Checking it out now. 'I Will See You In Far Off Places' sounds like some fucking rip off of 'Aladdin'. Listen carefully.

anyone else got the same problem?

I am very impressed. I expected a mediocre album like maladjusted (not like that would be horrible), but this is great. On the other hand I did think Southpaw Grammer was a great album.

wait until the album comes out!

I Will See You In Far-off Places

Nice, chugging drums and heavier industrial feel. I love the vocals, but this one sounds like a missed opportunity. It could have been dramatic and truly heavy, but instead it sounds like a mixture of Alsatian Cousin and Maladjusted with an Eastern feel. It's a good start to the album and paves the way for the weepy at number 2 on the tracklist.
7/10

Dear God Please Help Me

Stunning. It's more delicate than anything Morrissey's put down on record before, except perhaps for the ghostly "Maudlin" and "I Know It's Over." Beautiful vocal medlody and touchingly amusing words leave you feeling slightly unsure if it's a happy song or a sad song. Gloriously orchestrated with nice use of gentle percussion avoiding the standard work-a-day drum sound of quarry and incorporating strings to far better effect than any other morrissey album track except perhaps "Angel."
10/10

You Have Killed Me

A definite grower. Sounded very good as a single, if not quite of the standard of the quarry singles; as an album track it's perfectly placed within the tracklist and really gets the album up to a poppy pace after the less mainstream opening duo. Nice plaintive verse and euphoric chorus, and some gorgeous lyrical touches.

9/10

The Youngest Was The Most Loved

Sounded bland on the mp3 files. It sounds markedly better here due to the stirling production work. Lyrically wonderful with the usual offbeat Morrissey theme and doomed imagery. Musically, this still feels underwhelming. Iy huffs and it puffs and it sounds like a southpaw grammar cast-off.
5/10 (4/10 without the great lyrics)

In The Future When All's Well
Morrissey at his pop best. It's got a lovely melancholic feel, which it pulls off in spite of its glammy pretentions. Nice song structure; good lyrics and memorable guitar solo. The riffs aren't quite as memorable as T Rex or Slade but overall this is a very good song and a potential hit single.
8/10

The Father Who Must Be Killed
Combines the quirky feel of "Kill Uncle" with a harsher Morrissey rock sound. This is how Kill Uncle should probably have sounded. Lyrically majestic and musically rewarding with a classic Morrissey lyric towards the close, "just as a motherless bird flies high, so shall I"
9/10

Life is a pigsty
A rousing, emotive ending, and a beginning that seems to be building towards something without ever quite taking off - rather like "I Know It's Over." Lyrically, it's the tried-and-tested formula, and musically it's not as audacious as the hype suggests but it makes good use of atmospherics and it's certainly a very good song. The problem is it could have sounded so much better with a braver attempt to make something extraordinary out of it. It sounds slightly influenced by massive attack at the beginning and you can hear radiohead's "exit music" throughout the song, especially towards the end; yet it never creates a compellingly individual feel in the way those two groups often do in their best songs. It could have been more atmospheric, and it could have featured louder guitars and a more inspiring bass line. The review of this song should read "very good - but must must try harder." Be braver next time and go all the way!
9/10 but could and should have been 10/10

I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now

Stunningly sung. This one sounds too melodramatic for words! Very witty and has a warm, sensual feel. Just a very good Morrissey song with a beautiful vocal and melodically soaring middle eight.
8.5/10

On The Streets I Ran

Wonderful playing by the band and a very nice melody and lyrics. It's just a bloody good song and far better than any of the meat and 2 veg stuff on maladjusted or southpaw grammar.
8/10

To Me You Are A Work of Art

workaday Morrissey song, albeit a lovely one. Again, far better than the maladjusted flip side. Nice singing and production touches elevate it above the standard rock sound.
7.5/10

I Just Want To See The Boy

Read the rest of this comment...

i wanted to wait till the album is out, but i couldn't anymore... so i heard it and i loved every second of it. i'm listening to it right now, for the third time straight and i'm loving it even more with every minute... this soooo made my day!

who was a moderator on the Morrisseymusic boards?

