New album by Ringo, titled Postcards from Paradise
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Ringo is on the cover of the latest "Rolling Stone" mag
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javilu:
WixRocks!:
Picked this album up yesterday and have given it two full listens... My thoughts? The worst Ringo release of the 21st Century. It sits right at the bottom with Ringo The 4th, Bad Boy, and Old Wave. I fear Vertical Man and Ringo Rama may be the last peak of Ringo's recording career because it's just been creeping down hill ever since. I don't understand how he can release an album titled Postcards From Paradise, include it as a title track that is made up of 95% Beatles song title lyrics, and open the album with a song titled and about a band used to be in....but then include a song titled "Not Looking Back". Oddly enough, the only songs I liked were the last three...with "Touch 'n Go" being the only song on the album I will listen to regularly and would like to hear live this fall.
Finally some sense in this thread. On his own, Ringo is a lousy composer and a very modest producer. The new album bores me to tears, even if I don't consider it to be as atrocious as Ringo 2012. Perhaps someone like Jeff Lynne could have saved this album with some ideas to make the pedestrian songs more attractive. As it is, this album doesn't stand a chance and will sink like Ringo 2012 did. Postcards doesn't even hold a candle to the likes of Ringorama or Time Takes Time.
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Have only heard the title song, but even with some bad reviews here, I'll probably still buy it since I'm such a completist!
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Nancy R:
Have only heard the title song, but even with some bad reviews here, I'll probably still buy it since I'm such a completist!
Don't worry, the album isn't a bad one. It's actually being called Ringo's best album in about 10 or so years. It's a definite winner to me, so I'd recommend it
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javilu:
WixRocks!:
Picked this album up yesterday and have given it two full listens... My thoughts? The worst Ringo release of the 21st Century. It sits right at the bottom with Ringo The 4th, Bad Boy, and Old Wave. I fear Vertical Man and Ringo Rama may be the last peak of Ringo's recording career because it's just been creeping down hill ever since. I don't understand how he can release an album titled Postcards From Paradise, include it as a title track that is made up of 95% Beatles song title lyrics, and open the album with a song titled and about a band used to be in....but then include a song titled "Not Looking Back". Oddly enough, the only songs I liked were the last three...with "Touch 'n Go" being the only song on the album I will listen to regularly and would like to hear live this fall.
Finally some sense in this thread. On his own, Ringo is a lousy composer and a very modest producer. The new album bores me to tears, even if I don't consider it to be as atrocious as Ringo 2012. Perhaps someone like Jeff Lynne could have saved this album with some ideas to make the pedestrian songs more attractive. As it is, this album doesn't stand a chance and will sink like Ringo 2012 did.Postcards doesn't even hold a candle to the likes of Ringorama or Time Takes Time.
That's the only thought of yours that I agree with. It will sink...but not for the reasons you state. It will sink because that's what all of his albums do these days, regardless of overall quality. We die-hard fans will buy it, but the public at large won't pay the slightest attention. That's more-or-less become a given where Ringo is concerned. Most people never really thought of him as a singer in the first place. The Beatles gave him a song per album to be generous and John and Paul came up with just the right songs for him to sing. As a solo artist he wasn't destined to be commercially successful over the long haul. In the early years, after the breakup of the band, he had some good songs written for him and he had all the good will that still existed for the band going for him. Several songs and albums were hits because of that. Those days are long gone. It doesn't matter how good his albums are. They are just not going to sell more than a few thousand copies, if that.
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4 stars on Allmusic. They compared it with the best of Ringo. Hey, I can link the whole review here: http://www.allmusic.com/album/postcards-from-paradise-mw0002824156 I'm still waiting for it to arrive...
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Beatles4Ever&Ever:
javilu:
WixRocks!:
Picked this album up yesterday and have given it two full listens... My thoughts? The worst Ringo release of the 21st Century. It sits right at the bottom with Ringo The 4th, Bad Boy, and Old Wave. I fear Vertical Man and Ringo Rama may be the last peak of Ringo's recording career because it's just been creeping down hill ever since. I don't understand how he can release an album titled Postcards From Paradise, include it as a title track that is made up of 95% Beatles song title lyrics, and open the album with a song titled and about a band used to be in....but then include a song titled "Not Looking Back". Oddly enough, the only songs I liked were the last three...with "Touch 'n Go" being the only song on the album I will listen to regularly and would like to hear live this fall.
