Regarding Moz & Bowie - I seem to recall the Mozzter complaining that 'everyone had to worship at the temple of David' and that as part of the stage show, Bowie wanted support act Morrissey to 'fade away' as Bowie took the stage, to the same song.
Of course, Moz was not happy with the implications of that (even if it was his song).
I also remember Bowie remarking that a particular song on the (Ronson produced) album was basically a copy of Rock n Roll Suicide (memory and ale prevent me from being more precise, at this time).
But it is interesting that Moz continues to choose Bowie accolytes to produce his records.
Morrissey Strikes Again
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ReadyToHearTheWorst
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- Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2003 5:44 am
- Location: uk
Not forgetting of course Visconti produced all those great Tyrannosaurus Rex records and T Rex records that Morrissey loves so much, he has covered both Cosmic Dancer and Great Horse from Beard of Stars. Visconti is great arranger of strings and orchestra too soooo great great things could happen on this new record!
echos myron like a siren
with endurance like the liberty bell
and he tells you of the dreamers
but he's cracked up like the road
and he'd like to lift us up, but we're a very heavy load
with endurance like the liberty bell
and he tells you of the dreamers
but he's cracked up like the road
and he'd like to lift us up, but we're a very heavy load
-
miss buenos aires
- Posts: 2055
- Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2003 7:15 am
- Location: jcnj
- Contact:
I know I'm late to this particular party, but I would like to add:Otis Westinghouse wrote:One for every mood:
Too tired to think: 'Why pamper life's complexities?'
Horned up: 'Let me get your head on the conjugal bed'
Horned up but with a reluctant date: 'Please, please, please, let me get what I want' (apologies to Mike for nicking his line)
Horned up and feeling experimental: 'If there's something you'd like to try, ask me I won't say no, how could I?'
Depressed, and entering a suicide pact with loved one: 'To die by your side, the pleasure, the privilege is mine'
Depressed and wanting to let parents know it's their fault: 'It's not my home, it's their home and I'm welcome no more'
Depressed and planning to never leave bed again: 'Oh mother I can feel the soil falling over my head'
With comatose girlfriend: 'I know it's serious'
Misunderstood and unloved: 'I am human and I need to be loved'
Alone forever and suffering low self-esteem: 'If you're so very good-looking why do you sleep alone tonight?'
Unemployed but defiant: 'England is mine and it owes me a living'
Unemployed, but with employed loved one: 'If you must go to work tomorrow, well if I were you I wouldn't bother'
Playing hard to get: 'You just haven't earned it yet baby'
Needing a lie-in: 'Don't try to wake me in the morning'
Needing to commit suicide: 'Don't try to wake me in the morning cos I will be gone'
"Heaven knows I'm miserable now"
But I can't quite decide on a situation...there are so many that are applicable...
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Otis Westinghouse
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From the NME -
The tracklisting for 'Ringleader Of The Tormentors' will be:
'I Will See You In Far-off Places'
'Dear God Please Help Me'
'You Have Killed Me'
'The Youngest Was The Most Loved'
'In The Future When All's Well'
'The Father Who Must Be Killed'
'Life Is A Pigsty'
'I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now'
'On The Streets I Ran'
'To Me You Are A Work Of Art'
'I Just Want To See The Boy Happy'
'At Last I Am Born'
The tracklisting for 'Ringleader Of The Tormentors' will be:
'I Will See You In Far-off Places'
'Dear God Please Help Me'
'You Have Killed Me'
'The Youngest Was The Most Loved'
'In The Future When All's Well'
'The Father Who Must Be Killed'
'Life Is A Pigsty'
'I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now'
'On The Streets I Ran'
'To Me You Are A Work Of Art'
'I Just Want To See The Boy Happy'
'At Last I Am Born'
echos myron like a siren
with endurance like the liberty bell
and he tells you of the dreamers
but he's cracked up like the road
and he'd like to lift us up, but we're a very heavy load
with endurance like the liberty bell
and he tells you of the dreamers
but he's cracked up like the road
and he'd like to lift us up, but we're a very heavy load
-
invisible Pole
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- Location: Poland
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Otis Westinghouse
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- Location: The theatre of dreams
I hope it's a bit different in kind to the excellent YATQ. Expectations will run very high. Would be kinda easy for Moz to put out more of the same and make it seem a bit lame as a result, but I have faith he will work well with TV and come up with something new and special. Must see him live next year!
