World Peace Is None of Your Business
Studio album by
Morrissey
Released15 July 2014 (2014-07-15)
RecordedLa Fabrique in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France, February 2014
GenreAlternative rock, pop rock
Length54:35
LabelHarvest/Capitol
ProducerJoe Chiccarelli
Morrissey chronology
Years of Refusal
(2009) 		World Peace Is None of Your Business
(2014) 		Low in High School
(2017)
Singles from World Peace Is None of Your Business
  1. "World Peace Is None of Your Business"
    Released: 13 May 2014
  2. "Istanbul"
    Released: 20 May 2014
  3. "Earth Is the Loneliest Planet"
    Released: 3 June 2014
  4. "The Bullfighter Dies"
    Released: 17 June 2014
  5. "Kiss Me a Lot"
    Released: 26 March 2015

World Peace Is None of Your Business is the tenth solo studio album by English singer Morrissey, recorded in February 2014 and released on 15 July 2014. It was produced by Joe Chiccarelli and was distributed by record label Harvest. The album entered at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart and peaked in the US at number 14 on the Billboard 200.

Recording and cover

World Peace Is None of Your Business was recorded at La Fabrique in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in France during February 2014[1] in a studio where Nick Cave had also worked.

The album's cover features an image of Morrissey crouching down and offering a pen to a chocolate Labrador.

Promotion

The album's lead single, "World Peace Is None of Your Business", was released on 13 May 2014, alongside an accompanying music video featuring Nancy Sinatra next to Morrissey performing the song in spoken word.[2] On 20 May a second spoken word video was then released for the album's second single, "Istanbul". Purchasers who pre-ordered the album received a free mp3 download of the song.[3] On 3 June the digital download and spoken word video for the third single, "Earth Is the Loneliest Planet", was made available. The video features Pamela Anderson.[4] On 17 June the studio version and spoken word video of "The Bullfighter Dies", the fourth single, was put on Morrissey's official YouTube channel.[5] The spoken word video had previously leaked online on 18 May.[6] In addition to the four singles, "Kick the Bride Down the Aisle" debuted live prior to the album's official release.[7]

On 7 July 2014 a four-track 10" vinyl EP was released, featuring the four singles, for Record Store Day.[8]

Release and promotion

World Peace Is None of Your Business was released on 15 July 2014 by record label Harvest.[9][10]

A Deluxe Edition was also released with more material. Of these other tracks, "Scandinavia" had been played live many times in 2011 and 2012, and also performed as part of the Studio in Session bonus feature on the 25Live DVD and Blu-ray release. "Art-hounds" had been played live only once, on 7 August 2011.[11] The four spoken word videos are available in audio form on a Japanese deluxe version, as well as the other 18 tracks.

In 2021, Morrissey himself appeared to rank the album as the best of his career.[12]

Harvest Records controversy

On 20 August 2014 Morrissey announced that, due to disagreements with his record label Harvest, the album would be dropped only three weeks after its release.[13]

On 8 January 2015, Morrissey advised fans that a 45 of "The Bullfighter Dies" was scheduled for a global release by Harvest, but was scrapped by Steve Barnett at the last minute. The B-side was to be the original French mix of the song "One of Our Own".[14] Further vinyl singles, including "Istanbul", "Kiss Me A Lot" and "Neal Cassady Drops Dead" were to include other French mixes of several songs as their B-sides: "Scandinavia", "Smiler With Knife" and "Art-hounds", and were available to pre-order from amazon.fr. However, these were also presumably scrapped.[15] The album was still officially available for digital download via online music stores; but stopped getting supported after the drop.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic70/100[16]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[17]
The A.V. ClubC−[18]
Billboard77/100[19]
The Guardian[20]
Mojo[21]
NME9/10[22]
The Observer[23]
Pitchfork5.9/10[24]
Rolling Stone[25]
Spin7/10[26]

