Ringleader Of The Tormentors |  | Artist: Morrissey
Label: Decca - Pop
Category: Music
List Price: £8.99
Buy Used: £0.76
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New (43) Used (19) Collectible (2) from £0.76
Seller: zoverstocks
Rating:  44 reviews
Sales Rank: 5656
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Running Time: 50 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 4.9 x 0.4
EAN: 5050749301628
ASIN: B000E8R9NE
Release Date: February 26, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | I Will See You In Far Off Places | | • | Dear God, Please Help Me | | • | You Have Killed Me | | • | The Youngest Was The Most Loved | | • | In The Future When All's Well | | • | The Father Who Must Be Killed | | • | Life Is A Pigsty | | • | I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now | | • | On The Streets I Ran | | • | To Me You Are A Work Of Art | | • | I Just Want To See The Boy Happy | | • | At Last I Am Born |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
Take a long hard look at that man gracing the cover of IRingleader of the Tormentors/I; caught mid-concerto, tempered by lofty eloquence, gliding towards a crescendo of instrumental distinction. Who's he trying to kid exactly!? Ever since The Smiths disbanded and he was deserted by Johnny Marr, Morrissey's work has only really been musical by association. He's more parts lyricist than he is straight poet, you see, relying as much on the emotive reach of his mighty vocal as his articulate depression. He needs melodic accompaniment, but it's hardly been the focus. The image does still work though, as a metaphor. Name, if you can, a greater performer of pathos, a finer maestro of the maudlin. p If he is widely accepted as having been through a fallow period of creativity prior to 2004s comeback classic IYou Are The Quarry/I then he's hammering the counterpoint now. Two albums into his renaissance and we find Moz more tender, more cinematic and, if possible, more serious than ever. p Fittingly it is much more orchestral too. Take "Dear God, Please Help Me", as self pitying as expected, only bound in silk and suspended just above the depths you'd otherwise expect to find him in. And album centrepiece, the equally dolefully titled "Life is a Pigsty", which begins with a peaking "How Soon Is Now" template before descending into a spellbinding Prozac-comedown in the orchestra pit, with bruises as evidence. The emotion feels that much rawer this time. This is not an indie disco record, it has more timeless aspirations. --IJames Berry/I
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 44
 Morrissey - Ringleader of the Tormentors April 26, 2006
RachelWalker (England)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Some artists can do no wrong. Morrissey is not one of them. Johnny Marr might have been, but not Morrissey, and that's why his solo career has been so patchy. To my mind, Morrissey (indeed, The Smiths when he was with them too) has always been more of a singles man than an albums one (with Your Arsenal and Vauxhall I being slight exceptions, and even the latter, in my opinion, has a few ropey self-indulgent moments). Which is what makes Ringleader of the Tormentors so special: spurred on by Visconti, Morrissey has actually produced a proper album, rather than three or four great songs interspersed with a few mediocre ones, such as on the last album, You Are the Quarry (with Irish Blood English Heart, First of the Gang to Die, Let Me Kiss You and I Like You all being great, but the rest just serviceable). This is a different story.
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br /Like all great albums, this requires a few listens before you appreciate it. It did me. Had to listen through a couple of times, pick a few songs at random to listen to, before I thought "hang on a minute, this album is actually great!" Morrissey's wit-tempered-morbidity is in fine fettle, as good as ever, but what sets this album apart from his others is the music. The arrangements are muscular, they're layered and much, much richer than ever before. THAT's what makes this album so good. The richness of the music, the orchestration, the variety of instrumenatation, all mean this album reveals more the more you listen to it, and so has far greater longevity in the old record collection than some of his albums. Some of Visconti's input is inspired: the kid's choir chanting in the background in both "The Youngest was The Most Loved" and "The Father Who Must Be Killed" are absolutely inspired, and make me break out in a grin, despite the homicidal nature of both songs. It's absolute genius.
