• Record Label: Sire
  • Release Date: Mar 6, 2026
Metascore
59

Mixed or average reviews - based on 15 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 15
  2. Negative: 1 out of 15
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  1. 60
    There are some pretty decent tunes on his 14th album, Make-Up is a Lie. .... But instead of falling face-first into music as we once did and enjoying a good old wallow in self-pity, we must now approach it as a minefield.
  2. Mar 3, 2026
    60
    Sometimes predictably frustrating, sometimes pleasingly fresh, Make-up Is A Lie is a reminder that Morrissey probably couldn’t stop at this stage of the game, much less change. [Mar 2026, p.100]
  3. Mar 5, 2026
    50
    Morrissey’s singular personality is on full display, and just as uncompromising as ever, but sitting through an entire album of his musings and moanings circa 2026 is less than fun.
  4. 50
    Flashes of quality make the album all the more frustrating. If the lyrics came anywhere near his halcyon days, the shortcomings might matter less.
  5. Mar 3, 2026
    50
    Mostly, he avoids dicey subject matter for solid autobiographical songwriting - see "Lester Bangs" - and, less happily, sullen self-pity. [Mar 2026, p.76]
  6. 40
    The most devoted of devotees will get a kick out of this album, but even they will struggle to ignore its flaws, or how genuinely fed up – rather than his usual showboating – Morrissey sounds at times.
  7. Mar 6, 2026
    40
    Any substantial appeal Make-Up Is a Lie holds is just a hangover from the very same love letters: residual affection for the hallucinated stranger who wrote some songs you may have once leaned upon.
  8. Mar 3, 2026
    40
    Make-Up Is a Lie rarely rises above the level of a Facebook-posting uncle who watches too much Tucker Carlson. ..... Which is a shame, since, musically speaking, this is one of his most musically eclectic albums in years, proof that he still has a sharp ear for arrangements.

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