There's more to life than books, you know, but not much more
From a Question and Answer thingy at http://true-to-you.net/
Q:
I think that Ennio Morricone is one of the great composers of our time. I regard the music to Once Upon A Time In America as a heartbreaking masterpiece. Is it true that Morricone has worked with you on your new album, and if so, how was it to meet Il Maestro and work with him?
With gratitude and tenderness,
Peter Birro
Sweden
A:
hello Peter
Yes, the Maestro came into the studio with his orchestra and worked on a song called "Dear God Please Help Me" – which was very flattering because he'd turned so many multi-million selling pop acts down (I won't mention their names – U2, David Bowie, etc.), so I was delighted that he said yes to scruffy old me. In the event, he was very shy, and he was heavily surrounded and shielded, and there was no way that he and I would end up at the local pub playing darts. But – that's OK. Life's rich tapestry, and so on.
Q:
I think that Ennio Morricone is one of the great composers of our time. I regard the music to Once Upon A Time In America as a heartbreaking masterpiece. Is it true that Morricone has worked with you on your new album, and if so, how was it to meet Il Maestro and work with him?
With gratitude and tenderness,
Peter Birro
Sweden
A:
hello Peter
Yes, the Maestro came into the studio with his orchestra and worked on a song called "Dear God Please Help Me" – which was very flattering because he'd turned so many multi-million selling pop acts down (I won't mention their names – U2, David Bowie, etc.), so I was delighted that he said yes to scruffy old me. In the event, he was very shy, and he was heavily surrounded and shielded, and there was no way that he and I would end up at the local pub playing darts. But – that's OK. Life's rich tapestry, and so on.
echos myron like a siren
with endurance like the liberty bell
and he tells you of the dreamers
but he's cracked up like the road
and he'd like to lift us up, but we're a very heavy load
with endurance like the liberty bell
and he tells you of the dreamers
but he's cracked up like the road
and he'd like to lift us up, but we're a very heavy load
-
Otis Westinghouse
- Posts: 8856
- Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2003 3:32 pm
- Location: The theatre of dreams
Moz replies! This sounds promising. Of course, Moz is a good self-promoter, but he's genuinely convinced here:
Q:
Dear Morrissey,
I am looking forward to hearing your work with Tony Visconti. At this time, is there more that you would like to share with your fans as to the overall sound of your new album?
Thanks for staying true to your fans and true to yourself.
Michael D. Fellows
New York, New York, U.S.A.
A:
hello Michael
Firstly, the musicianship is outstanding. Secondly, the songs are very strong, which is a great thing to be able to say this far down the line. We were all very unified – everyone gets on very well, we are all very close friends, and everyone works for the common good, and there is never anyone pulling away – as there has been in the past. So, this all helped to make the album as good as it is – and we all know it is the best. It is not a continuation of You Are The Quarry, and it has no links to the past. Tony has been a very uplifting influence – has done a great job as producer and I'm honoured to have worked with him. Marco Martin, who engineered, also played such a big part in the overall sound, and we're all eternally thankful to him.
Q:
Dear Morrissey,
I am looking forward to hearing your work with Tony Visconti. At this time, is there more that you would like to share with your fans as to the overall sound of your new album?
Thanks for staying true to your fans and true to yourself.
Michael D. Fellows
New York, New York, U.S.A.
A:
hello Michael
Firstly, the musicianship is outstanding. Secondly, the songs are very strong, which is a great thing to be able to say this far down the line. We were all very unified – everyone gets on very well, we are all very close friends, and everyone works for the common good, and there is never anyone pulling away – as there has been in the past. So, this all helped to make the album as good as it is – and we all know it is the best. It is not a continuation of You Are The Quarry, and it has no links to the past. Tony has been a very uplifting influence – has done a great job as producer and I'm honoured to have worked with him. Marco Martin, who engineered, also played such a big part in the overall sound, and we're all eternally thankful to him.
