Monday, April 10, 2006
Morrissey
Ringleader of the Tormentors
(Sanctuary)
By Christopher Porter
First printed in Harp, May 2006
(Moz being interviewed by Johnny Ramone at SXSW 2006.)
In 1997 Morrissey seemed to bottom out artistically. Maladjusted was released to mixed reviews (which is better than the reception 1995's Southpaw Grammar received), and it would be seven more years before the former singer for the Smiths would shake off the dust and rise again with 2004's uneven You Are the Quarry. While the single "Irish Blood, English Heart" was a great example of Morrissey at his rocked-up finest, "America Is Not the World" was a completely unlistenable and hacky screed against the country Moz had called home since 1999. The words "tuneless" and "artless" were invented a long time ago in anticipation for just this song. Still, You Are the Quarry's relative success, and the long, raved-about tour that followed (as documented on the Live at Earls Court CD and Who Put the "M" in Manchester? DVD), seemed to rejuvenate Morrissey. A recent relocation to Rome must have sealed it, because his new CD, Ringleader of the Tormentors, is the finest and most consistent album of Morrissey's post-Smiths career.
From the droning, gut-punch opener, "I Will See You," to the grand, closing waltz, "At Last I Am Born," there isn't a single clunker among the CD's 12 tunes. T. Rex and David Bowie producer Tony Visconti gives the album a crunchy glam-rock sound, perfectly framing Morrissey's still-strong voice with the wailing guitars of Alain Whyte, Boz Boorer and new collaborator Jesse Tobias. (Without having specific credits in front of me, I'm not sure who wrote what, but it would be safe to assume that Tobias provided a much needed spark to the group.)
For all of Morrissey's dedication to the dark side and loneliness -- and there's plenty of that on this album -- the lyrics to the first single, "You Have Killed Me," show a new openness: "I entered nothing / And nothing entered me / Till you came with the key." The string-laden ballad "Dear God Please Help Me," orchestrated by Ennio Morricone, features Moz walking around Rome and singing outright lascivious lines like "There are explosive kegs / Between my legs" and "Now I'm spreading your legs / With mine in between." No more beating around the bush -- or more accurately, the penis: Morrissey is finally singing directly about having sex, not playing coy about his self-proclaimed celibacy.
"Dear God Please Help Me" closes with the refrain "The heart feels free." It certainly sounds like it on Ringleader of the Tormentors.
Posted by CP | Link |