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews and ratings from mainstream critics, the album has received a metascore of 70, based on 36 reviews which indicates 'Generally favorable reviews".[16]

In political magazine National Review and in a review titled "World Summit" Armond White wrote that "Morrissey challenges pop and political orthodoxies."[27] Alexis Petridis concluded a four of five star review for The Guardian with "Not as great as you might have hoped, but far better than you might have feared, a little more reliant on others than a man who ended his Autobiography claiming that "I have never had anything in my life that I did not make for myself" might care to admit, World Peace Is None of Your Business may be as good as it gets at this stage in his career, which is good enough."[28] In a more mixed review for Clash Magazine Benji Taylor wrote "though the bleakly beautiful is still there, the flashes are sporadic."[29] Pitchfork gave an average rating saying, "At times the intricate arrangements come across as a means of covering up unmemorable songwriting".[24] In Truck & Driver's regular music reviews, Shaun Connors concluded one of five star assessment with "Lyrically, with his self-absorbed anti-views so all-prevalent in the alternative universe Morrissey inhabits, is it any surprise this collection of rants to [bad] music covers such cheerful events as a bullfighter dying and a student’s suicide? Maybe the latter listened to this album once too often…"[30]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."World Peace Is None of Your Business"Morrissey, Boz Boorer4:21
2."Neal Cassady Drops Dead"Morrissey, Gustavo Manzur4:02
3."I'm Not a Man"Morrissey, Jesse Tobias7:50
4."Istanbul"Morrissey, Boorer4:40
5."Earth Is the Loneliest Planet"Morrissey, Manzur3:38
6."Staircase at the University"Morrissey, Boorer5:30
7."The Bullfighter Dies"Morrissey, Tobias2:05
8."Kiss Me a Lot"Morrissey, Tobias4:03
9."Smiler with Knife"Morrissey, Tobias5:13
10."Kick the Bride Down the Aisle"Morrissey, Tobias5:18
11."Mountjoy"Morrissey, Boorer5:08
12."Oboe Concerto"Morrissey, Boorer4:07
Total length:54:35
Deluxe Edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Scandinavia"Morrissey, Boorer3:34
14."One of Our Own"Morrissey, Manzur3:33
15."Drag the River"Morrissey, Boorer4:40
16."Forgive Someone"Morrissey, Tobias3:10
17."Julie in the Weeds"Morrissey, Boorer3:59
18."Art-hounds"Morrissey, Boorer5:06

Personnel

Additional personnel

Technical

Charts

Certifications and sales

Certifications and sales for World Peace Is None of Your Business
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States — 25,000[47]