There's more to life than books, you know, but not much more
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Who Shot Sam?
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- Contact:
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bambooneedle
- Posts: 4533
- Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2003 4:02 pm
- Location: a few thousand miles south east of Zanzibar
Just watched the video for 'Irish Blood, English Heart' from last year - he looked defiant flailing his arms around with tight-fitting white jacket and compulsory bit-of-hair-that-sticks-up-at-the-front and good song. The English James Dean if he were 50 with some Boy From Oz thrown in for good measure... 
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Otis Westinghouse
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bambooneedle
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- Location: a few thousand miles south east of Zanzibar
not flattering enough..?-
Otis Westinghouse
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invisible Pole
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- Joined: Tue Jun 29, 2004 2:20 pm
- Location: Poland
I can't wait for this one !
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/art ... 1001806691
Morrissey Rocks, Revels In Rome On New Album
Morrissey returns to a thicker, more rock-driven sound on his ninth solo album, "Ringleader of the Tormentors," due April 4 via Attack/Sanctuary. The 12-track set was produced by Tony Visconti and recorded in Rome, references to which appear in a number of songs. Legendary composer Ennio Morricone scored the string arrangement on "Dear God Please Help Me," while an Italian children's choir can be heard on several others.
Morrissey credits the "marked difference" in sound here to the presence of guitarist/songwriter Jesse Tobias, particularly on tracks like the stomping "In the Future When All's Well," the simple, effective first single "You Have Killed Me" and "The Youngest Was the Most Loved." "These songs, especially, fully release the hounds," Morrissey said earlier this week on the fan site True to You.
Album highlights include "The Father Who Must Be Killed," which juxtaposes a murderous storyline with an ultra-poppy chorus; the unusual verse chord progression of "On the Streets I Ran" (during which Morrissey mentions his talent for "turning sickness into popular song"); and the seven-minute plus "Life Is a Pigsty," an ominous, uncommonly multifaceted track flecked with the sound of rain and thunder.
Lyrically, Morrissey the storyteller transcends his earthly constraints (opener "I Will See You in Far Off Places"), laments a lost love ("I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero"), pays tribute to "the someone who can soothe me" ("To Me You Are a Work of Art") and celebrates a rebirth, personal or otherwise (the vaguely Western closer "At Last I Am Born").
"You Have Killed Me" will be released commercially March 20 in the United Kingdom, backed by the B-sides "Good Looking Man About Town," "I Knew I Was Next" and a cover of the New York Dolls' "Human Being."
Morrissey will begin a 30-date U.K. tour in conjunction with the release of "Ringleader," which is the follow-up to 2004's "You Are the Quarry." That album revived the former Smiths frontman's career in North America, debuting at a career-best No. 11 on The Billboard 200. It has sold more than 195,000 copies in North America, according to Nielsen SoundScan, his highest total since 1994's "Vauxhall and I."
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/art ... 1001806691
Morrissey Rocks, Revels In Rome On New Album
Morrissey returns to a thicker, more rock-driven sound on his ninth solo album, "Ringleader of the Tormentors," due April 4 via Attack/Sanctuary. The 12-track set was produced by Tony Visconti and recorded in Rome, references to which appear in a number of songs. Legendary composer Ennio Morricone scored the string arrangement on "Dear God Please Help Me," while an Italian children's choir can be heard on several others.
Morrissey credits the "marked difference" in sound here to the presence of guitarist/songwriter Jesse Tobias, particularly on tracks like the stomping "In the Future When All's Well," the simple, effective first single "You Have Killed Me" and "The Youngest Was the Most Loved." "These songs, especially, fully release the hounds," Morrissey said earlier this week on the fan site True to You.
Album highlights include "The Father Who Must Be Killed," which juxtaposes a murderous storyline with an ultra-poppy chorus; the unusual verse chord progression of "On the Streets I Ran" (during which Morrissey mentions his talent for "turning sickness into popular song"); and the seven-minute plus "Life Is a Pigsty," an ominous, uncommonly multifaceted track flecked with the sound of rain and thunder.
