I Am Not a Dog on a Chain


I Am Not a Dog on a Chain is the thirteenth studio album by Morrissey, released through BMG on 20 March 2020. It is Morrissey's first album of original material since 2017's Low in High School. It was produced by Joe Chiccarelli, and lead single "Bobby, Don't You Think They Know?" features vocals from Thelma Houston.

Background

In a statement, Morrissey called the album "the very best of me" and "too good to be true too true to be considered good". Producer Joe Chiccarelli described it as Morrissey's "boldest and most adventurous album yet", claiming that he has "pushed the boundaries yet again – both musically and lyrically".
The album was produced by Joe Chiccarelli and recorded at Studio La Fabrique in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France, as well as Sunset Sound in Hollywood.

Critical reception

I Am Not a Dog on a Chain currently holds a score of 62 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on 13 reviews. Josh Modell of The A.V. Club 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 gave the album 3.5 out of five stars, with reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine 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 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, 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 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", although his "coyness undermines his apparent glee as a truth-teller".

Track listing

Personnel

Additional musicians
Technical personnel