Morrissey CDs, DVDs, Videos, MP3 Downloads, Brief Biography, Discography, Chart Positions

Another Mozza goodie...

Amazon.co.uk Review
Take a long hard look at that man gracing the cover of Ringleader of the Tormentors; caught mid-concerto, tempered by lofty eloquence, gliding towards a crescendo of instrumental distinction. Who’s he trying to kid exactly!? Ever since The Smiths disbanded and he was deserted by Johnny Marr, Morrissey’s work has only really been musical by association. He’s more parts lyricist than he is straight poet, you see, relying as much on the emotive reach of his mighty vocal as his articulate depression. He needs melodic accompaniment, but it’s hardly been the focus. The image does still work though, as a metaphor. Name, if you can, a greater performer of pathos, a finer maestro of the maudlin.

If he is widely accepted as having been through a fallow period of creativity prior to 2004s comeback classic You Are The Quarry then he’s hammering the counterpoint now. Two albums into his renaissance and we find Moz more tender, more cinematic and, if possible, more serious than ever.

Fittingly it is much more orchestral too. Take "Dear God, Please Help Me", as self pitying as expected, only bound in silk and suspended just above the depths you’d otherwise expect to find him in. And album centrepiece, the equally dolefully titled "Life is a Pigsty", which begins with a peaking "How Soon Is Now" template before descending into a spellbinding Prozac-comedown in the orchestra pit, with bruises as evidence. The emotion feels that much rawer this time. This is not an indie disco record, it has more timeless aspirations. --James Berry

Description
'Ringleader Of The Tormentors' is the eighth album from the iconic Mancunian vocalist Morrissey. In a departure from his previous albums, Morrissey has chosen to incorporate Morricone-esque strings and arrangements into these songs. This makes for a sound that is both sweeping and cinematic, however, his usual themes of rejection and redemption are as prevelant as on his 2004 'comeback' album, 'You Are The Quarry'. Includes the single 'You Have Killed Me'.

Ringleader of the Tormentors [CD + DVD]

Morrissey's 'You Are the Quarry' album at iTunes

More Morrissey CDs & MP3s available from booksmusicfilmstv.com - in association with Amazon.co.uk

Morrissey - The Pre-Smiths/Solo Years

Steven Patrick Morrissey (born May 22, 1959) is a singer and songwriter from Stretford, Greater Manchester, England. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as the vocalist of the highly influential English band The Smiths. When the band broke up in 1987, Morrissey began a successful solo career and has the distinction of charting top ten British singles in three separate decades.

Morrissey is often noted as one of the key English-language lyricists of his generation, with many subsequent bands hailing his influence. Detractors usually describe his work as depressing, while fans point to the sardonic humour and acidic wit which underpins his songs' frequent references to alienation and failed love.

He does not shy from controversy in his songs, with themes including; child murder, gang violence, domestic violence, prostitution, racism, homosexuality, drug use, assassination, political protest, antireligion, suicide and terrorism.

Morrissey was born in Manchester, England, to Irish immigrants Peter Morrissey, a hospital porter, and Elizabeth Dwyer, a librarian. They had moved to England just before Morrissey's birth and brought him up, with his older sister Jackie, in a small Victorian terraced house in Old Trafford, moving to the more salubrious suburb of Stretford in the early 1970s, when many of the old terraced streets were being demolished. Morrissey has maintained a strong attachment to his mother throughout his life. However, his relationship with his father suffered much strain over the years and was, eventually, largely nonexistent.

As a child, Morrissey developed a number of interests and role models that marked him out among his peers, including '60s girl groups, and female singers such as Sandie Shaw, Marianne Faithfull, Cilla Black, and Timi Yuro. He was also interested in the kitchen sink dramas of the late 1950s and early 1960s, Coronation Street's Elsie Tanner, as well as the playwright, novelist, and poet Oscar Wilde. The Moors Murders of the early 1960s had a large impact on him as a child, and he later responded with the controversially received debut album track "Suffer Little Children".

In adolescence, Morrissey's athletic ability saved him to a large degree from bullying. Nevertheless, he has described this period as a time when was often lonely and depressed. As a teenager, he began taking prescription drugs to help combat a depression that would follow him throughout his life[1]. He left school early after passing only a few of his O levels, and worked briefly for the Inland Revenue, but ultimately decided to "go on the dole," sequestering himself in his room in his mother's home to concentrate on writing, reading, and listening to music. Around this time Morrissey wrote novella-like publications concerning two of his greatest heroes: James Dean and The New York Dolls.

