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It's (another) review of ROTT. And it's crappy. You've been warned. Don't ask me to give you the five minutes of your life back after reading it. No can do. I wrote this for my blog but I figured I'd share here as well.
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"I Will See You In Far Off Places" - Wow. It shouldn't suprise me anymore when a Morrissey album starts off with a stand-out track, but it always does. A vaguely middle eastern guitar riff and thunderous drums dominate this track, with Morrissey mulling over the fate of an apparent terrorist. The song ends with a mariachi trumpet and Morrissey chanting/yodeling. Startling, powerful, and utterly fantastic.
"Dear God, Please Help Me" - Much has been said about Ennio Morricone's contribution of an orchestral score to this track, but really and truly I don't feel like he added much to the song. The strings swoop in once or twice, but don't move the song along in any implicite way. As for the song itself, it's quite nice- organs swell and sigh, and the subtle guitar lines are good accompaniments. The song has a very 50's ballad feel to it, and Morrissey's voice flutters in pitch accordingly. I like the song, but I feel like I'd like it more if it was a bit sadder. I can't explain why. The end is beautiful, with Morrissey singing "The heart feels free..." over and over.
"You Have Killed Me" - This song (the lead-off single) took a while to grow on me. The vocal melody is fantastic, the guitar line in moody and potent, and the song is clearly fashioned in a vein similar to some of Morrissey's greats. The lyrics don't make me stand up and take notice like they did on, say, "Irish Blood, English Heart". Not a bad song, and it's likely one that could attract new fans.
"The Youngest Was the Most Loved" - Ugh. One of the rare times when a Moz song is ruined by his lyrics failing the music and not the other way around. The music is wonderful no-nonsense guitar pop that is marred by a lyrical whisp of a story about a family's youngest son turning into a killer. A children's choir inexplicably pops up during the chorus, which adds nothing to the song. Could have been so much better.
"In The Future When All's Well" - Now this is more like it. Some of the verses stumble a little bit, but the song has a great feel to it. Very happy-sounding and almost country and western with the rambling guitar jangle. "Living longer than I had intended / Something must have gone right". Hee! It's almost a Disney song. And I mean that in a good way.
"The Father Who Must Be Killed" - Very similar to "The Youngest Was the Most Loved", but much much better. This is Moz in melodramatic mode, and it works for the most part. The children's choir again returns, to much better effect in light of the song's subject. The music is a little drab, sadly.
"Life Is A Pigsty" - Here it is, the centerpeice of the album. The epic. Seven minutes of Morrissey at his finest. At least, that's what the press releases say. To me, the song suffers at times from the same problem of lyrical restraint that plagues "Dear God, Please Help Me". Like that song, though, it's still a great track. Tony Visconti's golden touch is evident on this song. The first part opens with the sound of rainfall, and lapses into a dance beat with bits of piano and spoon-clinking. Matt Chamberlain again shows off his fantastic drumming ability here. About halfway through, "Life Is A Pigsty" suddenly segues into an amazing torch song, with disparate strummed guitar and loud drum crashes. For about three minutes, I catch a glimpse of Morrissey's genius for writing emotionally charged songs, with him singing "And if you don't know this, then what do you know? / Every second of my life, I've only lived for you / And you can shoot me, and you can throw me off a train / I'd still maintain, I'd still maintain / Life is a pigsty". His vocal melody is a statement unto itself, moving into an effortless imploring falsetto with ease. It gets me in the gut, and I realize (if not agree with) why this track has gotten the praise that it has.
"I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now" - People have called this song Moz-by-numbers, and it's true. A bittersweet musical peice with Morrissey singing of lost love. Morrissey's falsetto returns again, to good effect. Even though we've all heard this track a dozen times already, it's still a great song, and one of better ones off this album.
"On The Streets I Ran" - I'm not sure if I like this one. The chattering post-punk drum fills don't fit right with Morrissey's vocals, and the lyrics he sing aren't anything to write home about. Slightly redeemed by the absurd last few lines, with Moz singing "The stillborn / The newborn / The infirmed / Take anyone / Take people from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania / Just spare me".
"To Me You Are a Work of Art" - Classic Morrissey. Great, rousing chorus and excellent music for Morrissey to sing over. Not much more I can say about it. I think this song is single-worthy.
"I Just Want to See the Boy Happy" - Crap. No other way to describe it. It almost seems like Visconti's production had a double-edged effect on Morrissey, with songs like this being the negative side. The verse sounds like poor VH1 band fodder. This should not have made it to the album.
"At Last I Am Born" - Probably tied for my favorite track on the album, alongside "I Will See You In Far Off Places". After a synth/drum blast of napoleonic violin stabs and crashes, Morrissey sings what is probably his most positive song ever over military drum rolls and spaghetti western guitars. The choir returns for the final time with some vocal noises near the end; it's my favorite use of them on the album. Very unique, and a perfect end for the album.
Overall, Ringleader of the Tormentors is a mixed bag of an album. It's not the masterpeice that could have resulted from two greats like Moz and Visconti joining forces. Be that as it may, though, when you strip away the expectation and the hype, you're left with a solid, unique Morrissey album. As the man himself has said, this album has no connections to the past. His "direct" approach to writing lyrics that appeared on You Are The Quarry is still present, but has been tempered with a more positive outlook and an almost child-like sense of adventure. I miss the fluttery, etherial songwriting on Maladjusted, but I embrace the new direction Morrissey's taking. And if "The Youngest Was The Most Loved", "On The Streets I Ran", and "I Just Want To See The Boy Happy" were replaced with three fantastic songs, this album would be outstanding. As is, it has to settle for being very good.
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"I Will See You In Far Off Places" - Wow. It shouldn't suprise me anymore when a Morrissey album starts off with a stand-out track, but it always does. A vaguely middle eastern guitar riff and thunderous drums dominate this track, with Morrissey mulling over the fate of an apparent terrorist. The song ends with a mariachi trumpet and Morrissey chanting/yodeling. Startling, powerful, and utterly fantastic.
"Dear God, Please Help Me" - Much has been said about Ennio Morricone's contribution of an orchestral score to this track, but really and truly I don't feel like he added much to the song. The strings swoop in once or twice, but don't move the song along in any implicite way. As for the song itself, it's quite nice- organs swell and sigh, and the subtle guitar lines are good accompaniments. The song has a very 50's ballad feel to it, and Morrissey's voice flutters in pitch accordingly. I like the song, but I feel like I'd like it more if it was a bit sadder. I can't explain why. The end is beautiful, with Morrissey singing "The heart feels free..." over and over.
"You Have Killed Me" - This song (the lead-off single) took a while to grow on me. The vocal melody is fantastic, the guitar line in moody and potent, and the song is clearly fashioned in a vein similar to some of Morrissey's greats. The lyrics don't make me stand up and take notice like they did on, say, "Irish Blood, English Heart". Not a bad song, and it's likely one that could attract new fans.
"The Youngest Was the Most Loved" - Ugh. One of the rare times when a Moz song is ruined by his lyrics failing the music and not the other way around. The music is wonderful no-nonsense guitar pop that is marred by a lyrical whisp of a story about a family's youngest son turning into a killer. A children's choir inexplicably pops up during the chorus, which adds nothing to the song. Could have been so much better.
"In The Future When All's Well" - Now this is more like it. Some of the verses stumble a little bit, but the song has a great feel to it. Very happy-sounding and almost country and western with the rambling guitar jangle. "Living longer than I had intended / Something must have gone right". Hee! It's almost a Disney song. And I mean that in a good way.
"The Father Who Must Be Killed" - Very similar to "The Youngest Was the Most Loved", but much much better. This is Moz in melodramatic mode, and it works for the most part. The children's choir again returns, to much better effect in light of the song's subject. The music is a little drab, sadly.
"Life Is A Pigsty" - Here it is, the centerpeice of the album. The epic. Seven minutes of Morrissey at his finest. At least, that's what the press releases say. To me, the song suffers at times from the same problem of lyrical restraint that plagues "Dear God, Please Help Me". Like that song, though, it's still a great track. Tony Visconti's golden touch is evident on this song. The first part opens with the sound of rainfall, and lapses into a dance beat with bits of piano and spoon-clinking. Matt Chamberlain again shows off his fantastic drumming ability here. About halfway through, "Life Is A Pigsty" suddenly segues into an amazing torch song, with disparate strummed guitar and loud drum crashes. For about three minutes, I catch a glimpse of Morrissey's genius for writing emotionally charged songs, with him singing "And if you don't know this, then what do you know? / Every second of my life, I've only lived for you / And you can shoot me, and you can throw me off a train / I'd still maintain, I'd still maintain / Life is a pigsty". His vocal melody is a statement unto itself, moving into an effortless imploring falsetto with ease. It gets me in the gut, and I realize (if not agree with) why this track has gotten the praise that it has.
"I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now" - People have called this song Moz-by-numbers, and it's true. A bittersweet musical peice with Morrissey singing of lost love. Morrissey's falsetto returns again, to good effect. Even though we've all heard this track a dozen times already, it's still a great song, and one of better ones off this album.
"On The Streets I Ran" - I'm not sure if I like this one. The chattering post-punk drum fills don't fit right with Morrissey's vocals, and the lyrics he sing aren't anything to write home about. Slightly redeemed by the absurd last few lines, with Moz singing "The stillborn / The newborn / The infirmed / Take anyone / Take people from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania / Just spare me".
"To Me You Are a Work of Art" - Classic Morrissey. Great, rousing chorus and excellent music for Morrissey to sing over. Not much more I can say about it. I think this song is single-worthy.
"I Just Want to See the Boy Happy" - Crap. No other way to describe it. It almost seems like Visconti's production had a double-edged effect on Morrissey, with songs like this being the negative side. The verse sounds like poor VH1 band fodder. This should not have made it to the album.
"At Last I Am Born" - Probably tied for my favorite track on the album, alongside "I Will See You In Far Off Places". After a synth/drum blast of napoleonic violin stabs and crashes, Morrissey sings what is probably his most positive song ever over military drum rolls and spaghetti western guitars. The choir returns for the final time with some vocal noises near the end; it's my favorite use of them on the album. Very unique, and a perfect end for the album.
Overall, Ringleader of the Tormentors is a mixed bag of an album. It's not the masterpeice that could have resulted from two greats like Moz and Visconti joining forces. Be that as it may, though, when you strip away the expectation and the hype, you're left with a solid, unique Morrissey album. As the man himself has said, this album has no connections to the past. His "direct" approach to writing lyrics that appeared on You Are The Quarry is still present, but has been tempered with a more positive outlook and an almost child-like sense of adventure. I miss the fluttery, etherial songwriting on Maladjusted, but I embrace the new direction Morrissey's taking. And if "The Youngest Was The Most Loved", "On The Streets I Ran", and "I Just Want To See The Boy Happy" were replaced with three fantastic songs, this album would be outstanding. As is, it has to settle for being very good.
