Ringleader of tormentingly great music (Ringleader Of The Tormentors - Morrissey)

Member Name: drakesdrum

Product:	Ringleader Of The Tormentors - Morrissey
Date:	17/06/09 (8 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Catchy tunes, provacative lyrics, excellent melodies and varying tracks make for interesting listeni

Disadvantages: Tails off a bit towards the end.

Following the great success of the superb 'You Are The Quarry', Morrissey followed it up with a differently approached album. Morrissey, having been very much influenced by Rome and the Italian way of life came up with this album with that in mind. It's evident throughout the album that it is somewhat different to 'You Are The Quarry'. Notably there is a pure and full orchestral sound that is very much prominent in many tracks.
The album starts off with the aggressive sounding 'I Will See You In Far Off Places', which has (and I know this is rather a broad statement) plenty of Asian elements in the music. It's a loud track that really thrusts you to the attention of the album. The lyrics are typically thought provoking from Morrissey and I found myself analysing them as I went along and I had to stop myself from replaying this track over and over as soon as I heard it to try and decipher it. I found the music on this track quite moorish, it has great replay value I found.

Contributions from Ennio Morricone on the beautiful 'Dear God, Please Help Me' render the track extremely emotional and poignant. The vocals if sung on their own make for an interesting melody alone, very much a feature of Morrissey's work in general and this melody compliments the orchestral sounds very well. Very much contrasts to the tracks surrounding it and it adds another welcome dimension to the album.

Leading single 'You Have Killed Me' is a catchy pop tune, which will appeal to a large audience. This was proven with it's high chart rating, reaching #3 in the U.K. The lyrics are very clever, just as we expect to hear the chorus again Morrissey butts in with "and there's no point saying this again...." which raised a smile and added another layer to the lyrics. His Italian influnces are on show in this track through the lyrics.

Many of the tracks have a 'glam-rock' sort of feel to them and this is no doubt owing to the producer, Tony Visconti. This is prominent in 'In The Future When All Is Well', which is an excellent piece of music which as I say is very much glam-rock influenced. It works well and the lyrics fit the music very well. This is one of the tracks on the album which incorporates the children's choir, which is an interesting addition and it adds another layer to the music. It works very well I feel. This choir is also prominent on the catchy 'The Youngest Was The Most Loved'. This track is quite radio-friendly and whilst it won't win as many fans as 'You Have Killed Me' might, it's bound to win a few fans. The horns at the start is a clever touch and they set the tone for the track. The vocals are urgent and fit the music beautifully, leading to the short but poignant chorus of 'there is no such, thing in life as normal'. This is where the choir really add another layer to the track and somehow it does work. The thought of Morrissey vocals backed with high-pitched children doesn't sound quite right but it does work!

'Life Is A Pigsty' is a haunting, dramatic and lengthy track which is very powerful. The music, with the falling rain in the background provide a very emotional and fitting setting to the wonderfully arranged lyrics by Morrissey. For me the track portrayed somebody looking out of their window to the pouring rain, with their thoughts running through their head spilling out. Packed with emotion, it's a fabulous track.

The album tailed off slightly towards the end and the ending track 'At Last I Am Born', whilst quite interesting at first listen, didn't offer much replay value. The drums in this track are notably quite military-esque and the lyrics provide a different look at Morrissey at the time.
'I Just Want To See The Boy Happy' is another low point of the album. It is catchy but I found the music lacking many hooks and lyrically it's not one of Morrissey's best efforts. A more forgettable track but it's not without it's advantages.

Summary: A fine album, which sounds very full musically.