Ringleader of the Tormentors

Tony Visconti produced it in Rome between September and November 2005. Recording began in late August and mixing in late October. Jeff Saltzman had been the first choice but could not take it on. It reached number one in Britain, his third, selling 62,000 copies in its first week, and was the first British chart album to include download sales. In the United States it entered at 27 and had sold 98,000 copies by August 2008. It also reached number one in Sweden, Malta and Greece.

The sound was described as thicker and more rock-driven, which Morrissey credited to the new guitarist Jesse Tobias. Visconti wrote that the sessions involved a string part by Ennio Morricone and an Italian children's choir, and the choir sings on three tracks. Matt Chamberlain played drums after Dean Butterworth chose to stay with Good Charlotte. The first single was "You Have Killed Me", and the opening track leaked on 2 February 2006.

It scored 75 on Metacritic from 34 reviews. Andy Gill of The Independent heard it as tougher and lusher than You Are the Quarry, with proper orchestrations in place of that album's synthetic strings. AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine thought it the closest Morrissey had come to forgettable.