The Bottom Line
- These golden Seventies hits haven't been heard for a long time, at least not all in one place.
- Although Ringo's albums have been available on CD, this is the first greatest hits in that format.
- Remastering makes these (mostly) lavish productions feel as new as today.
- The bonus DVD in the Digipak version contains some hilarious vintage Ringo videos.
- There are some great album tracks that might have been included, but that's nitpicking, really.
Description
- Release date: August 28, 2007
- Capitol 93827
- Compilation
- Studio (1971-2005)
- Single disc
- Bonus DVD (Digipak version)
Guide Review - Photograph: The Very Best of Ringo Starr
But now all that really is in the past: Photograph wisely collects everything on Blast, albeit in a different running order, throws in two album tracks essential to Ringo fans (Lennon's rollicking "(It's All Down To) Goodnight Vienna" and "Snookeroo," one of Elton John and Bernie Taupin's finest outside jobs), adds in two or three late-period close calls with the Top 40, and then makes a mad dash through the last 25 years.
This is probably necessary -- Starr never came close to the consistency of his immediate post-Beatles years ever again, although he did occasionally produce worthwhile music. Yet placed next to his big moment in the solo spotlight, the latter-day cuts resonate even better; they show how a superstar can regain his post-addiction sanity and still retain those qualities that endeared us to them in the first place. And in their own way, the hits embody their time as well as his band's hits did theirs.
