I Am Not a Dog on a Chain is one of the better latter-day Morrissey records: the sense of musical daring reveals how placid and complacent he's been for the better part of a decade.

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Perhaps that’s why this album offers up some of his best performances, wryest lyrics, and most experimental arrangements in years. Moz has finally grown into the old man he always threatened to become.

I Am Not A Dog On A Chain features some of Morrissey’s best songs in years, and a couple of his worst.

Mildly captivating, occasionally repetitive, and frequently ridiculous, the 13th studio album from the fabulous sulk turned red-pill pharmacist is Moz’s vision of radical truth-telling.

You may no longer leap onstage to hug him like a soul mate, but judged on purely artistic terms this is an interesting album. Whether you can separate it from his opinions, dear reader, is one for the darker nights.

The controversial singer alternates between petty indignation and true artistry.

Those whose bridges have not been burned entirely will find some joys in amongst the frustration.

Bruised and bloodied by mainstream isolation, Moz returns with another spirited but ultimately subpar collection of meandering misanthropy.

It's impossible in 2020 to separate a Morrissey album from its creator's problematic proclamations. Which is a shame, because I Am Not A Dog... continues the late-career warm-is streak that started with Low In High School.

Gloves remain on as Moz lashes out. He hits and he misses.

This charming man's bowshots at English society can get repetitive.

Album by the controversial former Smiths frontman has its moments, but they are brief and virtually lost amid the more experimental forays.

Morrissey knows exactly who he is: a victim, though he’ll never admit he does it to himself. His coyness undermines his apparent glee as a truth-teller, while his recourse to superannuated lamentation ignores the potential for later-in-life artists such as Bowie and Cohen to outdo their youthful glories. At this rate, he’ll never sit alongside them.

'I see no point in being nice,' he barks. Quite. However, a bitter aftertaste, lingers long after the final notes.

Just retire, Morrissey, and take up gardening or crocheting swastikas or whatever it is that crotchety racists do with their waning years.

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User Reviews

Never said you were

Retire.

First of all fuck Morrissey, he's an ignorant, racist, piece of human shit.

However, I am one of those people who separate art from the artist...when I can. Sometimes you can't, like when watching an old Louie C.K. bit about how much he likes jerking off or listening to Michael Jackson sing "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)," stuff like that is too distracting. That happens once on this album for me on the titular track, "I Am Not a Dog on a Chain," where Morrissey sings about ... read more

tiagoaon

fuck you nazi

reptilia0000

From "This Charming Man" to That Charmless Man

Morrissey presents an insipid project with zero to no substance, that lacks in charm and just overall interest put into it.

Now, I really wanted to review this project, I had always wanted to listen to a Morrissey album just because of how much I love The Smiths, and I did listen to it and was ready to review it... but I felt scared. Not because I had an extremely unpopular opinion on the album or anything, simply because... well, ... read more

7mo*

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