Morrissey - I Am Not A Dog On A Chain (First Listen)

I like it.  It's a sold record but isn't likely to be a favorite.  In my opinion "Years of Refusal" was his last "personal" record that explored his deeper emotions to which I really connected.  Every record through that one had songs that really peeled back the surface layers and laid bare some pain, angst, anger, or other deeply felt pathos. 

Since "World Peace Is None Of Your Business" I think he started writing more songs looking outward at the world in an analytical way.  I haven't felt the connection as much to these songs.  They just aren't as personal and I don't whole-heartedly identify with them.  I don't dislike or disapprove of them and they certainly deserve to be appreciated as quality entertainment.  They are just a bit too impersonal and opinionated for me to embrace in quite the unabashed way I did his work from "The Smiths" to "Years of Refusal"

I purchased this record from Block Street Records in Fayetteville, AR on Thursday March 26.  I pulled up and Wade, the owner, shouted my name and made me feel welcome even though he was standing behind a blocked entrance from where I had to stand while he found my records and gave me a total.  Then I had to call out my credit card info as he typed it in.  As he handed me my bag and stepped back into the store to converse a little I was made acutely aware of how this virus has changed life, hopefully just for the short term.  It was a very sad day to not be able to peruse the rest of the shop and discuss music with him and his staff.  I had new music to go home and listen to but that happy circumstance was shadowed by this contagion hanging over our heads.