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br /Ringleader of the Tormentors is a rich, varied album (musically and lyrically). Opening with the Middle-Eastern tinged "I Will See You in Far Off Places", it moves through the elegant strings and shocking sentiment of "Dear God, Please Help Me" through the rollicking "Youngest Was The Most Loved" and "Father Who Must Be Killed" to the epic 7-minute wonder that is "Life Is A Pigsty" and closes with the wonderfully uplifting "At Last I Am Born", which vies with "Vauxhall I"'s "Speedway" for the crown of Morrissey's best album closer.
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br /Obviously, that's not to say it's flawless. The second half of the album is not as good as the first, and lacks a standout track. Indeed, a couple don't really distinguish themselves and one should probably have been cut out to stop the last half from dragging ever so slightly. None of the individual songs here are as immediately catching as the first 3 singles from "You Are the Quarry" (but being more musically complex, they probably wouldn't be). Other than that, it's a great album. Morrissey's lyrics are as good as ever (though I can't say I get all the fuss about Morrissey suddenly being interested in sex. Surely Morrissey has been referring to sex - obliquely or otherwise - for years and years? ("Handsome Devil"?)
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br /Anyway, as I say, none of the tracks are as immediate as any from the last album, but overall and as a whole this a better, more rounded, more listenable album. It takes a listen or two, but it is almost certainly the best of his solo career.
Give it time!!! April 15, 2006
Lucy
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I only just recently got into Morrissey since discovering You Are The Quarry, and now I'm into him in a BIG way!! On first hearing 'Ringleader' I was very disappointed, I was hoping for another 'Quarry' but that isn't what the new album is about at all. Although not originally overly taken with the songs I kept listening as I can't get enough of that voice. NOW.... I can't get enough of this album. It's brilliant and well worth a place in your collection. It is definitely a grower, and once you reach that point where it reaches you, it's addictive. Its the only album I've been listening to since I got it. So just be patient with it.....and I guarentee it'll grab you and hold your attention for a long time to come.
Majestic Mozza! April 15, 2006
Muso (Scotland)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
At first I didn't think ROTT had the depth of '...Quarry' but I think it takes a few listens as you then realise this is HAPPY Morriseey. Is this a new concept? By far the best track on the album is 'The Youngest was the Most Loved'. I think Mozza is going back a few years on this one reflecting on his childhood. I love the way so many people analyse a new Morrissey album. All I say is sit back, listen and let it all sink in. Who cares what meaning it's supposed to put forward. At least you know it is supposed to be personal. Other stand out tracks are 'I Will See You In Far Off Places', 'Life in a Pigsty' and 'At Last I Am Born'. Mozza's still has it!
quality June 30, 2007
C. Chalk
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I only bought this album because it was so cheap and Morrissey had a famous name - but I'm so pleased with it I would now pay triple the price. I love Morrisseys soaring, warbling voice - fantastic to try to repeat in the shower and that must be good for your vocal chords and hormonal well being. Morrisseys minimalist lyrics just glow in their unashamed banality. There seems to be a common theme of approaching death but of still being the same and needing to love. The keystone piece for me is 'Life is a PigSty'. If feels like an epic journey through love and death, Dr Zhivago condensed into a rich 7 minutes. If this had been used as a funeral dirge in a popular film like '4 weddings and a funeral' it would now be etched into the nations consciousness, Morrissey would have a CBE and 'Life is a PigSty' be would be an everyday phrase of common use.
Moz does it again... April 4, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Although this album doesn't feature the obvious hooks of You Are The Quarry, it is, nonetheless, superb. It does take some listening to, however - the album becomes something really special about halfway through the seventh track, Life is a Pigsty (which is, I think, surely as much of an anthem as Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now). There is a naughty quotation from T.Rex in The Father Who Must be Killed, and Mozzer's lyrics are as sharp as even (the best lyricist since Cole Porter, perhaps?)Tony Visconti produces, and perhaps the CD foregrounds Rome rather too much. On this point, the interior photo of Moz is rather interesting - seated on Lambreta, with an old camera in hand and wearing an overcoat and cravat, sprayed on the wall behind him is the legend SMASH BUSH - as ever, Morrisey is beyond the narrow concerns of politics. Like Bowie, Morrisey is probably rather reactionary is party political terms, but is entirely radical in another sense, as a self-fashioned aesthete.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 44
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