Ringleader; your final verdict...

[Maurice E]

Well, I guess this has been done once or twice before but I thought we could attempt a final evaluation with a little more scientific rigour!
Each song to be marked out of 10 but, here's the rigorous bit, please use the following guidance for your scores...

1-2: A song which you find unbearable. If you heard it on the radio, you’d have to switch it off.
3-4: A not-very-good song. Only tolerable in small doses.
5-6: An ok-ish song; you quite like hearing it but doesn’t really stand up to repeated listenings.
7-8: A really good song. If you heard it on the radio, you’d wanna go out and buy the single (more for an 8 than a 7)
9-10: A brilliant song. The kind you never get sick of hearing. If you’re a guitar strummer (like me!) you’d be very keen to learn the chords.

Here are my scores:
"I Will See You In Far-off Places" 5
"Dear God Please Help Me" 3
"You Have Killed Me" 7
"The Youngest Was The Most Loved" 7
"In The Future When All's Well" 9
"The Father Who Must Be Killed" 2
"Life Is A Pigsty" 9
"I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now" 10
"On The Streets I Ran" 2
"To Me You Are A Work Of Art" 6
"I Just Want To See The Boy Happy" 8
"At Last I Am Born" 5
average score: 6/10

All in all I guess I was kinda disappointed especially when the first review (Observer) described it as the Morrissey masterpiece. It's the two or three really bad songs which drag the album down (The Smiths never had a song lower than a 6 in my opinion). But, having said that, I think it's pretty cool that Moz can still manage a few brilliant songs per album at the grand old age of 47, so I'm gonna stop complaining!

Maurice

[Not Right in the Head]

Maurice, I agree with you on almost every count, except that I'd lower "In the Future" a bit. I can't stand "Dear God," despite this forum's consensus that it's a new classic and/or much better if you've seen it live (I haven't).

[Kuiper]

I Will See You in Far-off Places - 8
Dear God, Please Help Me - 5
You Have Killed Me - 8
The Youngest Was the Most Loved - 7
In the Future When All's Well - 10
The Father Who Must Be Killed - 8
Life is a Pigsty - 10
I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now - 6
On the Streets I Ran - 10
To Me You Are a Work of Art - 7
I Just Want to See the Boy Happy - 9
At Last I Am Born - 7
*
Good Looking Man About Town - 9
I Knew I Was Next - 7
Human Being - 5
If You Don't Like Me, Don't Look at Me - 8
Ganglord - 8
A Song from Under the Floorboards - 9
Christian Dior - 7
Sweetie Pie - 4

Average album rating: 7.9
Average b-side rating: 7.1
Average overall rating: 7.6
(Math might not be completely accurate, I didn't try that hard )

[Shaw]

I Will See You in Far-off Places - 6
Dear God, Please Help Me - 7
You Have Killed Me - 7
The Youngest Was the Most Loved - 7
In the Future When All's Well - 8
The Father Who Must Be Killed - 6
Life is a Pigsty - 10
I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now - 8
On the Streets I Ran - 9
To Me You Are a Work of Art - 8
I Just Want to See the Boy Happy - 6
At Last I Am Born - 5
*
Good Looking Man About Town - 9
I Knew I Was Next - 8
Human Being - 6
If You Don't Like Me, Don't Look at Me - 6
Ganglord - 8
A Song from Under the Floorboards - 7
Christian Dior - 6
Sweetie Pie - 4

[slum mum 1974]

I Will See You in Far-off Places - 8
Dear God, Please Help Me - 10
You Have Killed Me - 10
The Youngest Was the Most Loved - 7
In the Future When All's Well - 6
The Father Who Must Be Killed - 6
Life is a Pigsty - 10
I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now - 7
On the Streets I Ran - 8
To Me You Are a Work of Art - 10
I Just Want to See the Boy Happy - 8
At Last I Am Born - 7
*
Good Looking Man About Town - 9
I Knew I Was Next - 6
Human Being - 10
If You Don't Like Me, Don't Look at Me - 8
Ganglord - 8
A Song from Under the Floorboards - 9
Christian Dior - 8
Sweetie Pie - 5

I dunno how to work all that out but i think it's a class album

[Dave]

