Morrissey Set to Release B-Side Album Swords

Old Mozzer’s of the old school: when you release a single, you put a b-side on it. Thus, because Morrissey‘s released 13 singles off his last 4 albums, he’s got an album’s worth of b-sides. That means that those of not into collecting a bunch of songs that we already own on albums just to get a bonus song can just get all the bonus songs in one handy-dandy place (no, not BitTorrent…ok, yes BitTorrent, but I meant legally).

The b-sides collection is called Swords, and comes out November 3. The album includes a live cover version of David Bowie’s 1973 song “Drive-In Saturday,” and Chrissie Hynde sings backing vocals on “Shame is the Name.” I do take issue with the fact that the press release says that Swords “features some of Morrissey’s finest material,” because if the songs were that good, they’d have made it onto a proper album. And, of course, if you buy the limited-edition version of the collection, you get a bonus disc with 8 more songs, recorded live in Warsaw earlier this year.

There is a tour in support of Swords, as well, but it’s coming nowhere near here, as it looks to be west coast only.