By Pete Donahue

You sit back and get ready. You liked 2006′s Ringleader of the Tormentors, but you felt like it could have been better. 2004′s You Are the Quarry was better and you like the idea of Moz brining back its producer, the late Jerry Flynn, for Years of Refusal. You look up at your Smiths poster on your wall (THAT one with the band in front of Salford Lads Club in Manchester) and hope this new one is classic Morrissey.

Immediately after hitting “Play” a blast of loud guitars and crashing drums gets things started with “Something Is Squeezing My Skull.” The moment Morrissey sings those first words (“I’m doing very well/I can block out the present and past now”), you smile. You have a good feeling about this album. The upbeat tempo is really getting your attention and lyrics about anxiety is classic Morrissey. And wow, his voice is really soaring on the chorus. Did he take singing lessons or something?

“Mama Lay Softly on the Riverbed” is a little slower, but you love the march beat as the guitars remain fuzzy and loud (well done Boz Borrer and Jesse Tobias). “Mama, why did you do it?/What drove you to an early grave?” he asks. “Black Cloud” is a rather epic cut with a pretty chilling spaghetti western lead guitar. And here we are again with classic lines only He can deliver: “I can woo you/I can amuse you/But there’s nothing I can do to make you mine.” They don’t call him “Pope of Mope” for nothing.

“I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris” is the first single off Years of Refusal and you can’t help but compare it to a certain Smiths song. With it’s bright and clean jangly guitar to a slower tempo, it’s vaguely similar to, say, the first half of “Reel Around The Fountain,” one of your Smiths favorites. You notice a running theme with huge choruses on this album and Moz doesn’t disappoint by wailing “I’m throwing my arms around Paris because only stone and steel accept my love.” Whatever that means, it doesn’t matter.

Now, the next song, “All You Need is Me” is, in your opinion, the real gem of the album. A fuzzy bass line starts the song off proper before those loud guitars make a welcomed return. Rightfully included on his 2008 Greatest Hits album, this song is the finest of solo Morrissey rock songs. With no real explanation needed regarding what it’s about because of the title, the song does offer one of his funniest lines of his career: “There’s a naked man standing, laughing in your dreams/You know who it is, but you don’t like what it means.” Oh, Morrissey!

Then the album keeps offering gem after gem. You love the Mexican rock vibe on “When I Last Spoke To Carol” (complete with mariachi horns), the lamenting “That’s How People Grow Up” (complete with more crunchy guitars), and the furiously fast “One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell.” “It’s Not Your Birthday Anymore” sounds like Bono could slide right in and make it a classic U2-sounding track and “You Were Good in Your Time” is a warm and soft delicate croon with a 1960′s vibe complete with brushed snare, a big string section, and a smidge of guitar low in the mix. While the music channels finer moments of the likes of Scott Walker, you think at a few certain times his (excellent) voice touches, dare you say, Roy Orbison territory?

After another brilliant chorus on “Sorry Doesn’t Help,” Years of Refusal comes to a blazing halt with “I’m OK By Myself.” “Could this be an arm around my waist/Well, surely the hand contains a knife?” he starts off and then the song rises to rather…epic proportions with a huge crashing ending. You doubt you could have dreamt a better ending.

You love how he’s back to loud rock songs with more pomp and swagger by-way-of some of his best lyrics yet. You’re the type of person who loves turning up the volume on your stereo/iPod/laptop, etc. and with Years of Refusal you don’t have to keep the volume down just because it’s Morrissey.

You were thinking about getting one of those Viva Hate tattoos, but a Years of Refusal one is sounding pretty good right about now….and since we all know Morrissey as the self-loathing lyricist of note, here are some more of his gems from Years of Refusal:

“I was driving in my car/I crashed and broke my spine/So, yes, there things worse in life than never being someone’s sweetie” – “That’s HowPeople Grow Up”

“And the smiling children tell you that you smell/Well, just look at me – a savage beast – I’ve got nothing to sell/And when I die I want to go to hell” – “One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell”

“I’ve hammered a smile across this pasty face of mine since the day I was born in 1975″ – “When I Last Spoke to Carol”

Buy: Years of Refusal
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Myspace: Morrissey