STARS: 2/5
Ringo Starr, famous for being a quarter of the Beatles and one of two still living, released his 19th studio album on Sept. 15 after a two year hiatus. For being such a legendary musician, Starr honestly let me down with this new album, “Give More Love.”
I had hope for a promising, fruitful album upon listening to the first track, “We’re on the Road Again,” with its triumphant guitars and catchy sound. The lyrics are symbolic of his return to music and touring with this latest release. Former Beatles bandmate Paul McCartney and Eagles’ guitarist Joe Walsh collaborated on this song, which provides all the explanation for why it is arguably one of the album’s best. Yet, the song set up a false pretense that the rest of the album would be as good as the opener.
Over the course of the 14-song tracklist, Starr just got weirder and weirder with the direction of this album — the overall sound is all over the place. The lyrics are cheesy and basic, which I guess I should have expected from a classic musician like Starr trying to stay relevant with new music in today’s world. However, he does show off his impressive vocals — something he isn’t known as well for compared to his former bandmates.
The second track, “Laughable” featuring Peter Frampton, has an interesting melody and is semi-enjoyable, which says more than most songs off the album. Another average track, “Show Me The Way,” starts off slow but gains momentum, which the album lacks overall. Though it is evident Starr has a talented band backing him up, especially on guitar.
After the first few songs, the album takes a sharp turn into straight confusion. “Speed of Sound” is extremely cheesy and odd, and in “Standing Still,” Starr adapts a country twang which doesn’t work for him at all. The chorus is terrible, and left me wondering if Starr even listens to his own songs before releasing them to the public. Starr doesn’t let the odd country-esque style go, and instead continues with it on “So Wrong for So Long.”
Starr spans many, honestly too many, genres of music on “Give More Love.” In “King of the Kingdom,” a reggae and smooth jazz fusion makes for an interesting song laden with Bob Marley references. This track was so bizarre, I couldn’t even tell if I liked it or not.
As well as various musical genres, Starr also incorporates different periods of music in this album of eccentric sounds. For example, listeners are transported back to the 50s on “Shake it Up.”
One song I actually liked was “Electricity,” which is reminiscent of Starr’s old music that I am a fan of. I’m happy at least two original tracks on this album are worth listening to more than once.
The title track, “Give More Love,” has a wholesome chorus despite yet another basic feel to the song.
Starr partly saves himself with the end of the album, which features re-recorded, new versions of past classics. “Back off Boogaloo,” a re-do of the 1972 song, is less soulful than the original but still an enjoyable listen. Starr covered the Beatles’ song, “Don’t Pass Me By,” but once again added his weird country twist to it, which was not a good move musically.
Finally, I was elated to see my favorite Starr song, “Photograph,” as the closing track on this overall lackluster album. The original was better, but Starr did the track justice on this slow and beautiful duet with American band Vandaveer.
Starr is often the underdog, which started with him being arguably the most underrated member of the iconic Fab Four. I usually support his musical ventures and Starr as a person, but this album just fell short. Hopefully, if Starr plans on releasing new music in the future, it will be better and more like the classic Starr fans know and love.