Lyrically, Morrissey the storyteller transcends his earthly constraints (opener "I Will See You in Far Off Places"), laments a lost love ("I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero"), pays tribute to "the someone who can soothe me" ("To Me You Are a Work of Art") and celebrates a rebirth, personal or otherwise (the vaguely Western closer "At Last I Am Born").
"You Have Killed Me" will be released commercially March 20 in the United Kingdom, backed by the B-sides "Good Looking Man About Town," "I Knew I Was Next" and a cover of the New York Dolls' "Human Being."
Morrissey will begin a 30-date U.K. tour in conjunction with the release of "Ringleader," which is the follow-up to 2004's "You Are the Quarry." That album revived the former Smiths frontman's career in North America, debuting at a career-best No. 11 on The Billboard 200. It has sold more than 195,000 copies in North America, according to Nielsen SoundScan, his highest total since 1994's "Vauxhall and I."
If you don't know what is wrong with me
Then you don't know what you've missed
Then you don't know what you've missed
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Who Shot Sam?
- Posts: 7097
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Otis Westinghouse
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selfmademug
Was listening to Quarry while cooking last night... I think it may well turn out to be one of the best records of the decade for me. So I am fairly jumping up and down for the new release, though I'm not holding my breath for something I like as much as YATQ. (Among other reasons, it would be hard to jump up and down AND hold my breath until April. 
)
)Confirmed tour dates: Manchester
Four Manchester dates
18 April...... SALFORD Lowry
6 May..... MANCHESTER Apollo
7 May..... MANCHESTER Opera House
8 May..... MANCHESTER Bridgewater Hall
Four Manchester dates
18 April...... SALFORD Lowry
6 May..... MANCHESTER Apollo
7 May..... MANCHESTER Opera House
8 May..... MANCHESTER Bridgewater Hall
echos myron like a siren
with endurance like the liberty bell
and he tells you of the dreamers
but he's cracked up like the road
and he'd like to lift us up, but we're a very heavy load
with endurance like the liberty bell
and he tells you of the dreamers
but he's cracked up like the road
and he'd like to lift us up, but we're a very heavy load
-
Otis Westinghouse
- Posts: 8856
- Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2003 3:32 pm
- Location: The theatre of dreams
ach aye mon! more mcdates...
april 22 ABERDEEN Music Hall
april 23 STIRLING Albert Halls
april 25 DUNDEE Caird Hall
april 26 GREENOCK Town Hall
april 27 GLASGOW Academy
looks like it will be a pretty extensive tour.
april 22 ABERDEEN Music Hall
april 23 STIRLING Albert Halls
april 25 DUNDEE Caird Hall
april 26 GREENOCK Town Hall
april 27 GLASGOW Academy
looks like it will be a pretty extensive tour.
echos myron like a siren
with endurance like the liberty bell
and he tells you of the dreamers
but he's cracked up like the road
and he'd like to lift us up, but we're a very heavy load
with endurance like the liberty bell
and he tells you of the dreamers
but he's cracked up like the road
and he'd like to lift us up, but we're a very heavy load
-
Otis Westinghouse
- Posts: 8856
- Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2003 3:32 pm
- Location: The theatre of dreams
They're teasing us! Searching for more info on the other 42 or whatever dates, and found this here: http://www.morrissey-solo.com/. Sounds promising and very interesting. I'll bet it is a grower. YATQ certainly was, despite the immediacy of some of the songs. I think he means 'poppier' in his summary at the end, not 'poopier'.
Martin Söderström writes:
Impressions of Ringleader of the Tormentors after the listening party in Stockholm, January 12th 2006.
Sorry about all the grammatical errors and all that stuff, but I’m on a real buzz right now and English isn’t my first language anyway so.... But I thought that this could be interesting for quite a few people out there.
So. Finally. The Big Day came. After a sleepless night 15-odd of us (journalists, pop stars and well known die hard fans of the Moz) finally got to sit in the office of SonyBMG Sweden for a listening session of Ringleader.
