''I Am Not a Dog on a Chain'' is the thirteenth solo studio album by

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then ...

, released through BMG on 20 March 2020. It is Morrissey's first album of original material since 2017's ''

Low in High School ''Low in High School'' is the eleventh solo studio album by British singer Morrissey, released on 17 November 2017 through BMG. It was produced by Joe Chiccarelli, and recorded at La Fabrique Studios in France and at Ennio Morricone's Forum Studi ...

''. It was produced by

Joe Chiccarelli Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

, and lead single "Bobby, Don't You Think They Know?" features vocals from

Thelma Houston Thelma Houston ( Jackson; born May 7, 1946) Retrieved . is an American singer. Beginning her recording career in the late 1960s, Houston scored a number-one hit record in 1977 with her recording of "Don't Leave Me This Way", which won the Grammy ...

Recording and promotion

The album was produced by Joe Chiccarelli and recorded at Studio La Fabrique in

Saint-Rémy-de-Provence Saint-Rémy-de-Provence (; Provençal Occitan: ''Sant Romieg de Provença'' in classical and ''Sant Roumié de Prouvènço'' in Mistralian norms) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Southern France. L ...

, France, as well as

Sunset Sound Sunset, also known as sundown, is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon due to Earth's rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth (except the North and South poles), the equinox Sun sets due west at the moment of both the spring ...

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

. In a press release, Morrissey called the album "the very best of me" and "too good to be true ..too true to be considered good". Producer

described it as Morrissey's "boldest and most adventurous album yet", claiming that he has "pushed the boundaries yet again – both musically and lyrically".

Critical reception

''I Am Not a Dog on a Chain'' currently holds a score of 62 out of 100 - indicating "generally favourable" reviews - on review aggregator

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, based on 13 reviews. Josh Modell of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' gave the album a B− and felt that the lyrical content was the weakest but that Morrissey displayed songcraft and "a great vocal performance". The editorial staff of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

gave the album 3.5 out of five stars, with reviewer

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...

summing up his review by calling the album "one of the better latter-day Morrissey records" but decrying how "placid and complacent he's been for the better part of a decade". Mina Tavakoli of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' rated the album 6.1 out of 10 and called it "frequently ridiculous, mildly captivating, and occasionally repetitive, pocked by moments of goofiness that come from the runoff of a man eager to chase old miseries and find new ones to berate". Writing for ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', Jake Cudsi rated the album two out of five stars, opining that it "has its moments, but they are brief and virtually lost amid the more experimental forays". Laura Snapes of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' also gave the album two out of five stars, judging that Morrissey plays the "victim" and is "often lost among the strident music as he hectors people afraid to be themselves", though his "coyness undermines his apparent glee as a truth-teller".

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

wrote: "Morrissey delivers his best musical performance in years"

Track listing

Personnel

– vocals (all tracks) Additional musicians * Steve Aho – orchestration (track 6), conductor (track 6), contractor (track 6) *

Boz Boorer Martin James "Boz" Boorer (born 19 May 1962 in Edgware, Middlesex, England) is an English guitarist and producer most known for his work founding the new wave rockabilly group the Polecats; and later for his work as a co-writer, guitarist and m ...

– string arrangements (track 1), saxophone solo (track 3), acoustic guitar (trackd 4, 8, 11), electric guitar (track 7), mandolin (tracks 8, 9),

zither Zithers (; , from the Greek word ''cithara'') are a class of stringed instruments. Historically, the name has been applied to any instrument of the psaltery family, or to an instrument consisting of many strings stretched across a thin, flat bo ...

(track 9), clarinet (track 10) *

–

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

, drum programming (tracks 1, 10, 11), additional synthesizer (track 10) *Daniel Cayotte – recitation (track 10) *Sally Chae – backing vocals (track 7) *Mike Daly – drum programming and synthesizer (track 8) *Glendale Tab & Apple Choir – kids choir (track 11) *

– vocals (track 3) *Sean Hurley – bass guitar (track 5) *Victor Indrizzo – drums (track 5) *

Greg Leisz Gregory Brian Leisz ( ; born September 18, 1949) is an American musician. He is a songwriter, recording artist, and producer. He plays guitar, dobro, mandolin, lap steel and pedal steel guitar. Biography Leisz grew up in the garage band cu ...

–

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...

(track 5) *Danny Levin – trumpet (track 7) *Mando Lopez – bass guitar (tracks 1-4, 6-8, 10, 11), bass solo (track 8) *

Roger Manning Roger Manning is a New York City based singer-songwriter who plays an aggressive acoustic style of music. Manning, along with a small handful of other artists, composed the original New York City anti-folk scene. On February 6, 1985, Manning w ...

–

harmonium The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. T ...

(track 9),

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

(track 2), organ (track 9), piano (track 11), string and horn arrangements (track 6), synthesizer (tracks 1, 3-6, 8, 10, 11), backing vocals (tracks 5, 6, 11) *Gustavo Manzur – drum programming (track 2),

nylon string guitar The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor o ...

(track 2), Mellotron (track 11), piano (tracks 1, 3, 9), synthesizer (tracks 2, 6), backing vocals (track 2), accordion (track 10) *Karla Manzur – backing vocals (track 2) *Rose Mary – laughing (track 10) *David Ralicke – saxophone (track 3) *Bridget Regan – fiddle (track 8) *Megan Sluiter – laughing (track 10) *

Jesse Tobias Jesse Tobias (born April 1, 1972) is an American guitarist who is the lead guitarist and co-writer for Morrissey since 2004. Tobias first gained fame during a brief tenure with the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1993, although he was replaced by Dave ...

– acoustic guitars (tracks 5, 11), electric guitars (tracks 1-9, 11), recitation (track 10),

electric sitar An electric sitar is a type of electric guitar designed to mimic the sound of the sitar, a traditional musical instrument of India. Depending on the manufacturer and model, these instruments bear varying degrees of resemblance to the traditional ...

(track 1), guitar solo (track 6), cigar box guitar (track 10) * Matt Walker – drums (tracks 1-4, 6-11), percussion (tracks 3-7, 9, 11) Technical personnel *John Fekner – photography *Miro La Gagioia – assistant engineering *Liam Lynch – artwork, design *Ken Sluiter – mixing *Chris Stewart – cover photo *Jose Vergara – photography *Emily Lazar – mastering engineering *Chris Allgood – assistant mastering engineering

Charts

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 2020 albums Albums produced by Joe Chiccarelli BMG Rights Management albums Morrissey albums