Morrissey Vinyl Records
As the lead singer of the Smiths, arguably the most important indie band in Britain during the '80s, Morrissey's theatrical crooning and literate, poetic lyrics -- filled with romantic angst, social alienation, and cutting wit -- connected powerfully with a legion of similarly sensitive, disaffected youth. These fans turned the Smiths into stars in Britain, exerting tremendous pull over much of the country's guitar-based music for many years after their breakup. Even if the group remained underground cult artists in the States, they had a fan base that slowly, steadily grew larger over the years. Indeed, within a few years after Morrissey began his solo career with Viva Hate (1988), his American cult had grown to the point where he became more popular in the U.S. than in his homeland, where he nonetheless remained a perennial headline maker in the music press. After a quiet period around the turn of the millennium, Morrissey launched a comeback in 2004 with You Are the Quarry, an album whose success proved that he was still one of the most intriguing figures in alternative rock.