After a few words from the man from Sanctuary UK about how Sweden is one of Morrissey's best countries they actually put the record into the stereo. Here is my track by track thoughts of it:
01. I Will See You In Far-Off Places.
Middle-eastern strings – and metal! Wtf is this really Morrissey?!?!
Think America is not the world meets a really pissed of System of a Down in a crowdy market in Beirut. Sort of.
The track is rock hard – but with a really passionate vocal from Morrissey.
“The heart knows why I grieve, and yes – one day I will close my eyes forever”.
He slags off the US involvement in the Middle East really heavy and it’s easy to see this as a relly pissed of sister song to America from Quarry. With the Marshall amps turned up to 11.
Without a doubt the hardest and heaviest track The Moz has ever released.
02. Dear God Please Help Me
His singing is fantastic on this one! It starts off really smoothly with just an organ and an acoustic guitar. The Moz croons “and I’m so very tired of doing the right thing”.
And lyric wise.... God Damn – Mozzer got laid!!
“then he notions to me with his hand on my knee – Dear God, did this kind of thing ever happen to you?”
Later on he sings about how he spreads this guy’s legs and lies with his own right in between. Morrissey finally pulled!!
A really atmospheric track with beautiful strings and the line that really blew me away was “There are explosive kegs between my legs – Dear God please help me!”.
03. You Have Killed Me
The first uptempo track.
A straight on, poppy track with a chorus that just steams of hit potential! An obvious choice for a first single.
“As i live and breathe – You have killed me”
Opens with the line: “Passolini is me” wich he later in the song changes to “Visconti is me”. Strange but quite funny.
He ends it with a crooning “There is no point in saying this again – but I forgive you, I forgive you”.
04. The Youngest Was The Most Loved
The uptempo continues. Could very well be a future single – the chorus once again is really straight to the point, no fuss pop.
In the chorus Moz sings something like “There is no such thing in life as ‘normal’” backed by a chilrens choir. He yoddels quite a bit towards the end kind of in the same way as in the end of Rubber Ring. The track closes abruptly with some distorted strings.
05. In The Future When All’s Well
Starts with a western-movie sort of guitar riff. A midtempo track and Morrissey sings “Living longer than I intended – something must have gone right”.
A nice piano in the background and beautiful “aaaaaah”-backing vocals from the band. A straight on pop track with quite a bit of rock nerve to it. Jesse Tobias even pulls of a distorted guitar solo with lots of feedback towards the end!
06. The Father Who Must Be Killed
Starts with a drum intro. Visconti has added almost a gravelike echo effect to Mozzer's voice. Feels a bit like a b-side, actually. Quite riff heavy towards the chorus and the lyrics are relly straight on and seem a bit... forced and sometimes quite silly. Melody wise the track never really happens and it ends with the drummer having quite a go at the old gong. The low point of the album in my opinion.
07. Life Is A Pigsty
The masterpiece!!!
Starts off with a real heavy rain effect and thunder in the background. Really dramatic. Gets a bit uptempo towards the chorus and Morrissey sings at one point “It’s the same old SOS but with brand new broken fortunes”.
The songs has a kind of acoustic refrain in the same vein as “The edges are no longer parallel” but with quite heavy drums and rain.
The Moz singing on this is... astonishing. He croons, the falsetto is just perfect and the track really sent chills down my spine.
“Every second of my life I live only for you”, he croons and it’s hard to keep the tears away.
A very dramatic and typical Visconti production and maybe a career best from Morrissey.
Think big. Think Widescreen. Think drama.
A brave, brave track in all it’s seven and a half minutes majesty.
08. I’ll Never Be Anybody’s Hero Now
A midtempo track kind of in the same vein as Crashing Bores sounded on the 2002 tour (before the studio version went all ballady).
“I’ll never be anybody’s hero now, they who should love me walk right through me”.
The singing is marvellous on this one! A bit of falsetto, a bit of Sinatra croon. Morrissey does his best singing ever on this album actually!
“I am a ghost / And as far as I know / I haven’t even died” is a stand out lyric line.