An early convert to punk rock, Morrissey briefly fronted The Nosebleeds, writing several songs and garnering a New Musical Express review before the band broke up less than a year later. Billy Duffy, guitarist with The Nosebleeds, later found success with The Cult. In 1978 Morrissey briefly replaced Slaughter & the Dogs singer Wayne Barrett, recording four songs with the band before moving on.

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Morrissey Solo Discography, including Chart Positions

Year	Title	Chart Positions
Year	Title	UK	US
March 1988	Viva Hate	#1	#48
November 1990	Bona Drag	#9	#59
March 1991	Kill Uncle	#8	#52
September 1991	At KROQ (EP)	-	-
July 1992	Your Arsenal	#4	#21
May 1993	Beethoven was Deaf	-	-
March 1994	Vauxhall and I	#1	#18
February 1995	World of Morrissey	#15	#134
September 1995	Southpaw Grammar	#4	#66
August 1997	Maladjusted	#8	#61
September 1997	Suedehead: The Best of Morrissey	#25	-
April 1998	Rare Tracks	-	-
September 1998	My Early Burglary Years	-	-
November 2001	The Best of Morrissey	-	-
May 2004 (Deluxe edition: October 2004)	You Are the Quarry	#2	#11
March 2005	Live at Earls Court	#18	#119
April 2006	Ringleader of the Tormentors	#1	#27
February 2009	Years of Refusal	#3	#11

Year	Title	Chart Positions UK	Chart Positions US Modern Rock	Album
1988	Suedehead	#5	-	Viva Hate
1988	Everyday Is Like Sunday	#9	-	Viva Hate
1989	The Last of the Famous International Playboys	#6	#3	Bona Drag
1989	Interesting Drug	#9	#11	Bona Drag
1989	Ouija Board, Ouija Board	#18	#2	Bona Drag
1990	November Spawned a Monster	#12	#6	Bona Drag
1990	Piccadilly Palare	#18	#2	Bona Drag
1991	Our Frank	#26	#2	Kill Uncle
1991	Sing Your Life	#33	#10	Kill Uncle
1991	Pregnant for the Last Time	#25	-	-
1991	My Love Life	#29	-	-
1992	We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful	#17	#2	Your Arsenal
1992	You're the One for Me, Fatty	#19	-	Your Arsenal
1992	Certain People I Know	#35	-	Your Arsenal
1992	Glamorous Glue	-	#13	Your Arsenal
1992	Tomorrow	-	#1	Your Arsenal
1994	The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get	#8 (#46 U.S. Hot 100)	#1	Vauxhall and I
1994	Hold on to Your Friends	#47	-	Vauxhall and I
1994	Interlude (with Siouxsie Sioux)	#25	-	-
1995	Boxers	#23	-	-
1995	Dagenham Dave	#26	-	Southpaw Grammar
1995	The Boy Racer	#36	-	Southpaw Grammar
1995	Sunny	#42	-	-
1997	Alma Matters	#17	-	Maladjusted
1997	Roy's Keen	#42	-	Maladjusted
1998	Satan Rejected my Soul	#39	-	Maladjusted
2004	Irish Blood, English Heart	#3	#36	You Are the Quarry
2004	First of the Gang to Die	#6	-	You Are the Quarry
2004	Let Me Kiss You	#8	-	You Are the Quarry
2004	I Have Forgiven Jesus	#10	-	You Are the Quarry
2005	Redondo Beach/There Is a Light That Never Goes Out	#11	-	Live at Earls Court
2006	You Have Killed Me	#3	-	Ringleader of the Tormentors
2006	The Youngest Was the Most Loved	#14	-	Ringleader of the Tormentors
2006	In the Future When All's Well	#17	-	Ringleader of the Tormentors
2006	I Just Want to See the Boy Happy	#16	-	Ringleader of the Tormentors
2008	That's How People Grow Up	#14	-	Greatest Hits
2008	All You Need Is Me	#24	-	Greatest Hits
2009	I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris	#21	-	Years of Refusal
2009	Something Is Squeezing My Skull	#46	-	Years of Refusal

Albums

Singles