Albums to watch

Low in High School

Morrissey

Low in High School

Eleventh solo studio album from the former Smiths frontman produced by Joe Chiccarelli (The Strokes, The Killers, U2)

ADM rating[?]

5.2

Label
BMG Rights Management
UK Release date
17/11/2017
US Release date
17/11/2017
  1. 8.0 |   Q

    Morrissey, at 58, once again proves himself a pop provocateur of enduring efficacy. Print edition only

  2. 8.0 |   The Music

    The 58-year-old is still as horny and frustrated as ever
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  3. 8.0 |   The Irish Times

    Dodgy politics, but still a class act
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  4. 7.5 |   A.V. Club

    What might surprise those who’ve been paying close attention is Low In High School’s relative strength after such a long, fallow stretch
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  5. 7.0 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    Morrissey’s voice is at times remarkable here; his sense of melody finely tuned but more inclined to passing moments of beauty than the broad sweep of hits like “Suedehead” or “Irish Blood, English Heart”
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  6. 7.0 |   Rolling Stone

    As philosophical alt-rock standup goes, the man is still peerless
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  7. 6.5 |   Gig Soup

    A patchy effort that suffers from brash production choices but nevertheless does have worthwhile - even excellent - material in amongst some less focused work
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  8. 6.0 |   musicOMH

    A mixed bag of brilliance and dross
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  9. 6.0 |   The Guardian

    Some brilliant lines gleam through the noise on Morrissey’s 11th album, but others – about war and Israel – are sneering and reactionary
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  10. 6.0 |   All Music

    He's opted for a mad world of his own creation and doesn't much care whether his fans follow or not
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  11. 6.0 |   Loud And Quiet

    Separating Morrissey’s political dogma from his music has always been tricky, but even if you can put aside his dog-whistles, new album ‘Low In High School’ isn’t short on polarising ideas
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  12. 6.0 |   Mojo

    This album is partisan, powerful and controversial. Print edition only

  13. 5.8 |   Consequence Of Sound

    Kinda like your drunk uncle on Thanksgiving who makes racist/sexist/homophobic jokes, but then surprises you with a case of your favorite wine and turns on Uncle Buck just for you
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  14. 5.7 |   Pitchfork

    Though the music is often engaging and exciting, Low in High School is Morrissey’s second consecutive release that feels regrettably tethered to his increasingly alienating public persona
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  15. 5.1 |   Paste Magazine

    Most frustrating about this album are the shades of old Morrissey; “My Love, I’d Do Anything For You” has shades of “Glamorous Glue” in all of its rock-grind posturing
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  16. 5.0 |   God Is In The TV

    These days he sounds like he simply doesn’t understand human beings any more, and Low in High School is often little more than the utterly disengaged pronouncements of a wealthy hermit, who needs to get out of his LA mansion a little more often
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  17. 5.0 |   Uncut

    His weakest since Kill Uncle
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  18. 4.0 |   NME

    Moz’s strange 11th solo album starts off well enough, but soon goes seriously wrong
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  19. 4.0 |   The Skinny

    Morrissey can alienate fans with outlandish outbursts or with decidedly average new music, but both at the same time is surely too much for even the most forgiving fan
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  20. 4.0 |   The Arts Desk

    It's like having world affairs explained to you by a teenager who’s just spent the afternoon wanking and reading The Canary. Possibly at the same time
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  21. 4.0 |   The Independent

    While there’s no denying that Low In High School is more musically exploratory than usual, drawing from glam rock, electropop, tango and Tropicalismo, the singer himself has rarely exhibited such a grating combination of spite and self-pity
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  22. 4.0 |   Clash

    ‘Low In High School’ feels confused, misplaced, and tedious
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  23. 4.0 |   DIY

    This charming man? It looks like these days it’s more a case of bigmouth strikes again
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  24. 4.0 |   The Observer

    Morrissey’s broadsides are let down by misfiring attempts at electronic rock and a less-than-compassionate worldview that undermines the moral authority he once had
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  25. 4.0 |   State

    He plonks his views on the ears of his listener, without any attempt at truly expressing himself
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  26. 4.0 |   Spectrum Culture

    Morrissey has become a woefully irrelevant, bloviating buffoon
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  27. 4.0 |   Slant Magazine

    In typical Morrissey fashion, he apologizes for nothing here, and if anything he doubles down on his stodginess
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  28. 3.0 |   Under The Radar

    Missing are his clever wordsmanship and bitter sense of humor. In their wake we have a collection of bumper sticker slogans—none as effective as the old classic "Meat is Murder," but the sort you might shake your head at when you pass them in a Whole Foods parking lot
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  29. 3.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    Low In High School is the latest in a long string of wet sausages that Morrissey has cruelly inserted into the ears of his audience. It’s hard to understand why his followers don’t storm off instead, for good
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  30. 2.0 |   The FT

    The singer casts himself as a noble outcast defying a cruel and authoritarian world but the songs go badly awry
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