Morrissey: Ringleader Of The Tormentors : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Formerly famous for proclaiming his own celibacy while writing richly frustrated songs of unrequited longing, Morrissey announces on his eighth solo studio album a long-overdue sexual awakening. "There are explosive kegs between my legs," the former Smiths singer declares on the monstrously beautiful and shamelessly lurid "Dear God, Please Help Me," orchestrated by legendary movie maestro Ennio Morricone. Ringleader of the Tormentors concludes with the similarly symphonic "At Last I Am Born," where dear Moz confesses, "I once was a mess of guilt because of the flesh/It's remarkable what you can learn." To suit this miraculous transformation, veteran glam-rock producer Tony Visconti helps Morrissey achieve the delicious sensuality of early T. Rex and David Bowie, even paraphrasing the strummed guitar intro from David Bowie's "Space Oddity" midway through the epic "Life Is a Pigsty." You Are the Quarry, from 2004, was Morrissey's strongest album in years, but Ringleader reframes it as mere foreplay.