Southpaw Grammar

Made at Hook End Manor in March and April 1995, it was released by RCA in Britain and Reprise in the United States. Steve Lillywhite produced it again. It reached number four in Britain and 66 in the United States, and went silver in Britain. Morrissey and Alain Whyte wrote the songs, and the critical response was mixed.

It differed from his earlier records. Two tracks pass ten minutes, Spencer Cobrin's drum solo of nearly two and a half minutes opens "The Operation", and a Shostakovich symphony is sampled. AllMusic called it his art rock album. Spin heard it building on the rockabilly and glam of Your Arsenal rather than the studio polish of Vauxhall and I. The sleeve shows the boxer Kenny Lane, and Morrissey said the title refers to the school of hard knocks. The singles were "Dagenham Dave", which reached number 26 in August 1995, and "The Boy Racer", which reached number 36 in December.

Reviews split. The Los Angeles Times called it his most musically dynamic album since The Smiths, and Rolling Stone called it his most powerful solo outing to date. Uncut wrote in 2009 that it seemed the point where the British public fell out of love with him. Blender called it ugly, noisy and grumpy, and Stereogum later named it his peak. A 2009 remaster reordered the tracks and added "Honey, You Know Where to Find Me", "You Should Have Been Nice to Me", "Fantastic Bird" and the B-side "Nobody Loves Us".