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Ringleader Of The Tormentors
: Some great songs on here but it seems to trail off near the end. It pains me to say that the last song is a dismal failure in that it is an utter bore. Not at all the way to end an album. As much as I love Morrissey, "At last I am Born" is overtly repetitious and dull.
However, on the whole, the album is beautiful, sincere and from a far off place... which is exactly why I love the heart, soul and work of Morrissey.
 I think "Ringleader of the Tormentors" needs some more listening to really appreciate it. It proves to be better then "You are the Quarry", because there is more variation in composition besides the stilish orchestration of Ennio Morricone and the dynamic production of Toni Visconti. Morrissey himself sings very joyful with a still flexible voice and the fabulous band with three guitars and great symphonic keyboards is an experience on his own. I saw them live this week, and was very impressed by the perfect sound and show. Morrissey is back on the level of "How soon is now" from the days of the Smiths. The city of Rome must have given him special inspiration.
 Morrisey is amongst the worst of the worst.He was a vocalist of the lousy Smiths who thankfully disbanded.I cant stop stressing how bad this album is.Dont buy this awful album from this irrelevant singer.If you buy this you are a SUCKER.TO GIVE THIS ONE STAR IS BEING KIND.Get any album from great bands like PINK FLOYD,LED ZEPPELIN and DEEP PURPLE instead.
At least six of the album's 12 tracks strongly indicate that Morrissey has found love in the city in which they were recorded - Rome. 'Dear God, Please Help Me' begins with Morrissey wandering the eternal city before confessing "There are exploding kegs/Between my legs" and going on to "Then he motions to me/With his hand on my knee". Oh, Vicar! While lust has been a key theme of his work -- stretching back to the first Smiths single, "Hand in Glove," in 1983 -- it's always been of the tortured, unrequited type. What are we to think now that the ringleader of the tormented virgins has finally gotten himself laid?
Then there's 'You Have Killed Me', in which Morrissey declares, "I entered nothing and nothing entered me/'Til you came with the key". Final track 'At Last I Am Born' waltzes resolutely to its lyrical crux - that "I once was a mess/Of guilt because of the flesh/It's remarkable what you can learn/Once you are born, born, born".
So how does the new, sexed-up Morrissey actually sound? Like the old one, it's true - but with considerably more vigour. Opening track 'I Will See You In Far Off Places' whips up a sandstorm of exotically wailing guitars, presumably to evoke the war in Iraq (which perhaps inspired the lyrics). 'The Youngest Was The Most Loved' and 'The Father Who Must Be Killed', two songs about traumatised childhoods, feature chanting choirs of Italian kids (on 'Youngest...' singing, "There is no such thing as normal", a perennial Morrissey rallying cry). The drama is cranked up to almost operatic levels on two Moz epics. Arranged by Ennio Morricone (who did the music for Spaghetti Westerns like The Good, The Bad And The Ugly), 'Dear God, Please Help Me' involves thundering timpani, bells, strings and a swelling church organ, yet possesses a kind of forceful beauty which prevents it from being kitsch. 'Life Is A Pigsty', meanwhile, uses epic '80s synths, thunderstorm sound effects and what sounds like cannon fire to drive home the message that life may indeed be a pigsty, but "In the final hour of my life/I'm falling in love again".
These are the key tracks; the ones which push the Morrissey sound and which hit home the hardest. Elsewhere, Moz retreats into the patent jangly pop which seems to be his 'default' setting. But even here there are special moments from the effortless, gliding middle section of 'In The Future When All's Well' to the fluttering melody line of 'I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now'. Lyrically, Morrissey is dramatically sincere rather than flip or funny, with a slight sprinkling of obscure cultural references to tease and intrigue long-term Morrissey watchers. In 'You Have Killed Me', Moz self-identifies the great Italian directors Pasolini and Visconti - both of whom, it may be noted, were gay. What's clear is that 'Ringleader Of The Tormentors' sees Morrissey not only in wonderful voice, but more intriguing and alive than at any time in his solo career. And after just a few listenings you start to realize it reframes every other Morrissey album before it as mere foreplay.
You idiot!
By the way this album rocks.
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