I Will See You in Far-off Places - 9
Dear God, Please Help Me - 8
You Have Killed Me - 8
The Youngest Was the Most Loved - 10
In the Future When All's Well - 8
The Father Who Must Be Killed - 7
Life is a Pigsty - 10
I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now - 7
On the Streets I Ran - 8
To Me You Are a Work of Art - 7
I Just Want to See the Boy Happy - 7
At Last I Am Born - 7
*
Good Looking Man About Town - 7
I Knew I Was Next - 9
Human Being - 8
If You Don't Like Me, Don't Look at Me - 6
Ganglord - 9
A Song from Under the Floorboards - 10
Christian Dior - 5
Sweetie Pie - 4

Average album rating: 8
Average b-side rating: 7.25
Average overall rating: 7.7

[Man Afraid]

anyone that rates dear god as not very good needs a frontal lobotomy

[Dave]

Does that make it sound better?


edit: I think it's one of those tracks that isn't for everyone. It has some clumsy lines, i think, but a nice resolution, and it's nice to hear different styles of music. It's people that don't like "Life is a Pigsty" that I feel sorry for.

[olaf]

The youngest is the best song by miles on the album

[Kuiper]

I find this almost addicting, so I'm gonna do Quarry now.

America is Not the World - 8
Irish Blood, English Heart - 10
I Have Forgiven Jesus - 8
Come Back to Camden - 7
I'm Not Sorry - 7
The World is Full of Crashing Bores - 5
How Could Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel? - 5
First of the Gang to Die - 10
Let Me Kiss You - 9
All the Lazy Dykes - 8
I Like You - 10
You Know I Couldn't Last - 10
*
It's Hard to Walk Tall When You're Small - 9
Munich Air Disaster 1958 - 10
The Never-Played Symphonies - 8
My Life is a Succession of People Saying Goodbye - 9
Teenage Dad on His Estate - 6
Mexico - 8
Don't Make Fun of Daddy's Voice - 8
Friday Mourning - 8
I Am Two People - 4
No One Can Hold a Candle to You - 9
The Public Image - 9
The Slum Mums - 3

Average album rating: 8
Average b-side rating: 7.6
Average overall rating: 7.8

[Zenith Nadir]

My top songs off ROTT & accompanying b-sides are You Have Killed Me, The Youngest, In The Future, Piggy, Ganglord, and the mighty, mighty Christian Dior. These are 9+ songs for me.

I just don't get Sweetie Pie, and I think Boy Happy is weak as a single. But we all have our gripes, don't we? Overall I like ROTT, and I'd tick off '06 as a fine year for Moz.

I Will See You in Far-off Places - 6
Dear God, Please Help Me - 8
You Have Killed Me - 10
The Youngest Was the Most Loved - 9
In the Future When All's Well - 9
The Father Who Must Be Killed - 5
Life Is A Pigsy - 10
I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now - 8
On the Streets I Ran - 7
To Me You Are a Work of Art - 8
I Just Want to See the Boy Happy - 4
At Last I Am Born - 7
~
Good Looking Man About Town - 7
I Knew I Was Next - 8
Human Being - 8
If You Don't Like Me, Don't Look at Me - 7
Ganglord - 9
A Song from Under the Floorboards - 6
Christian Dior - 10
Sweetie Pie - 4

Post Script: I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now is a grower.

[davdavon]

I Will See You in Far-off Places - 7
Dear God, Please Help Me - 5
You Have Killed Me - 9
The Youngest Was the Most Loved - 4
In the Future When All's Well - 4
The Father Who Must Be Killed - 3
Life is a Pigsty - 6
I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now - 9
On the Streets I Ran - 8
To Me You Are a Work of Art - 8
I Just Want to See the Boy Happy - 3
At Last I Am Born - 5

All in all not a very strong album, though it has its moments. Better luck next time!

[unruly_girl]

"I Will See You In Far-off Places" 9
"Dear God Please Help Me" 8
"You Have Killed Me" 10
"The Youngest Was The Most Loved" 6
"In The Future When All's Well" 7
"The Father Who Must Be Killed" 5
"Life Is A Pigsty" 10
"I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now" 7
"On The Streets I Ran" 6
"To Me You Are A Work Of Art" 7
"I Just Want To See The Boy Happy" 8
"At Last I Am Born" 5

"If You Don't Like Me, Don't Look at Me" - 7
"Ganglord" - 9

[westendgirl]

I Will See You in Far-off Places - 9
Dear God, Please Help Me - 10
You Have Killed Me - 10
The Youngest Was the Most Loved - 10
In the Future When All's Well - 10
The Father Who Must Be Killed - 6.5
Life is a Pigsty - 10
I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now - 7.5
On the Streets I Ran - 8
To Me You Are a Work of Art - 10
I Just Want to See the Boy Happy - 9
At Last I Am Born - 7.5
*
If You Don't Like Me, Don't Look at Me - 9.5
Ganglord - 10
A Song from Under the Floorboards - 9


I quite like this album and the b-sides I have so far....A LOT. Although it is a tad different, I really really like it. It's a masterpiece in my eyes. It's got class and maturity. A Handsome album....

