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Released: March 22, 1994


Rating: 4.251 (average of 15 ratings)


Genre: alternative rock


Quotable: “Some of Morrissey’s best material since the Smiths.” – Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide


Album Tracks:

  1. Now My Heart Is Full
  2. Spring-Heeled Jim
  3. Billy Bud
  4. Hold on to Your Friends
  5. The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get
  6. Why Don’t You Find Out for Yourself
  7. I Am Hated for Loving
  8. Lifeguard Sleeping, Girl Drowning
  9. Used to Be a Sweet Boy
  10. The Lazy Sunbathers
  11. Speedway


Sales (in millions):

sales in U.S. only --
sales in U.K. only - estimated --
sales in all of Europe as determined by IFPI – click here to go to their site. --
sales worldwide - estimated --


Peak:

peak on U.S. Billboard album chart 18
peak on U.K. album chart 1 1


Singles/Hit Songs:

  • The More You Ignore Me, the Closet I Get (2/28/94) #8 UK, #1 MR
  • Hold on to Your Friends (5/30/94) #47 UK


Awards:

Rated one of the top 1000 albums of all time by Dave’s Music Database. Click to learn more.


Vauxhall & I
Morrissey
Review:
“While it isn't a gutsy rock & roll record like Your Arsenal, Vauxhall and I is equally impressive. Filled with carefully constructed guitar pop gems, the album contains some of Morrissey’s best material since the Smiths.” STE It “represents Morrissey at his most mature and reflects the course his life has taken. With its blend of guitar rock, largely acoustic ballads, and wry classic rock, Vauxhall and I stands in stark contrast to Morrissey’s other work.” WK “Out of all of his solo albums, Vauxhall and I sounds the most like his former band, yet the textured, ringing guitar on this record is an extension of his past, not a replication of it.” STE “It is distinguished by its ironic and introspective nature as well as its sombre and emotional mood.” WK

The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get, Speedway, and Spring-Heeled Jim prove that he hasn’t lost his vicious wit.” STE “Closer I Get” was the closest Morrissey ever came to a hit in the U.S. – the song just missed the top 40 on the pop charts. Like many of his hits before, however, it was a success on the modern rock charts giving him his ninth top 10 and second #1 on that chart.

Elsewhere, “Morrissey encourages the listener to think about their life and friendships. In Hold on to Your Friends, we are reminded of the power of friendship.” WK On that and Now My Heart Is Full, “Morrissey sounds more comfortable and peaceful than he ever has.” STE “By contrast, in Why Don’t You Find Out for Yourself, we are urged to beware of other people using us for their own benefit.” WK

“Morrissey had also recently suffered the loss of three people close to him: Mick Ronson, Tim Broad, and Nigel Thomas, which may have had the cumulative effect of giving Vauxhall and I somewhat of a funereal feel. Indeed, just two years later Morrissey acknowledged that he felt at the time that this was going to be his last album, and that not only was it the best album he’d ever made but that he would never be able to top it in the future.” WK

“Steve Lilywhite’s production style is a marked departure from that of his predecessor on Your Arsenal, Mick Ronson. Vauxhall & I has a pared-down, sparser, more ethereal and at times dream-like character.” WK “The album’s title appears to be a reference to the 1987 film, Withnail and I. Vauxhall is an area of London, and there is also a British car manufacturer of the same name.” WK


Review Source(s):


Last updated February 19, 2010.