BEST. ALBUM. EVER.

LEAGUES better than Quarry.

Amazing. Beautiful. Brilliant.

!!!!!!

is the most loved, so far.

Sadly this is a man with nothing left to say.... goodbye.

Wow, that's really good. I find I can only judge an album when I hear the sequence of tracks. Hadn't liked the leaked bits I heard together but put all together it really works.

I knew I married him for a reason.

"...and if you dont know this then what do you know..."

too hot to decribe....

"Quarry" was a pretty good record, but I think it wasn´t THAT great. "Ringleader" to me is nothing but brilliant. Can´t wait to put it onto my turntable. Maybe the best he´s done since "Vauxhall"..?

Its a really super Album. Grrrrrrrrrr!

Ringleader of the Tormentors lives up to the hype with glorious aplomb. Each song is artistic and catchy and I think the album is destined to rise to the heights of Vauxhall and I and Your Arsenal, in terms of place among classic rock albums. When Morrissey stretches his imagination the most, musically and dramatically, the results are that of a text book Progressive Rock Work of Art. It's when originality and impressionism meets with the art of pop and the results have been Forever Changes, Wish You Were Here, Diamond Dogs, Marquee Moon, Strangeways Here We Come, OK Computer and now Ringleader of The Tormentors. I love that Morrissey has been a new and vividly spectacular artistic period. He is a rarity today and someone who all young rock and roll artists look up to. I can't wait to own the album and be treated a peppering of Morrissey's standard supreme B-Sides over the next year. We as fans are so psyched that Moz is in such a state of inspiration. Even though I'm not a huge Bob Dylan fan, they remind me of each other in their own eccentric brilliance that through the decades flows through various "periods," always challenging and exploring but always addressing central human condition thoughts. It is these rock artists who transcend and are held in the same breath as Picasso, Tennessee Williams, and Debussy. Viva Moz!!!!!
     

it strikes me that this is one man's attempt to describe how a lifetime of guilt and personal demons has been evaded, whether permanently we are still to understand.

Firstly I could never, ever resist the opportunity to hear it, asap so sat down to give it my full and undivided this afternoon. There are very few artists whose work, I feel, deserves your complete and undivided attention, and as Morrissey's work goes to date, this is, to my mind, the most intricate, best sung, album he has produced. This album is something way beyond a pop record, crossing classical boundaries and showing us a little piece of art.

This is not to say it is perfect, I think it truly has failings, lyrically, some songs are weak, he has mistaken repetition for innovation and importance. The best songs for word lovers are Life is a Pigsty, The father who must be killed, I'll never be anybody's hero now. These, as well as being at the very heart of the album, literally, are the core of it's greatness. There I was, getting slowly more and more frustrated, thinking, nothing on this record has really touched me yet, moved me, made me feel inspired or elated. The very best music is always mood altering and up until Life is an etc, it was all just well crafted pop, but this, this is a very innovative, clever song which benefits from being that bit longer, has a tiered structure which moves you on, not letting one get bogged down in a repetitive hole. The climax to that was truly moving and I was desperately hoping that the following song wouldn't let me down, it didn't. I'll never be anybody's... is very beautifully sung, not escpaing the upper registers of Moz's range, which he does trip pass in earlier songs, and one can't helping focusing on that line, the love of my life is under the ground. The father who must be killed is notable because it is an allegorical song, the best ground for great lyricists to truly show off their talent. Morrissey is one of the best at this particular type, looking outside himself, imagining scenarios so susinctly and totally. The little girl, or woman, whoever she is, in this story could be, or is definitely him in another guise - the overall sense that you have done something unforgiveable, here I think Moz is giving us a full confession. He is in the box next to us and to some extent we are the priest. He has done things, thought thoughts, (Dear God Please Help Me) which he cannot condone and he probably has considered, sod it, let's just end it, right here, right now. But the joy of this album, (apart from the last song, which is so odd, it's just never going to fit with the rest of it) is that he finally feels free of these depression causing thoughts by whatever means, for the moment at least. He feels set free, inspired and so do we.

