Customer Reviews

Ringo Starr: Choose Love

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

With reference to the previous reviewer's comment, I can't bring up this dualdisc on my computer either; so I'll be on the lookout for a CD-only version @ the used CD store in time. The packing does say, "The audio side of this disc does not conform to CD applications & therefore not all DVD & CD players will play the audio side of this disc." My car & walkman play it fine, but I'd like to get some of the tracks in my computer playlists.

But that technical point aside, this is a delightful disc from Ringo. The opener "Fading In Fading Out" has the "All You Need Is Love" references to give it a Beatlesque feel, but the positive lyric is great. "Give Me Back the Beat" written by the band as the DVD side "making of the CD" section documents is a catchy toe tapper about homeless people, "Alleys filled with misery, shadows of your memories break through, I never knew how much I needed you." Perhaps a homage to George Harrison or a personal statement of faith, "Oh My Lord" is a rare spiritual track in Ringo's work. "Hard to Be True" has a lovely retro melody where Ringo gets wistful, "Time after time, Am I a record that's been broken, I know that I'm outside a door that I can't open." "Wrong All the Time" is a bluesy piece with some delicious piano by Jim Cox & Billy Preston's B3 organ. "Don't Hang Up" is a track designed to wear out the repeat button on your changer with Chrissie Hynde lending great vocals on this classy rocker. The title track also throbs with some snazzy bass and a churning electric lead. "The Turnaround" has a strong Day Tripper-like snaking guitar lead on an excellent track. "Choose Love" is an excellent disc with great songs, excellent musicianship and a good-time feel. Enjoy!

From the opening beats of Fading In and Fading Out, this is the good-time rock and roll that we've come to expect from Ringo. Choose Love, Give Me Back the Beat, Some People, and Me and You are also standouts. If you like Ringo, you will like this album. He's been in a groove with his collaboration with Mark Hudson for the last decade.

How about a Ringo and the Roundheads Tour? That would beat the pants off the "All-Starr" Tours which have had some interesting stars, but I'd love to hear Ringo sing more than It Don't Come Easy, Yellow Submarine and With A Little Help From My Friends. That's what made the VH1 Storytellers CD so good, Ringo sang more than just the old stand-bys.

In case you missed any of them, each of Ringo's CD's since 1992's Time Takes Time have been very enjoyable. This CD continues in a similar vein.

Choose Love continues the brilliant collaboration between Ringo and Mark Hudson (from the Hudson Brothers). This collection is not quite as brilliant as its predecessor (Ringo Rama) but still has lots of charm. Outstanding tracks are the rocking Choose Love and Give Me Back The Beat, and the beautiful Oh My Lord. It is great to hear Ringo in such fine form.

Of the three Twotles releases (so far) in 2005, Ringo has held his own (with a little help . . .) against Sir Paul's two-fisted delivery of Twin Freaks and Chaos & Creativity. Choose Love continues the collaborative work with Mark Hudson, but as significantly - as shown in the short "documentary" on the DVD, continues to develop the Roundheads into a real band with each player contributing to the sounds and (for the most part) songwriting.

Anyone looking for classics on a 2005 Ringo album is chasing an odd duckling, but "Oh My Lord" is probably one of the most important recordings he's done. But there are many good tracks here, more bang for the buck than on Ringo Rama probably. And some very good, fun tracks too.

But this isn't just some aging drummer's latest record. And as an ex-Fab product, it builds on the tradition Ringo has been working on since his "comeback". Impossible to look at the studio work with the Roundheads independently from the All Starrs tours (is it now every three years?) as it is all Ringo after all. Is this record the best solo Ringo record as some writers have stated? Of course not. But it is up there, and as a "rocker" it is way up there. And it includes a country tune, something Beaucoups Of Blues fans have missed for a while.

So it's more peace and love (and that's a good thing).

I can understand somewhat when people doubt that Ringo Starr can make a really good solo album, seeing as how he is generally considered to have been the Beatle who contributed the least to the band MUSICALLY in the creative sense. Though it is equally accepted that he was and is the kindest and warmest member of the band. An amazing man...

ANYWAY, back to the music... 'CHOOSE LOVE' is a CD that is truly remarkable. You cannot help but to feel happy, encouraged and fulfilled after listening to this album. This is what music should be all about... what it should be...