The chorus is a killer – I was just beaming in my seat because it's so darn good!
“I’ll never be anybody’s hero now – it only hurts because it’s true”.
09. On The Streets I Ran
Starts off quite fumbling but finds it’s way into a nice poppy verse. A fantastic track – quite possibly a single in my book!
Straight on, lightly distorted rock/pop kind of in the same vein as Reader Meet Author. Morrissey sings about how he “turned sickness into popular song” only to change his mind in the last verse where he “turned sickness into unpopular song”. Haha!
The lyrics are amazingly funny. He has a go at the people of Pittsburgh and sings at some stage “if you don’t leave you will kill / or be killed – which isn’t very nice”.
“Take anyone – take the people of Pittsburgh, PA – just spare me”.
10. To Me You Are A Work Of Art
A good midtempo track. Sound a bit Oasis actually. The vocal melody seemed kind of tricky at first but his singing here is just fantastic! Nice strings and a really catchy chorus.
“To me you are a work of art / And I’d give you my heart / That’s if I had one”. Could very well work as a single.
11. I Just Want To See The Boy Happy
“Let’s face it – soon I will be dead” sings Morrissey on this really great pop tune. Sounds very much early seventies Bowie meets Oasis “Some Might Say”. Has “single” stamped all over it’s forehead. A great song!
12. At Last I Am Born
Oh dear, the drama isn’t quite over yet. A string heavy, Morricone sounding weird track with some marching band kind of drumming in it. Very peculiar indeed. Has quite a bit of talked lyrics and feels a bit too much like a piece of radio theatre for my taste. Think “Sorrow will come in the end” meets “You know I couldn’t last”. The children are back, singing in the background and Moz croons “I was once a mess because of guilt of the flesh”.
Although we only got to hear it once (and the single twice) it made me feel rally good. Make no mistake about it though: this IS a difficult album and I’m quite sure it will divide the fanbase quite a bit.
As after Vauxhall – a very likeable and popular album – he followed up with the too strange for some people Southpaw Grammar.
I feel as if he’s doing quite the same thing again – following up Quarry with a strange, big, dramatic and often quite strangley sounding Ringleader. It has it’s obvious singles, but it’s a daring, risk taking epic sounding sort of record and I’m sure he will recive quite a lot of flak for it. And quite possibly lose quite a few of the festival going, First of the gang to die-liking younger audience that he gained with Quarry. For this is a dark, dramatic and quite difficult record to get ones head around. It feels very much as a grower, actually. It will take quite a few listens before it “sits” in once heart and mind.
We never got any info on which track was written by whom (and we had to leave the printed out lyric sheets in the room as we left) but I’d say that Jesse Tobias's songwriting isn’t that different from say Alain Whyte's. Maybe it’s a bit poopier (but at the same time a bit harder) but the songs still very much feel as Morrissey songs. So no dramatic departure there.
The guy from Sanctuary also said that a video for “Killed” is being shot in Rome right about now and that the tour dates are being worked on as of now. He couldn’t confirm anything though.
He also said that they have b-side to at least three singles, and it hasn’t really been decided which songs are to be released as singles, but he thought that The Youngest Was The Most Loved and In The Future When All’s Well were good candidates to be picked as singles. “But then again, you never really know with Morrissey”, he smiled.
Too right.
/ Martin Söderström, Stockholm, Sweden.
Martin Söderström writes:
Impressions of Ringleader of the Tormentors after the listening party in Stockholm, January 12th 2006.
Sorry about all the grammatical errors and all that stuff, but I’m on a real buzz right now and English isn’t my first language anyway so.... But I thought that this could be interesting for quite a few people out there.
So. Finally. The Big Day came. After a sleepless night 15-odd of us (journalists, pop stars and well known die hard fans of the Moz) finally got to sit in the office of SonyBMG Sweden for a listening session of Ringleader.
After a few words from the man from Sanctuary UK about how Sweden is one of Morrissey's best countries they actually put the record into the stereo. Here is my track by track thoughts of it:
01. I Will See You In Far-Off Places.
Middle-eastern strings – and metal! Wtf is this really Morrissey?!?!
