Morrissey My Early Burglary Years Lyrics

Reissue, repackage, repackage. The Morrissey melodrama continues on My Early Burglary Years, the ex-Smiths frontman's third U.S. compilation of previously released material. So what do we get for our trouble and pain? This time around the prince of loneliness offers a handpicked disc of his favorite B-sides along with a few live cuts and some scattered album tracks. It's a fairly strong collection, actually--and worthwhile, especially if you haven't bothered keeping up with Mozzer's U.K.-only singles. Highlights? The hummable "Nobody Loves Us," the Smiths-reminiscent "Sister, I'm a Poet" ("Is evil just something you are / Or something you do?"), and the only-Moz-could-get-away-with-it pathos of "Boxers." Typically Morrissey, the collection drips with melancholy. But call him morbid, call him pale, it's hard to resist curling up in bed on a gray Sunday morning with nothing but a stack of Moz CDs and a six-disc changer. --Steve Landau