Boorer – guitar
• Jesse Tobias – guitar
• Solomon Walker – bass guitar
• Matt Walker – drums

Additional personnel

• Roger Joseph Manning Jr. – keyboards
• Mark Isham – trumpet on tracks 4, 6 and 8
• Jeff Beck – guitar on track 3
• Michael Farrell – keyboards, accordion, cowbell on track 7
• Kristopher Pooley – backing vocals on tracks 2, 6 and 8
• Kristeen Young – additional vocals on track 7
• Chrissie Hynde – backing vocals on track 14

{{Col-break}}

Technical

• Jerry Finn – production
• Seth Waldmann – engineering
• Jake Walters – front cover photography
• Travis Shinn – sleeve photography (group)

{{col-end}}

{{certification Table Top|caption=Certifications for Years of Refusal}}

{{certification Table Entry|type=album|region=United Kingdom|artist=Morrissey|title=Years of Refusal|award=Silver|certyear=2013|relyear=2009|certmonth=7|id=10280-2037-2}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|noshipments=yes}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Discogs master|32004}}

{{Morrissey}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:2009 albums

Category:Morrissey albums

Category:Albums produced by Jerry Finn