Think America is not the world meets a really pissed of System of a Down in a crowdy market in Beirut. Sort of.
The track is rock hard – but with a really passionate vocal from Morrissey.
“The heart knows why I grieve, and yes – one day I will close my eyes forever”.
He slags off the US involvement in the Middle East really heavy and it’s easy to see this as a relly pissed of sister song to America from Quarry. With the Marshall amps turned up to 11.
Without a doubt the hardest and heaviest track The Moz has ever released.
02. Dear God Please Help Me
His singing is fantastic on this one! It starts off really smoothly with just an organ and an acoustic guitar. The Moz croons “and I’m so very tired of doing the right thing”.
And lyric wise.... God Damn – Mozzer got laid!!
“then he notions to me with his hand on my knee – Dear God, did this kind of thing ever happen to you?”
Later on he sings about how he spreads this guy’s legs and lies with his own right in between. Morrissey finally pulled!!
A really atmospheric track with beautiful strings and the line that really blew me away was “There are explosive kegs between my legs – Dear God please help me!”.
03. You Have Killed Me
The first uptempo track.
A straight on, poppy track with a chorus that just steams of hit potential! An obvious choice for a first single.
“As i live and breathe – You have killed me”
Opens with the line: “Passolini is me” wich he later in the song changes to “Visconti is me”. Strange but quite funny.
He ends it with a crooning “There is no point in saying this again – but I forgive you, I forgive you”.
04. The Youngest Was The Most Loved
The uptempo continues. Could very well be a future single – the chorus once again is really straight to the point, no fuss pop.
In the chorus Moz sings something like “There is no such thing in life as ‘normal’” backed by a chilrens choir. He yoddels quite a bit towards the end kind of in the same way as in the end of Rubber Ring. The track closes abruptly with some distorted strings.
05. In The Future When All’s Well
Starts with a western-movie sort of guitar riff. A midtempo track and Morrissey sings “Living longer than I intended – something must have gone right”.
A nice piano in the background and beautiful “aaaaaah”-backing vocals from the band. A straight on pop track with quite a bit of rock nerve to it. Jesse Tobias even pulls of a distorted guitar solo with lots of feedback towards the end!
06. The Father Who Must Be Killed
Starts with a drum intro. Visconti has added almost a gravelike echo effect to Mozzer's voice. Feels a bit like a b-side, actually. Quite riff heavy towards the chorus and the lyrics are relly straight on and seem a bit... forced and sometimes quite silly. Melody wise the track never really happens and it ends with the drummer having quite a go at the old gong. The low point of the album in my opinion.
07. Life Is A Pigsty
The masterpiece!!!
Starts off with a real heavy rain effect and thunder in the background. Really dramatic. Gets a bit uptempo towards the chorus and Morrissey sings at one point “It’s the same old SOS but with brand new broken fortunes”.
The songs has a kind of acoustic refrain in the same vein as “The edges are no longer parallel” but with quite heavy drums and rain.
The Moz singing on this is... astonishing. He croons, the falsetto is just perfect and the track really sent chills down my spine.
“Every second of my life I live only for you”, he croons and it’s hard to keep the tears away.
A very dramatic and typical Visconti production and maybe a career best from Morrissey.
Think big. Think Widescreen. Think drama.
A brave, brave track in all it’s seven and a half minutes majesty.
08. I’ll Never Be Anybody’s Hero Now
A midtempo track kind of in the same vein as Crashing Bores sounded on the 2002 tour (before the studio version went all ballady).
“I’ll never be anybody’s hero now, they who should love me walk right through me”.
The singing is marvellous on this one! A bit of falsetto, a bit of Sinatra croon. Morrissey does his best singing ever on this album actually!
“I am a ghost / And as far as I know / I haven’t even died” is a stand out lyric line.
The chorus is a killer – I was just beaming in my seat because it's so darn good!
“I’ll never be anybody’s hero now – it only hurts because it’s true”.
09. On The Streets I Ran
Starts off quite fumbling but finds it’s way into a nice poppy verse. A fantastic track – quite possibly a single in my book!