Overall, it isn't possible to give this something blasé out of 10, who cares, this is a truly beautiful piece of collaboration from the whole team.

My first impressions after a few listens are that the album for the first half is interesting and promising but it falls away somewhat in the second half.

'IWSYIFOP' - I don't greatly like this but it has at least a distinctive sound. Really I find the vocal melodies a little dull and it never takes off for me for that reason.

'Dear God...' - A undoubtedly good, a class above, and the space in it is quite beguiling. Lovely production. Once again I think the vocal melody gets a a bit stuck and it doesn't exploit vocally or instrumentally much of the undoubted melodic potential of the tune, but it's not ruined by that. The timbre of the voice itself is very nice and warm, though. The song is also well placed at this point and has a certain grandeur.

'You have killed me' - one of my favourites. It's a lot of fun, a very good, not quite great tune, sung with panache and a cool lyric. Again, the variation in pace and sound plays well for the album at this point. Just a pretty damn cool song.

'The Youngest...' Now this I really like. The tune isn't amazing but it's done with style and carried by the vocal to something quite special in this instance. And the kids singing are endearing and work hilariously and well, in my view. I think they go together wonderfully with Morrissey's voice.

'In The Future when All's well.' Good also, vocally impressive and another slight variation in sound. Quite exuberant. It reminded me quite a bit of the Smiths.

'The father who must be killed'. Interesting lyrically but I found this a little dull to listen to. The chorus is flat and mechanical and doesn't carry the promise of the verse.

'Life is a pigsty' I love the first couple of minutes, then the change is good also. It maybe drifts on a bit without fully turning into what it hints at. Cold have been a minute or two shorter. Still, I like it.

'I'll never be anyone's hero now'. Love the vocal. Not sure it's a great song but it's really pretty good and I may grow to love it.

The remainder of the songs really do not work for me. They are vocally just dull and musically nothing special. I also find them rather samey to each other and wonder if the album wouldn't have been improved by simply chopping a couple of them. The sentimets of 'To me you are a work of art' and 'I just want to see the boy happy' are nice but the songs themnselves lend weight to the cliche that great art is born of suffering not happiness. In any case, they don't work for me.

I do think 'At last I am born' makes a good attempt in terms of interesting sound textures sound and I love having the kids back on it. But I find the vocal and song itself sounds like some workmanlike thing from a musical.

It will no doubt grow, but I think the second half loses its way somewhat with uninspired and rather samey filler. By comparison the first half has a certain freshness and variety to it. It also has more in the way of showing Morrissey's vocal talents as in 'In the Future...'.

I suppose the ones which I am thinking about are the ones with the strongest and most distinctive vocal melodies and tunes. I don't find much of lyrical fascination or innovation, but you tend to get what you get with Morrissey, and I don't think it stands or falls on that. Quite a lot of this is lyrically good, it's just sometimes let down by dreary music or mechanical vocal melodies or delivery. When he does something special with te vocal melody or delivery it just lifts it greatly. I do wonder if he needs a few more good tunes written to get him going.

6.5/10

7/10 if songs 9, 10 and 11 had been simply omitted. I'd rather have something that leaves you wanting more than feeling a little bored.

 

i always wondered how moz would square up to happiness if he met it and he's done it with his genius for pith and melody intact. 'the heart feels free' - morrissey certainly sounds free (at last).

luckily he's allowed in another great talent (not before time) and actually made a RECORD. i can't believe this is the same band as on the last 5 albums. it's all so much looser, flowing and alive. thank you tony visconti!!

the production is the best since viva hate. i don't think i could have taken another stiff cruddy guitar record - in fact 'you have killed me' is the worst song on it (when i heard that as the first taste my heart sank). visconti has come with a key and unlocked moz's vocals (there are wonderfully rough/frail bits which i don't think would have been passed before), kicked the band up the arse (goodbye 'crashing bores' forever i hope), and opened up the production - something i've been waiting for since your arsenal became vauxhall became southpaw (they all have great songs but some deadening arrangements).

my current favourite is 'the youngest was the most loved' - the children's chorus is stunning and and moz's vocal outro on that one kills me.