It became his biggest hit to that point, the first of four consecutive UK top-10 singles, and, with "Everyday Is Like Sunday", one of the tentpoles of his outstanding solo debut, Viva Hate. In October 2010, the album was reissued on the resurrected Major Minor label, with six officially unreleased studio recordings. Sunday, Suedehead, Will Never Marry, Hairdresser, and it even has the genius of Mary Margaret O'Hara on backing vocals - in case anybody forgot about her.

The breakup of his partnership with Street was the most devastating: He had co-written all of Viva Hate and served as an unofficial mentor for Morrissey's early solo years, performing on records and playing several instruments. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. The album name meaning nice outfits is an example of the subculture slang Polari explored further on the album's first track " Piccadilly Palare".Despite a brilliant three-year solo run, coming right off the back of his seminal work with the Smiths, Bona Drag was issued into a rapidly shifting UK music scene. After the dissolution of the Smiths, Moz was, quite oddly, tipped by many to struggle without his longtime songwriting partner and bandmate Johnny Marr; he wasted no time proving them wrong, releasing his debut solo single, "Suedehead", just over two months after the final Smiths single. It was a brief recovery: Morrissey's second proper album, 1991's Kill Uncle, still turned out to be a dud.

He had fallen out with producer Stephen Street, plus former Smiths bandmates Mike Joyce and Andy Rourke-- all of whom had played key roles in that successful string of hits. Packaging, like the other anniversary releases is great - printed inners, a poster (well not sure about that but. The compilation was a reminder of how fruitful this period of Morrissey's career had been when he needed it most. However, by the end of 1989 it became apparent that he would not be able to put out an album of new material soon enough.In sum, the songs are a nice addition to the Morrissey catalog, all worth hearing though none perhaps necessary. Rarely does an artist release a compilation album as his second solo album, but Morrissey is no ordinary artist, so of course he did just that. The album is also significant for including the first tracks by Morrissey to chart in the United States. Bona Drag features all of Morrissey's solo singles up to that point, two of which ("Suedehead" and "Everyday Is Like Sunday") were taken from his first solo album Viva Hate, while the others were making their first ever appearance on an album. Would highly recommend, especially if you have not got any other Morrissey albums, this would be the one to start with for me!