Man out of time

Morrissey: "Maladjusted" (Island)

In the 10 years since the demise of The Smiths, Morrissey has wittered along through a number of solo albums, sometimes hitting a high point, more often just droning along like a complaining next-door-neighbour. Maladjusted has its moments, like the snidely epic title track, a first-person tale of atrophied adolescence in the vein of The Queen Is Dead, or the top-grade tune Alma Matters, a classic Moz jangle complete with crap public school pun. The periphal piffle of Papa Jack, however, adds little to the Moz mystique, while Wide To Receive is a minimal ballad which just fails to catch the spirit.

Satan Rejected My Soul is a mischievous romp through Morrissey's inner hellfire, with forked tongue-in-cheek lines like "He won't be dragged down/ He's seen my face around". Another light-hoofed tune is Roy's Keen, a transparent tale of a wicked window-cleaner, but Ammunition and Trouble Loves Me are more honest and hard-hitting, looking deep into a cracked mirror and pulling no punches. Alas, Sorrow Will Come In The End has been taken off the album, because of references to a certain ex-Smith to whom Morrissey lost a recent court battle.

The wit and word play is still as sharp and archly English as ever, and Morrissey's gallows humour still hangs from every hook; but in the end, Maladjusted mostly reflects the increasingly bitter meanderings of incipient middle age, and Moz comes across like a man out of time, rock's own Reggie Kray trying to muscle his way back in with a new breed of wise guys.

Rock/Pop