For anyone looking to join the cult of Steven Patrick Morrissey, the line for the Kool-Aid forms here. Bona Drag is perhaps the best indoctrination into the former Smiths frontman's solo career; the compilation swipes the two best-known tracks from 1988 debut Viva Hate and adds a string of singles and b-sides that would define Morrissey's persona, sound and career for the next two decades. Bona Drag also prepared listeners for the onslaught of compilations and best-ofs to come as of this writing, a staggering six additional single-disc collections have been released — ensuring that diehard fans would end up purchasing “Everyday Is Like Sunday” five times over. (The many pitfalls of Morrissey fandom is a major digression, however.)

What makes Bona Drag such an optimal starting point is its near-complete survey of Morrissey's worldview, an outlook that can veer beyond maudlin and into abject self-pity on “Will Never Marry” and “Ouija Board, Ouija Board,” to name but two pat examples of the singer's lonely-hearted lyrics. But Morrissey's sadness is so much more well-rounded than that. “Interesting Drug” is a bubbly ode to the power of Prozac and the drudgery of middle-class life, while “Disappointed” — whose reverbed guitars eerily recall… read more »