Track Listing

1. Now My Heart Is Full
2. Spring-Heeled Jim
3. Billy Budd
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

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41588 in Music
• Released on: 1994-03-22
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Not a clunker to be found on this album
I was ready to walk away from "popular" music forever until this came along. Come to think of it I may still, but not without bringing Vauxhall and I. A beguiling collection of songs and possibly the finest of his genre (whatever his genre truly is).

Amazing Moz
5 star album by Moz, mellow and sweet!
My top tracks: Now My Heart Is Full, Billy Budd, Why Don't You Find Out..., I Am Hated For Loving, The Lazy Sunbathers. The rest are also good.
This may be Morrissey's best work!

He's still got it!
Anyone who thinks that Morrissey only made music worth listening to while he was with the Smiths should spend some time getting acquainted with Vauxhall and I. Released in 1994, this album shows the Mozzer channeling the spirit of his glory days; in its finest moments, Vauxhall and I matches the sheer emotional power of albums like the Queen Is Dead and songs like "This Charming Man." The whole thing positively gushes with the things that made Morrissey so great in the first place- the lyrics are pure twisted poetry, full of razor-sharp wit and lovelorn angst, while the music is nothing short of gloriously offbeat pop.

Just listen to those songs! "Now My Heart Is Full," the album's opening salvo, is a stunningly gorgeous ode to solitude and shyness, a symphonic blast of sheer emotion that sees Morrissey's voice arcing its way over a dreamy swirl of guitars. The chorus is downright breathtaking. There's also the dark, cynical "Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself," in which yours truly recounts a lifetime of being betrayed, used, and lied to. The performance (as well as the gloomy yet oddly upbeat melody) rings with tension and bitterness. Closing out the proceedings is "Speedway," which is another blinding burst of unbridled pathos. These three masterpieces form the foundation of the album, but they're by no means the only good songs here: "Hold On To Your Friends" is a dark, subtly barbed paean to self-sacrifice, while "Spring-Heeled Jim" is a wonderfully moody rocker that features hazy swirls of guitar feedback twisting around Morrissey's unsettlingly dreamy vocals. "The Lazy Sunbathers" is sunshine pop for a solar eclipse, with its lilting rhythms and apocalyptic lyrics.

To be fair, this isn't a perfect album; there are a few week tracks here. "I Am Hated For Loving" is a dull ballad with uninteresting lyrics and a melody that isn't nearly as beautiful as Morrissey wanted it to be. I could also do without "Lifeguard Sleeping, Girl Drowning," which does nothing musically or lyrically. Plus, Morrissey's whispered vocals are really annoying. "Used to Be a Sweet Boy" does have a slightly beautiful melody, but its potential is squandered by Morrissey's pained vocals and melodramatic lyrics.

But, a few duds aside, this really is a fantastic album that belongs in the possession of any fan of the Smiths or Morrissey.