Wonder how long before Morrissey's lawyers get a hold of this news.

I don't think the promo copy of the album is to blame for the widespread availability of the songs. The promo is copy protected and was of little use from a file sharing point of view. The Amazon stream was probably far more use as a means of getting the album so soon, and has been cleaned up and reposted in cd quality too. If the record company didn't want the album available why did they allow Amazon to release the stream in the first place. Seems insane for a company in the apparent financial difficulties as Sanctuary is to see that as a positive move. Promo copies have also appeared on Ebay over the last couple of weeks so maybe Sanctuary need to look at who was given them too, although it matters not now. I will still buy the album but casual fans may not need to after this.

I think that if these downloads continue it will have a very big negative impact on the sales of the album. I think that many people tend to listen to albums online before they go out and purchase them, unless they are hard core fans. I think many of the middle of the road fans are going to listen to the album online and not bother purchasing the album, because it just not good enough.

I guess time will tell.

Well if they didnt want it to be leaked - why make it available to stream the album on amazon?

The quality was very poor, and you really can't make something bad any better. Any fan who would then want higher quality would buy the album. So, the fact that the stream was ripped to mp3 means nothing, really.

A bit of a piss-take. I'd be very annoyed if i'd worked on something & it'd been leaked. I'd at least be asking some questions about the integrity of my record company & who they're giving promos to.

I haven't listened to it, the people i know who have will be buying a copy, but this could be quite disastrous for record sales if those who don't need to own every record Morrissey's ever released start downloading it.
Maybe we should have a whip-round for him?

Really???

y.a.t.q was leaked long before its release date and still managed a number two position,if record companys give away promos then they should expect a leak!,the tracks that ive heard are xcellent and i cant wait to buy the album and single in all its formats.
its a fact that all premier league albums will be leaked its just when!

is the fact that it was cleaned up and hart to tell it is a stream. but it's still a poor audio quality mp3..some may listen to it and think the album isn't good, or his singing isn't good because of the quality of the leaks.

the fans should have never attempted to 'clean' or 'fix' the amzon stream. it was good enough to hide the stream but still left with a shitty sounding audio quality.

I saw the torrent link in one of the last weeks threads.

The whole album, not so great mp3 quality tough.

Better album than i expected, I tend to 'shield' myself by not expecting much from important things.

Spent the day listening to an advance copy. This record needs to be listened to on good equipment, the production is wonderful, the vocal is outstanding and Life is a pigsty is truely remarkable. Do not waste time downloading a copy as to do so will ruin this record for you.Dear God please help me is sublime, the morricone influence can be lost if the lyrical "content" is dwelled upon too long and what a shame that would be.The Childrens choir singing "there is no such thing in life as normal" should make you laugh or cry...fantastic!!
Do not underestimate the sterling work that Visconti has done on this record and play alone, loud and very late....remarkable record....9/10 and nothing less

What a great album! Im in love! Dear God Please Help Me is absolutely Beautiful. Downloading it and listening to it has made me want to buy it so much more.

Cant cant wait....but will have to

They released the album to Amazon after a couple of middling reviews from two magazines.

They know an album like this can sell on word of mouth so they decided to go over the critics heads direct to the fans. It is a wonderful album, word will spread, and it will sell.

It just shows their confidence in it's quality and their belief that people will recognise it's quality if they hear it for themselves instead of reading reviews.

The article at albumvote.co.uk doesn't suggest that Sanctuary didn't want the album to leak, or that Sanctuary is upset by the leak. If that were the case, phone calls, etc, would have been reported by now. It's been nearly a week now that the album's been available. It seems pretty ridiculous to me to imagine that Sanctuary didn't know what they were doing. (I know they're nearly bankrupt financially, but still, give them some credit.) Statements like 'If Sanctuary didn't want the album to leak, they shouldn't have ________' seem slightly pointless when it makes much more sense that Sanctuary WANTED the album to leak.

love
math+

thank you so much. i couldn't wait! i'll probably purchase the cd. morrissey may need to make his money by TOURING in the US. I'll surely go!

it just says "warning warning warning"wtf?

a tiny proportion of the record buying public. it makes absolutely f*** all difference.
think about it: a really popular poll here at Morrissey solo gets about 4,000 votes. You are the Quarry sold 350,000 copies in the UK alone so only around 1% are interested in the Morrissey internet thing and, of those, only a small proportion bother with downloading. I never have and many others feel the same way, so the extent to which ROTT is available online before its release date really makes bugger all difference to sales. most people have much more important things to do with their time than fanny around on the internet downloading stuff and, to be quite frank, thank the lord for that!
J

Fans indicted for pirated Ryan Adams tunes
by Brooks Boliek

WASHINGTON (Hollywood Reporter) - A pair of apparent Ryan Adams fans ran afoul of a new law making it a crime to publish songs before their release to the general public when they made portions of the singer's latest album available on a Web site frequented by his fans, federal authorities said Thursday.

