Morrissey Central RINGLEADER DELUXE ! (July 17, 2020)


Morrissey’s third UK number 1 album ‘Ringleader of the Tormentors’ will be issued this year by BMG for the first time.The album is presently being ‘rebooted’ by producer Tony Visconti and will feature more sections by Ennio Morricone and his orchestra from the 2005 sessions in Rome, plus a photographic booklet.The original album featured four UK hit singles, ‘You Have Killed Me’ (Number 3), ‘The Youngest Was The Most Loved’(Number 14), ‘In The Future When All’s Well’ (Number 17), ‘I Just Want To See The Boy Happy’ (Number 16).

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I’ve not listened start to finish for about twelve years. I really tried, but I couldn’t ever accept that gems like Dear God, Killed Me and Far Off Places would be on the same record as At Last I am Born. I remember that I dedicated a lot of time to curating a Quarry/Ringleader hybrid that would be the perfect listen.
It's no problem to not like a whole album, enjoy the songs you do like, that's good enough.
 
Although bizarrely you claim you've not listened for 12 years because of 1 song, oh well there you go.
I’ve not listened from beginning to end for 12 years. Dear God, Killed Me and Far Off Places are regular listens.

I remember in the promotion for this album, much was made of the Morricone input. In the end, it amounted to just one song. But worse was the sorry musical pastiche of Morricone that was At Last I am Born.

There’s much to say about this album, but perhaps most significantly (as someone else has already suggested) the diamond of Dear God seems to have been deliberately diminished to take attention away from a paucity in some of the other tracks.

It strikes me as a little odd that the new selling point is going to be that this re-release contains more of Morricone’s brilliance. One might rightly ask why we didn’t get the best version of the best song in the first place. And I think one plausible answer is that it would’ve put the manifold shortcomings of the LP into some stark relief.

Personally, I think it’s Morrissey’s worst record—and by some distance. When I listened to Work of Art, just yesterday, I was reminded as to why I’ve felt this way for years.
 
Ringleader was and is a fine album and imo it deserved the rave reviews that it received at the time.

Dear God Please Help Me and Life is a Pigsty are both very strong, and I've always really liked The Youngest Was the Most Loved and At Last I Am Born as well.

When a poll was conducted on another board a while ago this album came 7th of the 13. Respectable, but I would personally rate it higher.

And, just for your jottings, of the 264 Morrissey solo songs rated the tracks fared thus:

11 - Life is a Pigsty
23 - Dear God Please Help Me
52 - You Have Killed Me
91 - The Youngest Was the Most Loved
103 - In the Future When All's Well
104 - I Will See You in Far-Off Places
109 - At Last I Am Born
145 - I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now
150 - The Father Who Must Be Killed
164 - To Me You Are a Work of Art
195 - On the Streets I Ran
200 - I Just Want to See the Boy Happy
 
Ringleader was and is a fine album and imo it deserved the rave reviews that it received at the time.

Dear God Please Help Me and Life is a Pigsty are both very strong, and I've always really liked The Youngest Was the Most Loved and At Last I Am Born as well.

When a poll was conducted on another board a while ago this album came 7th of the 13. Respectable, but I would personally rate it higher.

And, just for your jottings, of the 264 Morrissey solo songs rated the tracks fared thus:

11 - Life is a Pigsty
23 - Dear God Please Help Me
52 - You Have Killed Me
91 - The Youngest Was the Most Loved
103 - In the Future When All's Well
104 - I Will See You in Far-Off Places
109 - At Last I Am Born
145 - I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now
150 - The Father Who Must Be Killed
164 - To Me You Are a Work of Art
195 - On the Streets I Ran
200 - I Just Want to See the Boy Happy
I'm not aware of this poll, but am truly shocked to see On The Streets down at #195...to me it's a fantastic track; one of my favourites (& actually features in my list of masterpieces), which just shows how subjective this all is.