BOTTOM-LINE = I was mildly skeptical purchasing this CD, but after listening once, I was amazed... after listening to it now about 50 times, I can truly say I AM CONVINCED.... Buy this album if you want to listen to REAL MUSIC.

~PEACE&LOVE~

Listening to the new album by Ringo is like wearing a favorite shirt or putting on comfortable shoes. You know what it will be like and it feels good. I found myself smiling many times, especially at the Beatles songs references. The production is generally good (a bit heavy on the acoustic guitar jangling at times),lots of vocals and electric guitar, and for me, 9 of the 11 songs were good. Not a bad ratio!!. If you liked "Ringo Rama", you will like this too. If you haven't got "Ringo Rama", buy both. I haven't watched the DVD side yet, but Ringo's previous DVD was lots of fun. Get this album and be ready to move to it. Paul

For the last 10+ years now Ringo has changed his approach to his recording, he really cares. After Goodnight Vienna, came that period in the Ringo years when he really didn't care and it showed. But who would have thought that Ringo would have become the most consistant Beatle. This is because Mark Hudson has given Ringo's albums a definite "feel" . Also, having a stable band (the Roundheads) and not a collection of different studio muscians on every album, has given Ringo a sence of continuity that even Wings did not give to Paul. Not that Ringo really needs work on his legend, but think what this approach could have done to his legend had he instituted this approach before going into the studio to record Ringo The 4th, Bad Boy etc. Without doing a song by song run down, Ringo contributed to the writing of every track. The production gives Ringo a very current sound without feeling desperate. It truelly is a cd that certain tracks will definitly get you asked, "who is that?" by those not in the know. So, give Mr. Starr a listen again, you'll be glad you did. Who knows, you might even become a completist!!

"You've got to pay your dues if you want to sing the blues. But no matter what you choose, choose love. The long and winding road is more than a song. Tomorrow never knows what goes on."

In probably the strongest track on Ringo's new album, the title song "Choose Love" summarizes Ringo's professional and personal life with familar broadbrush strokes. How can you not love his doleful soul and personality? As the king of malapropisms, he deftly taps into Beatle terminology as well as his own lyrical history throughout the tune (and elsewhere on the album) -- something he has been akin to doing on nearly all of his CDs since the release of "Time Takes Time" in 1992. But he also borrows a bit too loosely from chords and riffs from "RingoRama" and "Vertical Man."

Throughout my three listenings of "Choose Love" today, I heard familar (borrowed) chords from "Instant Amnesia", "Imagine Me There," "Elizabeth Reigns," "King of Broken Hearts", "Drift Away," and "I'll be Fine Anywhere." That simply could be due to Ringo and Mark's affinity to George Harrison guitar riffs and a subtle "He So Fine" type of memory (though that's okay, since it's mostly their own arrangements their memories are lifting from). Regardless, an objective ear -- who also happens to be a huge Ringo fan -- wonders why the safe bets instead of reaching for new creative heights? We saw glimpses of "not your father's Ringo Starr" in 1992 with "Runaways" and "Weight of the World", and again in 1998 with "Mindfield" and then in 2003 with "Instant Amnesia." Imagine if all of those had been singles for radio airplay.

The restraint on reaching for new creative heights might be one of two strings attached when deciding whether to choose love with Ringo's latest Mark Hudson-produced release. This album sounds all-too remarkably and eerily familar to both "RingoRama" and "Vertical Man." Whereas Ringo broke new ground with the Don Was/Jeff Lynne/Phil Ramone-produced "Time Takes Time," he has sat comfortably in the artistry of his albums since then. Back then, "Time" was Ringo's "Plastic Ono Band" album statement -- sans the primal screaming. In 10 tunes, he had told us that since the Beatles split, he had been carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders -- defeating alcoholism and blunders in love, and of course his longing for his three lifelong mates.

A brilliant album, backed by the unusual pairing of Jellyfish with Ringo (along with Tom Petty and a glimpse of Harry), that compliation has so far been the closest to the eclectic range of tunes and styles that populated the 1973 all-starr "Ringo" album. It was Ringo at his most intimate, and without even trying too hard. (By contrast, his work on everything from "Rotagravure" until he resurfaced with Don Was et al in 1992 seemed like he was trying far too hard. And that's somewhat true with the Mark Hudson albums -- though on "Choose Love" Ringo and Roundheads appear loose and comfortable in their own drumskins.)