References

  1. ^ "Morrissey has signed a two-album deal with Capitol Music in Los Angeles, and is set to record a new album in France starting on February 1". True-to-you.net. 15 January 2014. Archived from the original on 8 February 2014. Retrieved 28 June 2014.((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ Minsker, Evan (12 May 2014). "Morrissey's "World Peace Is None of Your Business" Single Art Is Amazing". Pitchfork. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  3. ^ "Morrissey Streams New Song "Istanbul" | News". Pitchfork. 20 May 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  4. ^ Minsker, Evan (19 May 2014). "Morrissey Shares "The Bullfighter Dies" and "Istanbul" Spoken Word Videos". Pitchfork. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  5. ^ "Morrissey – The Bullfighter Dies (Audio)". YouTube. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  6. ^ "Spoken Word Video: Morrissey 'The Bullfighter Dies'". Morrissey-solo. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  7. ^ Grow, Kory (9 June 2014). "Morrissey Premieres Depressing 'Kick the Bride Down the Aisle' Live". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  8. ^ "World Peace Is None Of Your Business [10 Inch Vinyl Indie Exclusive]". Record Store Day. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  9. ^ Minsker, Evan (12 May 2014). "Morrissey Shares Nancy Sinatra-Featuring Video for "World Peace Is None of Your Business"". Pitchfork. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  10. ^ "Morrissey Reveals Extremely Morrissey-Esque Tracklist for World Peace Is None of Your Business | News". Pitchfork. 11 April 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  11. ^ "Art-hounds live Brixton Complete Great Quality". YouTube. 7 August 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  12. ^ "Morrissey shares new post appearing to rank all of his solo and Smiths albums". Nme.com. 1 October 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  13. ^ "Please Close The Door Behind Me". True-To-You.net. 20 August 2014. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  14. ^ "The Bullfighter Dies / single". True-To-You.net. 8 January 2015. Archived from the original on 23 April 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  15. ^ "Single information via amazon.fr". Amazon.fr. 12 January 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  16. ^ a b "Reviews for World Peace Is None of Your Business by Morrissey". Metacritic. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
  17. ^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine (15 July 2014). "Morrissey: World Peace Is None Of Your Business". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  18. ^ Jason Heller (15 July 2014). "After a 5-year lull, Morrissey returns—and shrugs". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  19. ^ Kenneth Partridge (8 July 2014). "Morrissey's 'World Peace Is None of Your Business': Track-by-Track Review". Billboard. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  20. ^ Alexis Petridis (10 July 2014). "Morrissey: World Peace Is None of Your Business review". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  21. ^ Cameron, Keith (July 2014). "Review: The unbelievable truce". Mojo (65): 84.
  22. ^ Ben Hewitt (14 July 2014). "Morrissey – 'World Peace Is None Of Your Business'". NME. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  23. ^ Kitty Empire (13 July 2014). "World Peace is None of Your Business review – Morrissey's 10th finds the singer on an upswing". The Observer. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  24. ^ a b Marc Hogan (14 July 2014). "Morrissey: World Peace Is None of Your Business". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  25. ^ Rob Sheffield (15 July 2014). "Morrissey: World Peace Is None of Your Business". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  26. ^ Barry Walters (16 July 2014). "Moz Gives Old Age the Finger on 'World Peace Is None of Your Business'". Spin. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  27. ^ Armond White (30 July 2014). "Peace Summit: It's Morrissey's World, We Just Vote in It". nationalreview.com. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  28. ^ Alexis Petridis (10 July 2014). "Just when you think human warmth is in short supply on Morrissey's new album, the old devil can still spring a surprise". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  29. ^ "Morrissey - World Peace Is None Of Your Business". Clashmusic.com. 16 July 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  30. ^ Connors, Shaun (November 2014). "Review: This is peace?". Truck & Driver. Sutton, Surrey, England: Kelsey Publishing Group: 92.
  31. ^ "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 21 July 2014" (PDF) (1273). Australian Web Archive. 22 July 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 July 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2014. ((cite journal)): Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  32. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Morrissey – World Peace Is None of Your Business" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  33. ^ "Ultratop.be – Morrissey – World Peace Is None of Your Business" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  34. ^ "Ultratop.be – Morrissey – World Peace Is None of Your Business" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  35. ^ "Danishcharts.dk – Morrissey – World Peace Is None of Your Business". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  36. ^ "Lescharts.com – Morrissey – World Peace Is None of Your Business". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  37. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Morrissey – World Peace Is None of Your Business" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  38. ^ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  39. ^ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week (({week))}, (({year))}". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  40. ^ "Artisti – Classifica settimanale WK 29 (dal 14-07-2014 al 20-07-2014)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Archived from the original on 8 October 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  41. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Morrissey – World Peace Is None of Your Business". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  42. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Morrissey – World Peace Is None of Your Business". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  43. ^ "Morrissey | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  44. ^ "Morrissey Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  45. ^ "Morrissey Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  46. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 2014". Ultratop.be. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  47. ^ Christman, Ed (25 August 2014). "Morrissey Probably Won't Be Taking His Option for a Second Record with Harvest". Billboard.com. Retrieved 7 December 2021.

External links

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