FULL ARTICLE [reuters.co.uk]

I want to hear it all... Im still gonna buy everything he releases so its not gonna stop me from buying. I still have all my pre-orders lined up.

I find it bizarre that this website acts as a hub for people leaching Morrisseys yet to be released work. All the direct downloads for the ROTT pre-release are freely, easily available on posts on the general message board from this very website. I am aware that the physical computers where these are hosted are not owned by davidt, but he wont actually owns the servers where the text links to the MP3's are posted also. So who is responsible? IMO the person who owns the site that acts as a hub or a haven to access morrisseys unreleased works.

I have not seen one person complain that clearly ileagal mp3s have been linked from this website, which I guess suprises me a little. There isn't much of an argument really, it's just ileagal.

On the other hand I am aware this is a fan site and people are dying to hear new music...it still dosen't make it right though.

I would say that really the only people who care about the leaked version are the really dedicated fans, most of whom come to this site, who are eager to hear the new material and I'm certain that the general public or casual fans couldn't care less but will buy the singles or albums as a result of airplay. No disrespect to Moz but it's not as though this is like when Jacko released Bad, his first album after Thriller and the worldwide anticipation was massive and promo singles were being transported to radio stations under guarded security. If people think the music is good then they will want to have a proper copy in their collection, although there does seem to be a whole load of people who seem to think that downloading and leeching is harmless which I disagree with and these people are usually bone-idle, quick fix, so-entertain-me types that have no real passion for music. Anybody that downloads the entire back catalogue of an artist, therefore avoiding paying the artist for their living cannot consider themselves to be a true fan. The leak won't really affect the sales made by true fans.

I doubt this really cuts into sales, but anyway ... I work at a newspaper and our reviewer has had his copy of the CD at home. Try as I may, he hasn't made me a copy (that piece of shite). But am sure there are other reviewers around the world who have no problem "leaking" the album. It's really no mystery how it gets online to the p2p networks.

yes they shouldnt have let it be streamed on amazon
but after the release of quarry and 2 months later a special deluxe version of the album with all the b -sides for £2 more than the origianl release will surely prompt fans to download the album as a file and wait till the deluxe album is released so not parting with their money twiceand getting a better product

and it really is terrible! the lyrics are well written, but the songs aren't any good..
after the comeback of YATQ this is a comedown...
i enjoyed almost every album instantly, i hope it will grow on me..

that and, ever read Nietzsche? some things about the lyrics of the album remind me of the kind of mentality he had just before he went mad, with the tracks like 'Father Who Must Be Killed' and 'At Last I Am Born'..

Im going to buy it when its released dont worry..

Who wrote each individual song on the album?

Probably sound fairly dense, but where can u get the album? I cant find it anywhere

Holy crap, Morrissey!!!

What kind of lyrics are these???

I've listened it, i will buy it of course because i am a fan until 1984. That said, i don't like Jesse Tobias music. It's simply stuckable. I can't listen it for more than 5 minutes. I like Boz Boorer music, do not dislike Alain Whyte, but i really hate Jesse Tobias. And, of course, i am completely in love with Johnny Marr's music. I know it's over, the Smiths will never be again, but i say "better nothing than Jesse Tobias". YATQ was a great album, ROTT will be a complete flop, you'll see.

for those who don't LOVE the new album, please keep listening. It truly is wonderful. I can't wait for the cd release. To hear Morrissey in all his brilliance is so uplifting.

Only because I love the new album so much, I've rashly booked a flight to Tulsa. So, well, that's at least one ticket (we'll see if anybody wants to give me a lift to OK City) and probably a couple t-shirts sold directly because of the leak. And, yes, I have so far preordered three copies of the album (t-shirt, t-shirt, Amazon stream).

love
math+

not as truely awful as kill uncle or malajusted - but this is a very weak album - and yeah jessie's music is teribly weak. its very much like a band despertaly trying to find a tune in them somewhere - but its not there. the only good songs are 'father who must be killed' and 'life is a pigsty'which both sound like alain? the lyrics arent great on the whole either - although they do offer hope which is nice - but theres a lot of retread teritory here too - out of ideas musically and lyrically i think.. i dont understand why people would bother spending time and money to record something as feeble as this.....

i think the album is amazing. probably moz's second best solo effort in my opinion. im blown away by it. but this is coming from a fan who likes kill uncle, and thinks VandI is over-rated.

is the best Morrissey album yet. I have been listening to it for over a week now, and I must confes, it’s absolutely brilliant. It’s much, much better than YATQ.

It's his "coming of age" album. It's been long overdue, but it was worth the wait.

This is the first Morrissey album that feels like a whole. He sings with an urgency I haven’t heard on many of his solo efforts. All the songs work wonderfully together. You can hear the golden talent shine through that won us all over in the past.

Thanks Morrissey, you have rekindled my faith in you.

