Morrissey Ringleader of the Tormentors

Yay Morrissey! Honestly, no more really need be said than that about this record, but that wouldn't be much of a review.

Ringleader of the Tormentors sees the Mozfather in particularly fine form, and, dare I say, happy. It seems our Moz has moved to Rome, fallen in love and found himself a bit of satisfaction with the world. He writes in "At Last I Am Born,"

I once thought I had numerous reasons to cry

And I did, but I don't anymore

Because I am born, born, born

It's not all upbeat cheeriness though, with the typical self-deprecating Morrissey wit making its appearance on such heartfelt numbers as "Life is a Pigsty" and "I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now." But the change in tone is quite remarkable and where only Morrissey fans used to really grasp the overall hopefulness of his tone, this time he's practically shouting it from the rooftops, that is, when he's not treating us to a chant of "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah."

This album I think is going to divide fans in that it's nowhere near as poppy and radio-friendly as You Are the Quarry, rather in structure it is almost a return to his earlier solo material such as Viva Hate and Kill Uncle in that the melodies are understated, the songs meander a bit and tell stories. But the orchestration is a bit more daring owing to the help of Tony Visconti and Ennio Morricone. It is definitely an album to listen to in its entirety and repeatedly because there's a lot of subtlety and quiet touches. And lyrically it's one of his strongest and most personal and universal offerings in a while.

Welcome back Moz, the world isn't as nice a place when you take too long between albums!