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Photograph: The Very Best Of Ringo
Barnes and Noble
Photograph: The Very Best Of Ringo
Current price: $16.99
Barnes and Noble
Photograph: The Very Best Of Ringo
Current price: $16.99
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Hard as it is to believe but there has not been a proper
hits collection since the first, 1975's
-- that's not counting 1989's
, which was designed as a companion to that earlier set -- until 2007's
.
was released just five years after his debut,
, but it ignored that collection of pop standards, along with much of its country cousin
, winding up as a collection of highlights of 1973's
and 1974's
, with a few non-LP hit singles rounded up within the LP's tight ten-track, 30-minute span.
kept recording after
, working his way through several labels and ill-advised phases before settling into a nice, easy groove with 1993's
, but he stopped having hits not long after 1975, after the
/
climbed all the way to number three, capping off a remarkable streak of seven Top Ten singles. After that, the crash was fast:
was pulled off of
and stalled at 31, then there was just one more hit --
peaking at 26 in 1976 -- before a five-year wait until the
-written
limped to 38 in 1981 before
disappeared from the charts. His '90s comeback may have never dented
, but it is represented on the 20-track
, which also contains all the aforementioned singles (apart from
no great loss) and the entirety of
, albeit presented in a different running order. This doesn't just make for a compilation that's longer than the 1975 set, it makes for one that's better, since it adds the terrific
to the mix, along with the amiable 1976 cover of
's
a duet with
on
from 1989, and a well-chosen selection from each of
, 1998's
, 2003's
, and 2005's
. This may not hit all the great stuff from the early '70s -- after all, the whole of
is exceptionally strong -- but it does cut out all the real embarrassing stuff from the late '70s and just concentrates on the good latter-day material that holds its own with the best of his '70s hits. Far from merely being songs that are good when graded on a curve, these hits have aged really well, especially his originals:
the thundering glam rocker
the cheerfully post-
autobiography of
and
his gorgeous collaboration with
, which lends this comp its title and ranks as among the very best post-
songs by any of
. That tune proves
could deliver music every bit as memorable as his colleagues and much of this excellent, long overdue compilation is at a similar high standard. [
also includes entertaining track-by-track commentary from
and was also released in a deluxe edition that contains a wonderful DVD with the videos for
(which also features
), and
along with an ad for
.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine