Tony Visconti: My Top 6 productions - Team Rock
Includes Ringleader Of The Tormentors
Nice words from Tony, even after the Kristeen fallout and what was said back then.
Excerpt:
Morrissey – Ringleader Of The Tormentors (2006)
“The one and only Morrissey album that I produced. The title alone is fantastic, and I assume that Morrissey is the ringleader who is tormenting us. That album, like "Heroes", was done in a very special place. It was recorded in Rome, and like David, Morrissey brought Rome into the studio. The songs were written about Rome, all of us were doing things in Rome, we'd go out to have dinner together at Italian restaurants, I don't drink, so I wouldn't join Morrissey and the band when they would go to nightclubs, but everyone was completely immersing themselves in the city.
The atmosphere in the studio while making the album was such that what ever you were doing you were constantly reminded that you were in Rome, and a lot of references to Rome got into the lyrics. We even got the great Ennio Morricone to do the strings on Dear God, Please Help Me which was just fantastic. So that was quite an amazing album and I'm also proud that I made it sound retro, which was on purpose, I think Morrissey wanted it to sound like a Tony Visconti production rather than a modern production where everything is loud and in your face, so I recorded that album with sensitivity in mind.
He would just be in ecstasy every day. Every day that he showed up in the studio he would listen to what I had been doing earlier in the day with Boz (Boorer), Jesse (Tobias) and Alain (Whyte), the three guitarists on the album, and he just approved of everything, and I'd heard that he could be a cruel taskmaster. If he didn't like you, you'd be sacked in five seconds. I endured the length of the album, and it's an album that I'm very proud of. Unfortunately, two of the best tracks were released as B-sides. One was Ganglord, I wish Ganglord was on that album, there was also a song called Sweetie-Pie, I got Kristeen Young to sing backing vocals on that, they were two controversial titles that, if they had been included, would have made it a better album. But in all, the whole experience with Ringleader was something that I shall never forget.”
Includes Ringleader Of The Tormentors
Nice words from Tony, even after the Kristeen fallout and what was said back then.
Excerpt:
Morrissey – Ringleader Of The Tormentors (2006)
“The one and only Morrissey album that I produced. The title alone is fantastic, and I assume that Morrissey is the ringleader who is tormenting us. That album, like "Heroes", was done in a very special place. It was recorded in Rome, and like David, Morrissey brought Rome into the studio. The songs were written about Rome, all of us were doing things in Rome, we'd go out to have dinner together at Italian restaurants, I don't drink, so I wouldn't join Morrissey and the band when they would go to nightclubs, but everyone was completely immersing themselves in the city.
The atmosphere in the studio while making the album was such that what ever you were doing you were constantly reminded that you were in Rome, and a lot of references to Rome got into the lyrics. We even got the great Ennio Morricone to do the strings on Dear God, Please Help Me which was just fantastic. So that was quite an amazing album and I'm also proud that I made it sound retro, which was on purpose, I think Morrissey wanted it to sound like a Tony Visconti production rather than a modern production where everything is loud and in your face, so I recorded that album with sensitivity in mind.
He would just be in ecstasy every day. Every day that he showed up in the studio he would listen to what I had been doing earlier in the day with Boz (Boorer), Jesse (Tobias) and Alain (Whyte), the three guitarists on the album, and he just approved of everything, and I'd heard that he could be a cruel taskmaster. If he didn't like you, you'd be sacked in five seconds. I endured the length of the album, and it's an album that I'm very proud of. Unfortunately, two of the best tracks were released as B-sides. One was Ganglord, I wish Ganglord was on that album, there was also a song called Sweetie-Pie, I got Kristeen Young to sing backing vocals on that, they were two controversial titles that, if they had been included, would have made it a better album. But in all, the whole experience with Ringleader was something that I shall never forget.”
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