Morrissey - World Of Morrissey (1995)

Released to coincide with Morrissey's brief winter tour of England in 1995, World of Morrissey follows none of the accepted rules for compilations. It's not a hits collection, nor is it a best-of -- the disc is filled with album cuts, live tracks, a couple of B-sides and a new single, all of which dedicated Morrissey fans already own. However, the choice of songs does mean something -- the choice of the vaguely threatening "Spring-Heeled Jim" over "Now My Heart Is Full" and the sad "Billy Budd" over "The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get" makes the calm Vauxhall and I seem darker than it is. But that melancholy is cut by the sly taunt of "Have-a-Go Merchant" and the perennial "Last of the Famous International Playboys," as well as a long, bizarre crawl through "Moon River." Only hardcore fans will notice such subtle matters as running orders; for them, World of Morrissey is a mix tape.~The World of Morrissey Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine