10 year anniversary of Ringleader Of The Tormentors

[fabval]

Iwe all know that Morrissey has lost some of his hearing, and loves his band loud). This is why there is virtually no dynamic range on the album, and everything is just a flat wall of sound.
http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list/dr?artist=morrissey

Where did you learn that ? He didn't speak loud when he was interviewed on tv last year.

Most of the songs shone on stage, the concert of Rockpalast shown on WDR channel, gives justive to the music. ALIB, TMYAAWOA were magnificent in concert. YOR had the same criticism, the mixing only works if the hi-fi system is of very high quality, otherwise, the drums and the bass crush everything with a kind of drone sound.
I don't think that the singles are really good on ROTT but the rest of the tracks are excellent

 

[Billtwasreallynowt]

Wow, couldn't believe it - 10 years? How'd that happen? Uuurggh!

I think as an album it has aged tremendously well, and let's face it, it's just a dirtier, edgier cut than YATQ, which in itself was a perfectly good offering.
I still think ITFWAW & TFWMBK are cack, but the rest I am more than happy with.

It's probably the best album from the 2nd half of his solo days by some distance.

 

[Layne]

I remember driving down to an appointment in Thetford - a long drive - and I had the ROTT CD on all the time - I was determined to give it a chance. By the time I got back, I had the HMHB CD on instead. It's just not good songwriting. At all. The Father Who Must Be Killed is appallingly bad filler material. As is usual with Morrissey, some of the best stuff is left off the album through sheer pig-headedness.

I do find that Morrissey often relegates perhaps the most apt songs for a particular record to b-sides. The record is called Ringleader of the Tormentors and yet Ganglord is not on it. Is Ganglord not a perfect fit under that title? Not to mention it is one of the best songs from these sessions. Replacing "The Father..." which is terrible with "Ganglord" makes the record immediately far better.

I would argue the same thing for "Lost" on Maladjusted. It should have been a single, too.

Anyway, I echo the production/mastering concerns. I'm no expert, but this record could sound better.

WPINOYB is OK production/mastering-wise but I think Vauxhall and I, Southpaw Grammar, and Maladjusted not only had the band become cohesive but the sound of the records was bang on.

 

[the_kaz]

I'll always have a fond place in my heart for Ringleader because it was the first "new" Morrissey album since I became a fan, and I used to listen to it constantly (much to the frustration of my co-workers at Blockbuster, who were forced to listen to it through the store speakers every shift I was on). It was also during this period that I first went to see Morrissey live. However, in more recent years I've come to think of it as the first of the three "samey" albums, and in my mind it represents the start of his lyrical decline (despite the one or two examples of greatness it has).

I'll also always fondly remember this album for the cracking opening, I Will See You in Far Off Places. This was back when I was 20 years old, a disillusioned young man of Middle Eastern descent, living in Bradford ("Bradistan") at the time, trying to make sense of the chaos and misery that the Bush & Blair "War on Terror" had created in my region of origin. I felt like that song really spoke to me.

And I also want to agree with the poster above that Ganglord was a highlight of the period. What a missed opportunity that one was.

 

[Hod]

I'll always have a fond place in my heart for Ringleader because it was the first "new" Morrissey album since I became a fan, and I used to listen to it constantly (much to the frustration of my co-workers at Blockbuster, who were forced to listen to it through the store speakers every shift I was on). It was also during this period that I first went to see Morrissey live. However, in more recent years I've come to think of it as the first of the three "samey" albums, and in my mind it represents the start of his lyrical decline (despite the one or two examples of greatness it has).

I'll also always fondly remember this album for the cracking opening, I Will See You in Far Off Places. This was back when I was 20 years old, a disillusioned young man of Middle Eastern descent, living in Bradford ("Bradistan") at the time, trying to make sense of the chaos and misery that the Bush & Blair "War on Terror" had created in my region of origin. I felt like that song really spoke to me.

And I also want to agree with the poster above that Ganglord was a highlight of the period. What a missed opportunity that one was.

So do you think Ringleader, Refusal, and World Peace... sound the same? I can see the similarities between Ringleader and Refusal, but I think the instrumentation and production are so different for World peace.

I agree with you about ' far-off places', Morrissey always manages to create really strong album openers. I still think half of the songs on Ringleader are fantastic, and it works really well as an album thematically. Still, all of the songs sound better live, and I think that's why it means so much to me. 'You Have Killed Me', 'Far-off Places', 'Pigsty', 'To me you are a work of art' and 'At last I am born' are all fantastic when played live.

I'd love for this album to be re-mastered (now that I know what it means! Thanks previous posters) and for it to be properly mixed. It could be one of M's best re-masters and it could improve people's opinions of his comeback output.

 

[the_kaz]

So do you think Ringleader, Refusal, and World Peace... sound the same? I can see the similarities between Ringleader and Refusal, but I think the instrumentation and production are so different for World peace.

I agree with you that World Peace sounds more different than the other two, but what I mean is that I feel that Ringleader started this trend towards a "rock" sound that I really don't think any of his previous albums, aside from Southpaw, had. To me all of the solo albums, right up to and including Quarry were totally different beasts to one another, and then Ringleader came along and Morrissey and the band seemed to find a groove.

 

[Cornflakes]

I'd love for this album to be re-mastered...

On an unrelated note, since it's pancake day, I've decided to share a pancake with everyone. Most of you have probably already bought and paid for a similar pancake, but this one tastes a little different. I haven't prepared it painstakingly, but I've added a little extra treble syrup so the impression that you are listening to the pancake from the other side of a partition wall is reduced.

I won't be leaving it here for long, so get it while it's hot.

Happy pancake day.

 

[marred]

Happy Ten Years Of Tormenting everyone!

 

[Anonymous]

Happy Ten Years Of Tormenting everyone!

Shit then, shit now.

 

[marred]

Shit then, shit now.

Then do something about your life.

 

[countthree]

Happy Ten Years Of Tormenting everyone!

I love Dear God Please Help Me. Beautiful music and "the heart feels free"...

Happy Birthday to one of Morrissey's great creations.


Some time ago I made a Spanish translation of this adorable song to sing it to myself (no danger to hurt anybody's ears)
This is a good moment to share it with the Spanish speaking fans


DIOS AYÚDAME

Caminando por Roma
mi corazón en un hilo
Dios ayúdame

Estoy tan cansado
de hacer lo correcto
Dios ayúdame

Siento mil explosiones
entre mis piernas
Dios ayúdame

Me seguirás y sabrás
conocerme aún más
que al rastrearme
probando ganarme

Se mueve hacia mí
mi muslo y sus manos
Dios has vivido estas cosas?

Y ya abro tus piernas
entre ellas las mías
mi Dios yo te ayudaría

Ahora camino por Roma
y no encuentro un lugar
pero el alma es libre

El alma es libre ) Bis
Pero el alma es libre
El alma es libre )))Bis

Morrissey

 

[Harsh Truth]

Well, I just snagged this for a relative bargain on vinyl (based on comments above about it sounding much better in this format) and will give it a listen upon arrival and report back.

 

[Calamine Lotion]

I do find that Morrissey often relegates perhaps the most apt songs for a particular record to b-sides. The record is called Ringleader of the Tormentors and yet Ganglord is not on it. Is Ganglord not a perfect fit under that title? Not to mention it is one of the best songs from these sessions. Replacing "The Father..." which is terrible with "Ganglord" makes the record immediately far better.

There were a few songs from that period that should have been on Ringleader but like you say this is typical. I wonder if he saves good songs on purpose? I'd rather listen to Swords than Ringleader.

 

[Anonymous]

I think he's just got really bad judgement when it comes to the quality of his own songs. Too close, maybe. This is a guy who tried to persuade Johnny Marr that 'There is a Light' wasn't good enough to be on 'The Queen is Dead', after all .

 

[Calamine Lotion]

That seems a lot more likely than the idea that someone would save a good song for a b-side. Sometimes maybe the song he chose fits the theme better or he just prefers it.

 

[MozIsGod]

I do find that Morrissey often relegates perhaps the most apt songs for a particular record to b-sides. The record is called Ringleader of the Tormentors and yet Ganglord is not on it. Is Ganglord not a perfect fit under that title? Not to mention it is one of the best songs from these sessions. Replacing "The Father..." which is terrible with "Ganglord" makes the record immediately far better.

I would argue the same thing for "Lost" on Maladjusted. It should have been a single, too.

In both cases, it would have been impossible. Both Ganglord and Lost were recorded later on at future non-album sessions, after their respective albums were already completed and released. Different personnel and production, etc

 

[Layne]

In both cases, it would have been impossible. Both Ganglord and Lost were recorded later on at future non-album sessions, after their respective albums were already completed and released. Different personnel and production, etc

But in both cases, correct me if I'm wrong, they may well have existed in demo versions or were at least written.

I'll take your word for it on "Ganglord" because I know with "Lost" it is true that it was recorded in a later session. Although who knows if the songs already existed during the main sessions and were just put aside because they were deemed "not good enough" for the respective albums proper.

 

[Anonymous]

Personally I don't rate 'Ganglord' very highly. It's pretty stodgy stuff.