Johnny Marr - Spirit Power (The Best Of)

In celebration of his 60th birthday Johnny Marr, generous man he is, is giving his fans the gifts.

Firstly the splendid coffee table book Marr’s Guitars, and last week the announcement of a 2024 tour in support of Spirit Power, his first solo Best Of collection.

Time works differently for Johnny Marr: the very fact that he’s about to enter his seventh decade recalls the awe of just how young he was when he knocked on Stephen Patrick Morrissey’s door all those years ago, a band he then left before he was 25. You’ll know the rest of the potted history by now, but as Marr approached his half-century, he put his hand to something new – a solo career.

It went remarkably well (especially for someone not renowned for singing) and here we are ten years on. Even for Marr the last decade has been a remarkably fertile period of four albums (one a double) and a smattering of stand-alone singles, all of which are collected here.

Sequenced non-chronologically, the evolution is palpable. ‘The Messenger’, the track which announced his solo career, seems comparatively basic now, all distracted synths and robust rhythms. Similarly the comforting, wistful melancholy of ‘New Town Velocity’ and the glam-pop stomp of ‘Upstarts’ didn’t especially break the mould (though both still sound great) but ‘European Me’, despite the jangling arpeggio, had a surprising melody which indicated envelopes were being pushed. Logically, he started from his comfort zone and pushed out.

https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2023/11/review-johnny-marr-spirit-power/