{grate 3.5}
I n his most recent melodic journey, Fab Four alum Ringo
Starr winds a clumsy but charming web of ’70s Beatles nostalgia, perfectly
fitting for a post-breakup breakout. The problem? It’s 2008 and this is the
14th album Starr has dropped since the boys parted ways.
Liverpool 8 twists through a thick maze of easy throwback
clippings — every song a deja vu-inducing wonder — and unadorned lines. The
disc’s first and autobiographical namesake track pulls us into the psyche of
the friendly, joyful and slightly daft caricature Starr apparently hasn’t
broken from since 1965. With haltingly awkward rhymes — “In the U.S.A/ when we
played Shea/ we were number one/ and it was fun” — triumphantly uncalled-for
string outbursts and even a prerecorded crowd cheer, it sets the tone for a
needlessly dense and heavy-footed compilation. And while half the tracks follow
this cut-and-paste formula, piling every Beatles hallmark into a cluttered
British Invasion collage, others hone in on a particular hit, achieving only
sloppy replicas. “For Love” might as well be called “All You Need Is Love pt.
2” and “Harry’s Song” is a sorry stab at “When I’m 64.” Starr only breaks form
on his last track, “R U Ready,” a distant-voiced bluegrass ditty that finally
gives a heartbreaking nod toward a man deeper than Billy Shears.
Unfortunately, it looks like lightning struck this
bar this muddy ’60s mishmash fails to meet, and you’re left admitting Starr’s
rip off is sweetly thorough — accessibly simple lyrics, danceable backbeats and
psychedelic interjections earn Liverpool 8 the knock-off crown and a spot on
2008’s background-music playlist.