Straight on, lightly distorted rock/pop kind of in the same vein as Reader Meet Author. Morrissey sings about how he “turned sickness into popular song” only to change his mind in the last verse where he “turned sickness into unpopular song”. Haha!
The lyrics are amazingly funny. He has a go at the people of Pittsburgh and sings at some stage “if you don’t leave you will kill / or be killed – which isn’t very nice”.
“Take anyone – take the people of Pittsburgh, PA – just spare me”.
10. To Me You Are A Work Of Art
A good midtempo track. Sound a bit Oasis actually. The vocal melody seemed kind of tricky at first but his singing here is just fantastic! Nice strings and a really catchy chorus.
“To me you are a work of art / And I’d give you my heart / That’s if I had one”. Could very well work as a single.
11. I Just Want To See The Boy Happy
“Let’s face it – soon I will be dead” sings Morrissey on this really great pop tune. Sounds very much early seventies Bowie meets Oasis “Some Might Say”. Has “single” stamped all over it’s forehead. A great song!
12. At Last I Am Born
Oh dear, the drama isn’t quite over yet. A string heavy, Morricone sounding weird track with some marching band kind of drumming in it. Very peculiar indeed. Has quite a bit of talked lyrics and feels a bit too much like a piece of radio theatre for my taste. Think “Sorrow will come in the end” meets “You know I couldn’t last”. The children are back, singing in the background and Moz croons “I was once a mess because of guilt of the flesh”.
Although we only got to hear it once (and the single twice) it made me feel rally good. Make no mistake about it though: this IS a difficult album and I’m quite sure it will divide the fanbase quite a bit.
As after Vauxhall – a very likeable and popular album – he followed up with the too strange for some people Southpaw Grammar.
I feel as if he’s doing quite the same thing again – following up Quarry with a strange, big, dramatic and often quite strangley sounding Ringleader. It has it’s obvious singles, but it’s a daring, risk taking epic sounding sort of record and I’m sure he will recive quite a lot of flak for it. And quite possibly lose quite a few of the festival going, First of the gang to die-liking younger audience that he gained with Quarry. For this is a dark, dramatic and quite difficult record to get ones head around. It feels very much as a grower, actually. It will take quite a few listens before it “sits” in once heart and mind.
We never got any info on which track was written by whom (and we had to leave the printed out lyric sheets in the room as we left) but I’d say that Jesse Tobias's songwriting isn’t that different from say Alain Whyte's. Maybe it’s a bit poopier (but at the same time a bit harder) but the songs still very much feel as Morrissey songs. So no dramatic departure there.
The guy from Sanctuary also said that a video for “Killed” is being shot in Rome right about now and that the tour dates are being worked on as of now. He couldn’t confirm anything though.
He also said that they have b-side to at least three singles, and it hasn’t really been decided which songs are to be released as singles, but he thought that The Youngest Was The Most Loved and In The Future When All’s Well were good candidates to be picked as singles. “But then again, you never really know with Morrissey”, he smiled.
Too right.
/ Martin Söderström, Stockholm, Sweden.
There's more to life than books, you know, but not much more
This sounds so awesome - cannot wait to hear it. A sort of better version of Southpaw Grammar perhaps? The opening track sounds wicked.
echos myron like a siren
with endurance like the liberty bell
and he tells you of the dreamers
but he's cracked up like the road
and he'd like to lift us up, but we're a very heavy load
with endurance like the liberty bell
and he tells you of the dreamers
but he's cracked up like the road
and he'd like to lift us up, but we're a very heavy load
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Who Shot Sam?
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Wow, I never knew this exsisted - Morrissey interviewing Joni Mitchell in 1997.
http://motorcycleaupairboy.com/intervie ... tchell.htm
http://motorcycleaupairboy.com/intervie ... tchell.htm
echos myron like a siren
with endurance like the liberty bell
and he tells you of the dreamers
but he's cracked up like the road
and he'd like to lift us up, but we're a very heavy load
with endurance like the liberty bell
and he tells you of the dreamers
but he's cracked up like the road
and he'd like to lift us up, but we're a very heavy load