The More he ignores them, the more EMI release....but what a release.

Morrissey himself is no stranger to repackaging and re-issuing his own material. With no less than 4 b-Side albums already out [the superlative "Bona Drag", the extraneous "World Of", the useless "Early Burglary Years" and now "Swords"], Morrissey himself is often as guilty to sanctioning shoddy repackages as the record companies he seems to despise, locked in an eternal battle to the end with.

His previous compilations have shown little respect to the purchaser, often padded out with a lot of easily available album material in preference to long lost and forgotten b-side songs and a solitary exclusive track to act as the bait to the eager Mozaphile. After all, lets stick a bunch of live songs from the live album on there such as "Jack the Ripper", rather than the now deleted studio version, or many other BSide gems.

So what we have here, then seems like yet another useless repackage and reissue, much to Morrisseys disgust .Fortunately, free from the troublesome and needless cantankerous interference of Morrissey himself attempting to whitewash the past, here we actually have something worth purchasing.

Unlike previous compilations, its not a rip off - and unlike previous compilations, its actually good value, exhaustive , and comprehensive to say the least. Its Morrissey overload at 64 tracks, three CDs full of rarities and B-Sides. Thats almost four hours of Morrissey. And it averages out at a bargain price of about 15p per song, retailing for less than a single CD. And you know the way that Morrissey is, it'd be single CD with 15 songs on it, and last 35 minutes. And in this day and age, the consumer Is far too wise to be fleeced and milked like that.

 This is tremendous value, make no (Michael's) Bones about it. You won't be disappointed.

Its every single between 1988 and 1995, every A-Side and every B-Side, in order. So thats 18 classics, often the equal of his output with the Smiths ; basically the best of Morrissey, in chronological order. And then every B-Side, as in release order. Think of it as a best of, with 44 bonus tracks of rarities and B-Sides - many the equal of the A Side.You get often and long overlooked classics, "Hairdresser On Fire" for example, amongst many others such as "let The Right One Slip In", "Such a Little Thing", "Ive changed my plea to guilty", "Sunny", "Black Eyed Susan", "Interlude", "The Loop", "Jack the Ripper"....songs that should never have been let get away.

Essentially it compiles together the two previous box sets, "Singles '88-'91", and "Singles '92-'95" into one package. Each of these contained ten cds and cost roughly £40. The level of wastage in that was unbelieveable - this package here has reduced it from 20 CDs down to 3. That averages 7 singles per disc.As a space saving, and cost saving measure, its commendable to say the least. After all, you listen to the music, not the packaging.

Ok, so it omits 3 or 4 tracks that were never on UK singles releases - the US mix of Tomorrow, An alternate mix of "Ive Changed my plea to guilty", a track recorded for KROQ radio session, an alternate mix from a promotional VHS video,a promo tape only 12" version, a couple of tracks from compilation albums (Cosmic Dancer live 1991 or the Sparks remix of Suedehead), all spring to mind - but otherwise, you've got everything. Strictly speaking, those tracks fall out of the remit of a collection of singles anyway.

This is a straightforward compilation of all the UK singles releases, and as such, does exactly what it says on the tin. As value for money, you get 64 songs at a bargain price, compiling together pretty much everything exhaustively into one handy, inexpensive box set.Finally, the large back catalogue is brought into the reach of fans at an affordable price.

There was a time - and not too long ago - when a single one of the CD singles would sell second hand for £15, just for the sake of two long deleted songs. Now you can buy all of the songs for little over half that. Its incredible value.

Comprehensive and exhaustive, its the single best way of getting hold of Morrissey's early years. it may lack the cohesiveness of a complete body of work like "Your Arsenal" or "Vauxhall And I", but as a way of getting the songs themselves, it can't be beaten.

Morrissey may bleat about it, but lets be honest here - its the package he should have, and could have, compiled himself, had he not been so stubborn and defiant to the point of self defeat. People want to listen to the songs, and here they are. But Whatever happens, I love this. With passions like mine, you need this. It makes all other Morrissey compilations pretty much redundant.

And that is probably the reason why Moz is being the boy with thorn in his side - no longer can he milk that back catalogue endlessly with needless, pointless, exploitative reissues - inevitably bulked with one unreleased live track - when you have this.

Great value. Brilliant music.An indispensible and essential release for any Morrissey fan.

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