One of the things I especially like are the drums (Matt Chamberlain??) which have an unusual and unpredictable pattern, (initially within the first 30 secs, but again further into the song) which used to catch me out every time. I've got it sorted now after so many listenings, & I can air-drum accurately to my heart's content. ;)

Edit: I have Moz down as having 278 solo tracks, not 264.
 
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Ringleader was and is a fine album and imo it deserved the rave reviews that it received at the time.

Dear God Please Help Me and Life is a Pigsty are both very strong, and I've always really liked The Youngest Was the Most Loved and At Last I Am Born as well.

When a poll was conducted on another board a while ago this album came 7th of the 13. Respectable, but I would personally rate it higher.

And, just for your jottings, of the 264 Morrissey solo songs rated the tracks fared thus:

11 - Life is a Pigsty
23 - Dear God Please Help Me
52 - You Have Killed Me
91 - The Youngest Was the Most Loved
103 - In the Future When All's Well
104 - I Will See You in Far-Off Places
109 - At Last I Am Born
145 - I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now
150 - The Father Who Must Be Killed
164 - To Me You Are a Work of Art
195 - On the Streets I Ran
200 - I Just Want to See the Boy Happy
Pigsty was the centrepiece of many live shows which is (I suspect) why it is rated so highly. Dear God is much better, but I’ve never seen him perform it live.
 
I Will See You In Far Off Places

Dear God Please Help Me

You Have Killed Me

In The Future When All's Well

Life Is A Pigsty

To Me You Are A Work Of Art

I Just Want To See The Boy Happy

At Last I Am Born


These are my favorites from ROTT.
The songs not on my list do have their moments though.

Surprised folks don’t care for ‘At Last I Am Born’.

I love that song. Maybe people can’t relate to the subject? I do, and if you can’t relate to this song... I guess... you can then count yourself lucky, in a way. :lbf:





:love::cool:
 
I also think this album just isn't that good. It was the first new Morrissey album to be released when I became a fan, so I listened to it all the time back then and it has a special place in my heart for that reason. But now I find it a bit of a slog to listen to, with some truly embarrassing lyrics. I also think it marked the point where all of Morrissey's new albums started sounding samey (the last couple have broken away from that, which I appreciate).

But, as with any "bad" Morrissey record, there are some gems to be had, like Far Off Places and Pigsty. The Morricone version of Dear God is amazing and it's a mystery why Morrissey opted against including it.
 
I Will See You In Far Off Places

Dear God Please Help Me

You Have Killed Me

In The Future When All's Well

Life Is A Pigsty

To Me You Are A Work Of Art

I Just Want To See The Boy Happy

At Last I Am Born


These are my favorites from ROTT.
The songs not on my list do have their moments though.

Surprised folks don’t care for ‘At Last I Am Born’.

I love that song. Maybe people can’t relate to the subject? I do, and if you can’t relate to this song... I guess... you can then count yourself lucky, in a way. :lbf:





:love::cool:


I don't hate it - but I don't believe it. He's as heartbroken, in despair, crying & guilt-ridden as he ever was, he's just starting to deny it & turn it outwards.**

**artistically. 🙄
 
I don't hate it - but I don't believe it. He's as heartbroken, in despair, crying & guilt-ridden as he ever was, he's just starting to deny it & turn it outwards.**

**artistically. 🙄


I think it’s true for most, that when one gets on in years the ego softens and things that at one time bothered one doesn’t bother one as much as they use to.

I think Morrissey is having a taste of this freedom, and yes exaggerates this in the lyric in his excitement of this new found awareness (of letting go) he feels new born and sees the world in a new way.


But this awareness doesn’t stop one from still having negative feelings or hang ups, but it does give one the ability to stand back and see things clearly to not attach oneself to the ‘problem’ (identify with it) in order to now finally see it not as a problem at all.
 
I like the live version. Its "dramatic & theatrical" quality is exactly what's appealing to me. It's almost comical. The lines
"I once used to chase
affection withdrawn
but now I just sit back and yawn"

are hilarious to me. I guess I'm able to enjoy it because I don't take it too seriously.

It's strange what people find irritating about different songs. I can cope with weird rubbish about Claude Brasseur and a total lack of melody but what drives me INSANE on this song is this alone:

"I once thought that I
Had nu-mer-ous reasons to cry
And I did but I don't anymore.."

It's so forced, I feel embarrassed when I hear it. It's a truly embarrassing song and that's rare for Moz.
 
I Will See You In Far Off Places

Dear God Please Help Me

You Have Killed Me

In The Future When All's Well

Life Is A Pigsty

To Me You Are A Work Of Art

I Just Want To See The Boy Happy

At Last I Am Born


These are my favorites from ROTT.
The songs not on my list do have their moments though.

Surprised folks don’t care for ‘At Last I Am Born’.

I love that song. Maybe people can’t relate to the subject? I do, and if you can’t relate to this song... I guess... you can then count yourself lucky, in a way. :lbf:





:love::cool:


Lookin' forward to the extra sessions with Maestro Ennio.
Some great b sides from durin' this time too.
Stuff like Human Bein', Ganglord, Christian Dior and Sweetie-Pie!
 
It's strange what people find irritating about different songs. I can cope with weird rubbish about Claude Brasseur and a total lack of melody but what drives me INSANE on this song is this alone:

"I once thought that I
Had nu-mer-ous reasons to cry
And I did but I don't anymore.."

It's so forced, I feel embarrassed when I hear it. It's a truly embarrassing song and that's rare for Moz.
I don't hear a total lack of melody, to be honest.
In fact, I've had the song stuck in my head all day and have found myself humming it a couple of times.
I think it's very interesting how highly divisive this song is.
 
I don't hear a total lack of melody, to be honest.
In fact, I've had the song stuck in my head all day and have found myself humming it a couple of times.
I think it's very interesting how highly divisive this song is.
I said it at the time. This song nicks it's structure and tempo from the Sex Gang Children's 'Sebastiane'.

**EDIT** also McCarthy's Red Sleeping Beauty
 
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I think it’s true for most, that when one gets on in years the ego softens and things that at one time bothered one doesn’t bother one as much as they use to.

I think Morrissey is having a taste of this freedom, and yes exaggerates this in the lyric in his excitement of this new found awareness (of letting go) he feels new born and sees the world in a new way.


But this awareness doesn’t stop one from still having negative feelings or hang ups, but it does give one the ability to stand back and see things clearly to not attach oneself to the ‘problem’ (identify with it) in order to now finally see it not as a problem at all.

Maybe - but I think it wasn't worked through enough & the tone veers from pompous to ironic. The music needed to be lighter or the lyric needed to be heavier, one or the other.
 
Maybe - but I think it wasn't worked through enough & the tone veers from pompous to ironic. The music needed to be lighter or the lyric needed to be heavier, one or the other.

Okay, I see what you’re saying. But I still think it works as it is.

He's as heartbroken, in despair, crying & guilt-ridden as he ever was, he's just starting to deny it & turn it outwards.**

**artistically. 🙄

Or maybe it’s a case of ‘Life imitates art’ ?

Or forcing life (reality) to imitate art. Maybe Morrissey believes that if he writes it and sings it then it will become true in real life? A kind of magical thinking ?

Spelling out the words and singing/chanting them, or casting a spell in order to shape reality to how he wants it to be ...?



:lbf: :unsure::cool:
 
Okay, I see what you’re saying. But I still think it works as it is.



Or maybe it’s a case of ‘Life imitates art’ ?

Or forcing life (reality) to imitate art. Maybe Morrissey believes that if he writes it and sings it then it will become true in real life? A kind of magical thinking ?

Spelling out the words and singing/chanting them, or casting a spell in order to shape reality to how he wants it to be ...?



:lbf: :unsure::cool:


Bona Drag is certainly a grimoire of sorts. Anyway, I f***ing hate this place.
 

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