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22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
will please long-time fans and may just convert a few..., April 4, 2006
it must not be easy being morrissey. few people will ever wield the mozfather's potent influnce and no matter the occassional slip ups, morrissey's secured his place on the mt. rushmore of 'indie/alternative'rock. this is a mixed blessing, of course. he can release records that sell well, sell-out live shows night after night, and keep his name in the news (most recently boycotting canada to protest the seal hunt). but it makes one wonder if morrissey's popularity and iconic stature somehow quash his enormous songwriting ability. some fans will unfortunately (and unfairly) compare it to any number of smiths' albums, and more will probably compare it to any number of moz solo offerings. some will find it bland. some will find it exhilirating. for me, the album is somewhere in the middle of either extreme.
coming on the heals of 'you are the quarry, morrissey'(the career rejuvenator so many critics correctly called it), 'ringleaders of the tormentors' is a slight departure from the new milennial morrissey. 'ringleaders' is much ballsier record than its predecessor, and the album's better for it. the problem with 'you are the quarry' was the similarity of so many of the songs. despite some noteworthy singles, much of the album sounded painfully similar in tone and style and were unfortunately instantly forgettable.
'ringleaders,' however, starts out with the muscular 'i will see you in far-off places.' it's a song that probably would've fit nicely on 'your arsenal.' the nuanced middle-eastern inspired guitar is a nice touch. mozzer sounds much more confident and lets his trademark vocals work within the song instead of trying to upstage it. 'you have killed me,' the first single, is a distinctly morrissey song with a distinctly morrissey melody. it's a nice song, but the not the knock-out punch you'd hope to hear from a lead single. 'the future's all well' is a suprisingly upbeat song that lets us know mozzer may not be the mope too many assume he is. 'i'll never be anybody's hero now' may be an all-too-clever poke at his own celebrity and stardom. 'to me you are a work of art' and 'the youngest was the most loved' are other highlights, the latter with the line, 'there is no such thing in life as normal. 'morrissey's band has always been a bit underrated and underappreciated. on 'ringleaders' they sound more like a part of the band instead of backing players shoving the ego into the spotlight.
in the end what makes 'ringleaders' work as well is done is the variety of the songs. after all, any good album is about the songs and 'ringleaders' sees some of morrissey's best melodies and music since 'vauxhall.' highly recommened.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another Solid Effort...Songs for the Dying...All of Us, April 5, 2006
Morrissey is a genius. OK, now that that is out of the way.
I always find Morrissey albums somewhat inconsistent. There are songs that I find to be truly great and I can listen to them and sing with them over and over. Then, there are his ones that sound like he was willing to take almost any music and sing over it like it doesn't really matter what the music is. Bottom Line: Who he collaborates with is important.
This album is a bit of a departure because he writes some songs with Alain Whyte (long time collaborator) but most of the others are with his touring guitarist Jesse Tobias. One song is with Mike Farrell, his keyboard player. No songs are written with Boz Boorer, another long time collaborator.
Thematically, the album is interesting because he seems to be writing more about his own mortality. He has always had a morbid streak, however, there tended to be more poetry and humor involved. Now, in his mid-40s, there seems to be more detached views about what life is given that it's soon to end. It's not a sad outlook; it's more a peaceful resignation. Or, maybe it's just me since I am only a couple of years younger. Anyway, to the songs...
The Best:
-I will See You in Far Off Places - A heavy, middle eastern flavored Alain Whyte song. Very much on the mid-life crisis theme. "Nonbody knows what human life is. Why we come, why we go." Somewhat optimistic in its answer of "I will see you..."
-Dear God Please Help Me(Whyte) - A somber, string oriented song with surprisingly open lyrics about sex given Morrissey's public non-sexual stances of the past.
-The single "You Have Killed Me" is great. It's a Jesse Tobias song. It's a classic Morrissey rocker with the totally exaggerated emotional context (You have killed me. Yes, I walk around...somehow) but ending with the fatalistic leap into acceptance (I always forgive you). A nice touch is that right before the requisite forgiveness, he sings, "There's no point saying it again" because, of course, he has ended songs with these melodramatic touches so many times before. It's an homage to himself. In the middle, there is an existential plea, "Piazza Cavour, what's my life for?" It's interesting that Morrissey's singles are clearly designed to be singles, however, they still do not meet the American style of singles that would allow them to be hits.
-The Youngest Was the Most Loved (also Tobias) - Another heavier guitar song. A loved boy becomes a killer. Who knows why? "There is no such thing in life as normal."
-Life is a Pigsty (Whyte): When I looked at the lyric sheet and saw that it was going to repeat "Life is a pigsty" about 10 times in a row, I thought "oh no". However, that section of the song is very beautiful and the repetition with slightly different emphasis each time really does conjure the image of just slopping our way through life as best we can. The songs ends on a death bed but still "falling in love again." Again, somewhat optimistic.
-I'll Never be Anyone's Hero Now (Whyte): A song about a true love dying. Open-eyed at the truth: "It only hurts because it's true".
-On the Streets I Ran (Tobias) - Another rocker. It's about overcoming your own past andwanting to know "when will I be where I should be". It ends with an irrationally simplistic plea that others should die in one's place and "just spare me."
Some comments on a couple of lesser tunes:
-"In the Future When All is Well" is interesting lyrically for it's somewhat ironic (sarcastic?) statements that things will always be better in some hoped for future but ending with "the future is ended by a long, long sleep"
-At Last I am Born - Written with the keyboard player, this has a very unusual structure. I am interpeting that it is more existential in nature but it can also be related to the sexual theme of Dear God Please Help Me.
As I said, Morrissey is always somewhat inconsistent. But, the great songs are often so great that they justify the rest. It's true for this CD. And, I hope he keeps exploring the themes around aging and mortality. Everyone grows up and old with a cohort of people. Having Morrissey singing his generation (which includes me) through this will make for a more interesting ride..."stretch out and wait..."
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This album slowly grows on you!, August 16, 2006
Initially the first four tracks of the album may overwhelm the rest of the songs, making the album appear rather weak. However after you listen to the album for more than a handful of times the gap is bridged and there is a nice flow between the songs and it sounds like a cohesive unit. There is a way to speed up this process: Listen to tracks #5 and beyond separately for a few times, so they don't get overwhelmed by the first four :-)
If you like Morrissey/The Smiths you will find a lot of the things you like (in terms of music and lyrics) in here.
As far as which bundle to get, if you must have the bonus features of the CD/DVD set (which I think do not justify the additional cost), then go for that. Otherwise just get the audio CD like I did. You can instead earmark those funds towards the purchase "Who put the M in Manchester" or "Live at Earls court" :-)
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