Morrissey's album, California Son, contains covers of a diverse variety of tracks from the '60s and '70s including music originally recorded by Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison as well as music by Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon. The former Smiths' frontman collaborates here with the likes of Billie Joe Armstrong (Wedding Bell Blues), Ed Droost, Ariel Engle, Sameer Gadhia, and Lydia Night.

As the lead singer of the Smiths, arguably the most important indie band in Britain during the '80s, Morrissey's theatrical crooning and literate, poetic lyrics -- filled with romantic angst, social alienation, and cutting wit -- connected powerfully with a legion of similarly sensitive, disaffected youth. These fans turned the Smiths into stars in Britain, exerting tremendous pull over much of the country's guitar-based music for many years after their breakup, and even if the group remained underground cult artists in the States, they had a fan base that slowly, steadily grew larger over the years. Indeed, a few years after the Smiths' breakup in 1987, Morrissey's American cult had grown to the point where he became more popular in the U.S. than in his homeland, where he nevertheless was never far from the music press headlines.
 
Selections:
Side 1:
1. Morning Starship
2. Don't Interrupt The Sorrow
3. Only A Pawn In Their Game
4. Suffer The Little Children
5. Days Of Decision
6. It's Over
Side 2:
1. Wedding Bell Blues (feat. Billie Joe Armstrong)
2. Loneliness Remembers What Happiness Forgets
3. Lady Willpower
4. When You Close Your Eyes
5. Lenny's Tune
6. Some Say I Got Devil