Your Arsenal (Definitive Master)

Editors’ Notes With Your Arsenal, Morrissey proved that The Smiths were but a quaint memory. Originally released in 1992, the album features the hard-nosed production of glam veteran Mick Ronson (who'd die less than a year later at age 46). This Definitive Master is a new remaster of the album, with the original version of “Tomorrow” being replaced with the superior U.S. mix on all copies. The album was largely misunderstood in the British press at the time of its release, but it's since been lauded as one of Morrissey’s finest accomplishments. The songs explore Moz’s memories of his ‘70s youth in both sound and subject matter. Football hooligans (“We’ll Let You Know”), the far right (“The National Front Disco”), glue sniffers (“Glamorous Glue”), and tributes to the sounds of Marc Bolan (“Certain People I Know”) and David Bowie (“I Know It’s Gonna Happen Someday”—later covered by Bowie) bring the album to life. The beauty of Ronson’s guitar guides “Seasick, Yet Still Docked,” while the easy accessibility of “We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful,” “You’re the One for Me, Fatty,” and "Tomorrow” fill out this inspired offering.