[mspendl828]

I Will See You in Far-off Places - 9
Dear God, Please Help Me - 8
You Have Killed Me - 10
The Youngest Was the Most Loved - 8
In the Future When All's Well - 10
The Father Who Must Be Killed - 8
Life is a Pigsty - 10
I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now - 8 (6 for the first 2/3rds, 10 for the last 1/3rd)
On the Streets I Ran - 8
To Me You Are a Work of Art - 10
I Just Want to See the Boy Happy - 8
At Last I Am Born - 10

Good Looking Man About Town - 7
I Knew I Was Next - 8
Human Being - 10
If You Don't Like Me, Don't Look at Me - 7
Ganglord - 9
A Song from Under the Floorboards - 7
Christian Dior - 10
Sweetie Pie - 7


A fucking great album and a fine collection of b-sides

[Albion]

I Will See You in Far-off Places - 8
Dear God, Please Help Me - 9
You Have Killed Me - 8
The Youngest Was the Most Loved - 8
In the Future When All's Well - 9
The Father Who Must Be Killed - 7
Life is a Pigsty - 10
I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now - 8
On the Streets I Ran - 8
To Me You Are a Work of Art - 8
I Just Want to See the Boy Happy - 9
At Last I Am Born - 8

[Kevaxe2k2]

I was disappointed on first listen and I am still disappointed. All the talk of their being enough material for a double album and all that---didn't pan out. Some of the better tracks on ROTT, to me, don't measure up to many of the YATQ b-sides.



Here are my scores:
"I Will See You In Far-off Places" 5
"Dear God Please Help Me" 4
"You Have Killed Me" 8
"The Youngest Was The Most Loved" 7
"In The Future When All's Well" 6
"The Father Who Must Be Killed" 5
"Life Is A Pigsty" 9
"I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now" 9
"On The Streets I Ran" 5
"To Me You Are A Work Of Art" 8
"I Just Want To See The Boy Happy" 7
"At Last I Am Born" 2
average score: 6.2


I won't rate the b-sides. But it's safe to say none of them would get over a 7.

[egg]

I Will See You in Far-off Places - 1
Dear God, Please Help Me - 7
You Have Killed Me - 8
The Youngest Was the Most Loved - 9
In the Future When All's Well - 10
The Father Who Must Be Killed - 6
Life is a Pigsty - 8
I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now - 1
On the Streets I Ran - 9
To Me You Are a Work of Art - 6
I Just Want to See the Boy Happy - 10
At Last I Am Born - 1

Good Looking Man About Town - 10
I Knew I Was Next - 9
Human Being - 9
If You Don't Like Me, Don't Look at Me - 10
Ganglord - 10
A Song from Under the Floorboards - 9
Christian Dior - (haven't heard it yet)
Sweetie Pie - (haven't heard it yet)

[Johan de Witt]

I Will See You in Far-off Places - 7
Dear God, Please Help Me - 7
You Have Killed Me - 9
The Youngest Was the Most Loved - 8
In the Future When All's Well - 6
The Father Who Must Be Killed - 4
Life is a Pigsty - 9
I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now - 5
On the Streets I Ran - 8
To Me You Are a Work of Art - 8
I Just Want to See the Boy Happy - 7
At Last I Am Born - 7

Good Looking Man About Town - 7
I Knew I Was Next - 7
Human Being - 6
If You Don't Like Me, Don't Look at Me - 7
Ganglord - 9
A Song from Under the Floorboards - 8
Christian Dior - 6
Sweetie Pie - 2

[Sooty]

This is fun.
I will see you in far off places 7
Dear God Please Help Me 7
You Have Killed Me 8
The Youngest Was The Most Loved 7
In The Future When Alls Well 8
The Father Who Must Be Killed 5
Life Is A Pigsty 9
Ill Never Be Anybodys Hero Now 7
On The Streets I Ran 5
To Me You Are A Work Of Art 4
I Just Want To See The Boy Happy 8
At Last I Am Born 6

Overall= 6.75 A good album but nothing really extrodinary.