Well what have we here. It’s Friday, September 24th and Ringo Starr has dropped another digital postcard of sorts with the release of his latest EP entitled “Change the World”.
In March of this year Ringo released the first of his two new EPs called “Zoom In” which I reviewed here and I enjoyed very much. That EP contained 5 songs all of which I thought were very solid and enjoyable and definitely a fun listen.
Now with the release of “Change the World” which adds another 4 new Ringo songs we have basically the makings of a very enjoyable new Ringo Starr album albeit on the installment plan.
I actually enjoyed this new EP a bit more than the last one as I think Ringo sounds a bit less processed vocally on this disc and all four songs are very good.
Here’s my take on each track:
“Let’s Change the World” – First track, so far so good. Ringo’s vocal on this track seems less processed than his last EP and is more assured. I like this track. It has sort of a ’90s feel to it. Very catchy and well played. I also like that the lyrics are very relevant to 2021. A solid “B+”.
“Just that Way” – A nice reggae feel. A bit more generic than the last song which was very good. Not a bad track but will need more listens to grow on me. Solid overall with nice backing vocals – “B”.
“Coming Undone” – The highlight of the disc. A bit of a country vibe to this song. A nice vocal and the trumpet also gives it a bit of a New Orleans feel as well. Laid back and a nice slow groove. Another solid “B+”. This track would have been great on Ringo’s “Goodnight Vienna” album. For some reason this song reminded me of that album and would have been great on it instead of one of the lesser songs on that LP.
“Rock Around the Clock” – The most processed sounding vocal on the disc but very energetic and a nice take on this evergreen rock classic. The superb guitar work really propels this track into one of Ringo’s better remakes. Another “B+”.
As usual the musicianship is very strong on this entire disc and Ringo certainly seems to be in very good form and he really sounds engaged on every song.
As I’ve said before I’m so glad that Ringo is still making music at all let alone music this good. I saw him last night on the Jimmy Kimmel Show and though he does look great for being 81 years old you can definitely see his age is beginning to show more so than in the past especially in his hands for sure.
Who knows how long we’ll have Ringo around making music so I’m so glad he’s releasing new songs in whatever format he chooses to release them in. I will definitely give this new EP more spins and that’s really all you can ask from new music is wanting to hear it again.
Above you can glimpse some photos of the CD version of “Change the World” which was just released today on streaming services as well if you don’t want to go the physical route. Alas it seems the physical route for music seems to be biding time until it vanishes completely but until it goes I’ll enjoy every last release and I sure hope Ringo plans another EP in the near future!
That’s all for now.
I hope all you Beatles fans out there give these four new songs a spin – they’re very good and it’s sure nice to hear from Ringo especially as this friggin’ Covid mess is still engulfing the world.
Be well and see you soon!
Records, CDs and Music: 