Here are the songwriting credits for those who wanted them:

'Far Off Places' (Morrissey/Tobias)
'Dear God' (Morrissey/Tobias)
'You Have Killed Me' (Morrissey/Tobias)
'Youngest' (Morrissey/Tobias)
'Future' (Morrissey/Tobias)
'Pigsty' (Morrissey/Whyte)
'Father' (Morrissey/Whyte)
'Hero Now' (Morrissey/Whyte)
'Streets I Ran' (Morrissey/Whyte)
'Work Of Art' (Morrissey/Whyte)
'See The Boy Happy' (Morrissey/Whyte)
'At Last I Am' (Morrissey/Whyte)

Make of this what you will, but neither of them have excelled as far as I can see.

There's still no better feeling than walking into a record shop, handing over the money, and buying the latest Morrissey album.

You can stick yer MP3's or what have yer up your arse.

Have just listened to the whole album. Wow! Much better then Quarry. I love the man , but God is Moz bad at picking singles! Why o why is The Youngest was the Most Loved not the first single It is truly breath-taking. Can't wait to go out and buy the hard copy now. Viva Moz!

I´ve come here to defend Ringleader. It´s simply not fair what some people are doing here. They are lying. DO NOT believe them. If this album is either bad or mediocre as theýre saying I´d like then to have them answer me ONE question. WHAT ON EARTH AND HELL would YOU like RINGLEADER to be like THEN? YES. Tell me.

It´s the best Morrissey solo-record and I will not compare it to the Smiths era because, let´s face it, no band WILL EVER release anything as brilliant as that.

But Morrissey does get close here! The album has at least 10 singles! Yes, out of 12, 10 could be number 1 hits by any other artist. The difference is Morrissey is not THEM.

I cannot just let these people bash the album and remain in silence. I want an answer. If RINGLEADER is not what you wanted, WHAT IS IT THEN YOU PEOPLE WANTED?

TELL US! You’re all cowards. You’re ugly. And it’s a beautiful, extremely accomplished album. Morrissey’s most accomplished so far.

And don’t come with this “explosive kegs” lyric repulsion because , admit, YOU could not take it this time. He has been even more explicit in past songs. YOU simply have to reject it. That would be too much , uh?

I love the bitter lyricism of the album against the most fantastic tunes Morrissey has ever written a lyric to.

And the singing is amazing. The choir is awesome. The playing, oh GOD!

Believe ME.

RINGLEADER is a pleasure to the ears, to the body, to the soul ,to the heart and to the mind!!!!

Just got my hands on the promo cd files.
Unlike the Amazon Stream files, the sound's great.
Couldn't wait another 3 weeks. I could die!Run over by a double decker bus or whatever.
After the 10th listen here are my humble thoughts:
It works as a fantastic grower.
This is a great album. Moz heart and soul are in it. The band sounds great,the songs are amazing,TV's production is stunning. Moz sings in such an urgency. This album will not disappoint the true fans.It's truly beautiful. I have been a fan for 20 years and the Man still blows my mind away.
And no i don't feel guilty to have downloaded the album as i have been buying every album & single for the past 20 years and will keep on doing so.
Southpaw Boxer

"Jon Turner" is really the vindictive, malicious spiteful "broken" who has plagued this site for years with his filthy lies.
He is attempting to create a credible username in "Jon Turner" for the sole intention of trolling his most feared enemy, freeyourself.
Don't be taken in by this vile dog.

Love the ALBUM !!!

Dear God Please Help Me blows Chimps though...

SOOO Sappy in a 1980's "Turn on the Heartlight" kind of cheese. These must be the 2 major types of Morrissey Obsessives. Those who like Dear God and Camden the best and then there is the rest of us....

Dear God Please Skip Me
Or Better Yet burn a CD without me upon

I motion to him with my finger on seek
Dear God Please Skip Me

Great Album.... Many sections remind me of R.E.M.

Peace !

Let's face if folks, ROTT sucks ass! It's boring at best. Total snoozer. Are these songs all canned YATQ tracks?

If you want some real music then pick up Belle & Sebastian's 'The Life Pursuit'! Move over Morrissey, Stuart has picked up the reigns!!

Who cares......single lame.....album excruciating.......morrissey being his usual....video as bad as Girls Aloud's......also watched tv's ode to the NME and recoiled at the hideous way Moz took "centre stage".....even as a smiths/moz fan, I never ever bought the NME as a Moz tribute rag....more because it was a great music paper.....bet you don't see Moz refuting the programmmes claims that he "sold copy" though......Moz.....I do love you, and as Dick Emery said, you are awful, but you are the most hideous sell-out of the true greats.....even bowie keeps a lowish profile....oh i forgot, you invited him on stage years ago to get credibility and then slagged him off......similar to what you did to Geldof before Live Aid (in a caravan, I was there....be afraid !!!).....I don't need more ammunition.......SELL OUT !..........

Tramp with a Guitar

I have downloaded the whole Album from Limewire and it is excellent quality, I cant stop playing it, however it wont stop me buying it when it is released.

This is unbelievable (or believable) depending
on your viewpoint. I imagine that it must also be quite frustrating for someone, somewhere,
say 24hours from Tulsa.