"Choose Love" tries to emulate the formula of "Time Takes Time". But misses ever so slightly.

The reason isn't only due to the fact that Ringo lifted from the chords of "RingoRama" and "Vertical Man", or that he keeps borrowing lyrics from songs we "all know and love." Another reason to consider is that Mark Hudson continues to let Ringo sing songs that are too far out of his vocal range. Witness "Me and You," "Give Me Back the Beat," and "Hard to be True." BUT, and this is a big BUT, it's hard to criticize Ringo's forays outside his admittedly limited vocal prowess. (For the record, I love Ringo's voice as much as I love his drumming.) Give Mark Hudson's arrangements some credit here -- he can use studio technology to soften (not mask) some of those shortcomings with interesting instrumentation sounds.

Maybe Ringo knows that we can't/won't say anything bad about his singing (or even the routine song lyrics in about half the tracks). In fact, he quotes the ever-so inspiring and soulful Ray Charles on the album's jacket -- "You can't say anything bad about people you love." And we all love Ringo Starr....and what Mark Hudson has done to bring new vitality to a near 45-year musical career.

Salute them both, despite those two strings about choosing love with Ringo. Quite frankly, strings serve no significance here, except as little reminders for things we all know but easily forgive when it comes to Ringo Starr. Here is the world's most famous drummer, never missing a beat to remind us that life is all about peace and love. That was the mantra in nearly almost all Beatle songs -- and something he and Paul still carry on musically and warmly today.

Maybe Ringo will never recapture the magic of the "Ringo" album or for that matter, "Abbey Road," but he never lets his fan base down. His music is largely about the history of the Beatles and his place in music history. That said, he does venture into some distinct ground -- albeit if not too new, it's still fascinating.

His duet with Chrissy Hynde is perhaps my favorite song on the album -- largely for the sound effects, his drumming (on the original Abbey Road kit) and her ever-so sultry voice. She was hot on the DVD too. As said, "Choose Love" holds ground as the album's strongest track, and should be a single that is merchandised and marketed, if Koch Records knows what its doing. (Big if.) After that, give a good listen to "Free Drinks" -- a song Ringo wasn't sure they could carry. But its catchy and hip, as is "The Turnaround." The latter song is on the one hand a very Ringoesque tune, and on the other, it's not. Such a Jekyll and Hyde performance would holds its own live in concert and delight fans for the mix of vocal familarity and new musical score.

One would suspect that Ringo will play this and several other tracks from "Choose Love" when he performs in NYC on June 19. And we will all love it, and scream our adoration and love for Ringo choosing us.

This album may not be his best since 1992 (or since "Ringo" for that matter), but it continues a solid path of Beatlesque production and performance that Ringo has embraced since he and the boys called it a day at Abbey Road. Why not? His Abbey Road drum kit is a starr on the album, as are guitars once owned by John, Paul and George (all played on various tracks).

While we will never see a Beatle reunion again (not even in a "Free as a Bird" sense), we can count on Ringo to remind us that the Beatles will always touch our lives and deliver a warm smile replete with peace and love.

If that's all Ringo did, his fan base, as well as new fans who might emerge, would have no reason to sing the blues or pay any dues. Well maybe one reason: the DVD film was far too short, though Ringo's drumming, Mark's rainbow whiskers, and the moments with Chrissy Hynde and Billy Preston -- on the George-inspired "Oh My Lord" -- are worth replaying over and over.

As is the entire "Choose Love" package.

It seems every time Ringo puts out a new CD, it just seems he gets better and better. Mark Hudson is a perfect match for Ringo. We don't need anything from Ringo that reeks of political statement or trying to be cute with new sounds. We need Ringo just as he is, simple, good hard beat, and fantastic guitar. This CD has it in every song. Thanks, Ringo. You did it again.

I saw Ringo on TV doing "Choose Love" from this album and ordered it right away. I'd have to say it is pure Ringo delight with a definite Ringo beat. In a few places where Ringo is both playing and singing, the music almost overpowers his voice, but not so that you can't hear him. Definitely a gem for any Beatles/Ringo fan.