Finally some sense in this thread. On his own, Ringo is a lousy composer and a very modest producer. The new album bores me to tears, even if I don't consider it to be as atrocious as Ringo 2012. Perhaps someone like Jeff Lynne could have saved this album with some ideas to make the pedestrian songs more attractive. As it is, this album doesn't stand a chance and will sink like Ringo 2012 did.Postcards doesn't even hold a candle to the likes of Ringorama or Time Takes Time.
That's the only thought of yours that I agree with. It will sink...but not for the reasons you state. It will sink because that's what all of his albums do these days, regardless of overall quality. We die-hard fans will buy it, but the public at large won't pay the slightest attention. That's more-or-less become a given where Ringo is concerned. Most people never really thought of him as a singer in the first place. The Beatles gave him a song per album to be generous and John and Paul came up with just the right songs for him to sing. As a solo artist he wasn't destined to be commercially successful over the long haul. In the early years, after the breakup of the band, he had some good songs written for him and he had all the good will that still existed for the band going for him. Several songs and albums were hits because of that. Those days are long gone. It doesn't matter how good his albums are. They are just not going to sell more than a few thousand copies, if that.
Next thing we know, this album sells a million and becomes a massive chart topper Eh, either way. I'm not gonna be heartbroken if this album fails. I've got fun music that I really enjoy. I'm covered. And in the fall, he'll be out to promote this album, which will hopefully result in a new DVD in the making, which will be on my "To purchase immediately" list, even though it's with the same band as the last DVD. That's the remarkable thing about Ringo. He's not out to make money. He's pretty much set for life. He's got a fortune. He's in a happy marriage with a wonderful wife. He's in great health. He's just out to do what he loves to do best, and indeed what he does do best. And that's all I need with Ringo. He may not be the most skilled drummer out there, but he is without a doubt one of the greatest, if not the greatest drummer out there. Almost every piece of music he's ever released has been wonderful to listen to. Even music from Rotogravure, his absolute worst album, has been somewhat good. To keep it simple, Ringo for life!!
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Took me going to 4 music stores to find it. Finally found 1 copy at FYE. Another store said they had sold out of it, and they can't get any more for awhile. Looks like the word is getting around this is a GOOD album. Ringo's best for a long time. There's some great playing on it by the All-Starrs. It may be the best real rock album this year. It could even be a hit!
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beatlesfanrandy:
Took me going to 4 music stores to find it. Finally found 1 copy at FYE. Another store said they had sold out of it, and they can't get any more for awhile. Looks like the word is getting around this is a GOOD album. Ringo's best for a long time. There's some great playing on it by the All-Starrs. It may be the best real rock album this year. It could even be a hit!
Well, I've got my hopes up. And I'm seeing many positive reviews, and Ellen DeGeneres, I think, said this was his most successful album since Choose Love. It's definitely more successful than Ringo 2012. And I'd call it better than both that and Liverpool 8, maybe Choose Love. Definitely better than Ringo Rama to me. It's certainly up there. Only time will tell how this album will do
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OK. New question to those who have heard the album. How does this new album compare to his other albums? Is it better than others, is it worse than others? To me, it's better than Goodnight Vienna, Rotogravure (his absolute worst album), Ringo the 4th, Bad Boy (his second worst), Old Wave, Ringo Rama, Liverpool 8, Ringo 2012, maybe Time Takes Time (not by much). To me, only Ringo, Vertical Man, and Y Not can beat this album. I'd say it's at the same level as Vertical Man and Y Not.
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beatlesfanrandy:
Took me going to 4 music stores to find it. Finally found 1 copy at FYE. Another store said they had sold out of it, and they can't get any more for awhile. Looks like the word is getting around this is a GOOD album. Ringo's best for a long time. There's some great playing on it by the All-Starrs. It may be the best real rock album this year. It could even be a hit!
Did they mention how many copies they had in the first place?...Maybe one copy!?
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Beatles4Ever&Ever:
beatlesfanrandy:
Took me going to 4 music stores to find it. Finally found 1 copy at FYE. Another store said they had sold out of it, and they can't get any more for awhile. Looks like the word is getting around this is a GOOD album. Ringo's best for a long time. There's some great playing on it by the All-Starrs. It may be the best real rock album this year. It could even be a hit!
Did they mention how many copies they had in the first place?...Maybe one copy!?
Ha, one copy... That's so funny.... Seriously though, sold out could be a good sign on the popularity of this album. Let's just give it time
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I got the last one at my local record store...I actually found it interesting how much OTHER Ringo stuff they had at the time, as usually it isn't much at all. They had the Photograph Compilation, Vertical Man, Y Not, and the first all-starr band album! Again...usually it's next to nothing!
