I agree with you. I think a significant reason Morrissey has made good albums since The Smiths is no doubt largely because of talented collaborators. He has his own talents, but putting those chords and structures onto paper is something I'm not sure he is capable of. Morrissey definitely knows who and what he can feed off. He knows how to make partnerships which in turn feed into decent albums.

I'm a big fan of the Velvets and have most of Lou Reed's solo stuff. Lou Reed is a musician, writes songs lyrically and structurally, and has sustained it over half a century. You can't really argue with that and the body of work is immense. I think I was one of the only people in the world who really enjoyed Lulu too. Perversity knows no bounds. I put it on the other day in the car and was really into it. It's the only time I have ever tolerated Metallica.