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[From a poster on the Steven Hoffman forums:] On a Breakfast with the Beatles radio show: ======================================================== After playing ?You Bring The Party Down? on this morning?s program, Cha-Chi felt compelled to ask Ringo who exactly is bringing the party down in the song. Ringo explained what he meant in the song by saying, ?It?s actually a general expression. We [Ringo and songwriter Steve Lukather] were just talking in general about how many people we still bump into that live in that other life, you know the ?I?m gonna get it together next week, man?, and they never do, and I was one of them for many years and now I?m getting it together, but that?s what the whole song is about.? But Ringo isn?t just talking about his former self in the song. He?s also talking about the musicians he has met over the years. ?And a lot of people, because we?re musicians, we bump into used to be in bands. ?We?re gonna put the band back together man, yeah!? and they never do that either, so it?s a generalization of people that we?d love would get well and put the band together, but I?m afraid no matter what we say, they?re all rocking out there in that other life we?ve all led.?
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Hm, I'm not sure if I found the connection between the title of the song ?You Bring the Party Down? and what Ringo says. It seems to me as if he was talking about musicians who went to a party and stayed there, in a way. They play no longer they only party, a bit like Ringo in the 70s. But maybe I understand ... later, when I heard the album.
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WixRocks!:
Picked this album up yesterday and have given it two full listens... My thoughts? The worst Ringo release of the 21st Century. It sits right at the bottom with Ringo The 4th, Bad Boy, and Old Wave. I fear Vertical Man and Ringo Rama may be the last peak of Ringo's recording career because it's just been creeping down hill ever since. I don't understand how he can release an album titled Postcards From Paradise, include it as a title track that is made up of 95% Beatles song title lyrics, and open the album with a song titled and about a band used to be in....but then include a song titled "Not Looking Back". Oddly enough, the only songs I liked were the last three...with "Touch 'n Go" being the only song on the album I will listen to regularly and would like to hear live this fall.
For clarification, the majority of the lyrics to "Postcards From Paradise" were written by Todd Rundgren. Ringo started it, and then Todd Rundgren asked permission to expand on the idea which he did. It was all in good fun. And because Todd is a huge Beatle fan it was no doubt a labour of love. This album is really quite good. Excellent drumming throughout and the guitar work from Joe Walsh, Styeve Lukather, Peter Frampton and others is especially impressive. If this is it for Ringo (hopefully not) he has gone out with a blast!!!
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DavidP:
WixRocks!:
Picked this album up yesterday and have given it two full listens... My thoughts? The worst Ringo release of the 21st Century. It sits right at the bottom with Ringo The 4th, Bad Boy, and Old Wave. I fear Vertical Man and Ringo Rama may be the last peak of Ringo's recording career because it's just been creeping down hill ever since. I don't understand how he can release an album titled Postcards From Paradise, include it as a title track that is made up of 95% Beatles song title lyrics, and open the album with a song titled and about a band used to be in....but then include a song titled "Not Looking Back". Oddly enough, the only songs I liked were the last three...with "Touch 'n Go" being the only song on the album I will listen to regularly and would like to hear live this fall.
For clarification, the majority of the lyrics to "Postcards From Paradise" were written by Todd Rundgren. Ringo started it, and then Todd Rundgren asked permission to expand on the idea which he did. It was all in good fun. And because Todd is a huge Beatle fan it was no doubt a labour of love. This album is really quite good. Excellent drumming throughout and the guitar work from Joe Walsh, Styeve Lukather, Peter Frampton and others is especially impressive. If this is it for Ringo (hopefully not) he has gone out with a blast!!!
Eh, considering his health and his massive love for music, I doubt this will be the end for Ringo. People probably thought it was the end towards the late 80s... and he was in worse shape then.
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I simply can't understand how would anyone dare put Postcards even in the same sentence as Ringorama, a terrific, varied and superbly written and produced album. No song on Postcards comes close to "Missouri Loves Company", "Never Without you" or "Write One For Me".
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I've only listened to my freshly-arrived copy once so I'm not making any firm judgements, but I don't get the venom from one or two posters here. It seems like an agreeable, fun record, pretty much what one expects from Ringo. Nothing on it instantly grabs me like the best tracks on Vertical Man or RingoRama, but there's also nothing I instantly dislike (even the title song has grown on me since I first heard it online). Like I said, I'm far from a firm opinion, but I don't think I'll end up hating it.
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I don't think even the haters can argue that the playing isn't great on this album. If they've even listened to it at all.