Y Not - your own opinions

I really enjoy the album. It's one I can put on from time to time and have a good time with. That said, even tho Mark Hudson is gone, it's not a radicaly different style compared to his latests albums, but somehow the end result is better then Liverpool 8, and the album works.

There are still some tired references to previous songs. There would be no way to avoid a reference to "Give Peace and Chance" and "Imagine" in one song called "Peace Dream" now. But the music is good, and not all lyrics bad.

Ofcourse it's a very short album and the booklet is nothing special,
but I think that's all the bad things I can think off, and that in only a few sentences.

"fill In The Blanks"
starts the album out in a great rocking manner.

Apart from the clice lyrics at times "Peace Dream" is a nice song, appreciate the sentiment of the song.

"The Other Side Of Liverpool" painst a more bleak, and for Ringo a more
truthfull picture of Liverpool then "Liverpool 8" did.

"Walk With You" is a little beautiful song and one of my favourite songs from the album. Love Paul harmonies on this, the music is beautiful, the lyrics simple but hearthfelt.

"Time" is just a nice track, not a favourite but not really bad either.

"Everyone Wins" easily the best Ringo song written since 1992.
Ofcourse we had to wait since 1992 till the song finally got a place on an album. "Liverpool 8" needed a song like this. Another favourite from the album.

"Mystery Of The Night" Now this is a great rocking track. Very good song. Wish the end lasted a bit longer, beautiful harmony vocals on there. I say it again, this song is so good, maybe the favourite song from the album.

"Can't Do It Wrong" I don't agree with the lyrics, but he does little wrong here. A nice easy going track.

"Y Not" And another favourite song, much more then I had with "Liverpool 8". Another good uptempo rocking track. I love Tina Sugandh contributions to this track. Beautiful tabla and chanting. Some nice lyrics also.

"Who's Your Daddy" I'm begining to enjoy this one as well, nothwitstanding the debatable title, but it works imo.

Overall a good album, not to many embarising lyrics and the music is very good.

After listening to it several times I can still say there's no track that really makes me fall over myself to skip. This is high praise!

Here's a rundown of the tracks with impressions.

Fill In The Blanks Definitely one of my favorite tracks. I've always been a fan of Joe Walsh playing and he sure doesn't let us down on this one!

Peace Dream doesn't do much for me. Nice sentiments, of course but...

The Other Side Of Liverpool This has crystalized into my favorite song of the album. I like the dark ambience, the realistic lyrics, the driven rhytmn and Ringo's feeling singing it lifts the composition to new heights. This is a BIG song. Frankly, I can't think of anything in it that I don't like.

Walk With You I like better than at first but it's still hampered by certain disharmonies in the singing and I really don't like all that fiddling, which smacks a little too much of Irish folk to appeal to me.

Time I enjoy the little keyboard ditty on this one, not sure why. It's definintely a song where the arrangement means more to me than the tune itself.

Everyone Wins Definitely one of my favorite tracks. I like the call and answer singing in particular.

Mystery Of The Night An early favorite that still grabs my attention. The lyrics really appeal to me and I cannot help singing along with this one. A really good lovesong, this!

Can't Do It Wrong A really nice big band feel to this one. If you like Tom Dorsey and Glenn Miller then for sure he can't do it wrong!

Y Not Not horrible but too repititious for me. Of course, for somebody wth a perchant for drumming it's great, an ode to drumming, really.

Who's Your Daddy A real R&B track, this is. The combo with Ringo and Josh Stone is still a bit weird but this isn't a bad song by any means.

Listening through it again for the review I still say not perfect but a truly solid effort by Ringo.

Originally Posted by hibgal

n it that I don't like.

Walk With You I like better than at first but it's still hampered by certain disharmonies in the singing and I really don't like all that fiddling, which smacks a little too much of Irish folk to appeal to me.

I love fiddling and Irish Folk. Very nice music.

I liked it when Ringo mentioned the 1965 Shea Stadium concert in The Other Side of Liverpool.

To me, this is a nice improvement from the previous effort. Since Ringo assumes production duties by himself, with the aid of keyboardist Bruce Sugar, some of the clichés from the previous albums are gone. Vocal harmonies are there only when needed, and production is more sparse. And clocking just above the 30 minute mark, Y Not is a delight in terms of recognizing the power of briefness in this Twitter era.

I like the Joe Walsh co-written album opener, "Fill in the Blanks", which brings back memories from the best moments of Old Wave, but with an improved sound. Another of the high moments of the album, to me, is "Mystery of the Night", which sounds like a very powerful and forgotten ballad from the 80's. And Joss Stone surprises with a very powerful vocal on "Who's Your Daddy", co-written with Ringo, and almost completely sung by her, except for a couple of lines. It sounds modern and fun.

Ringo shines almost everywhere: bringing back to life the terrific B-side "Everyone Wins" (even though the production is puzzlingly reminiscing of the 80's), bringing up a sample of his powerful (and very impressive) drumming skills on the otherwise weak "Time", remembering the sad and difficult parts of his childhood on "The Other Side of Liverpool", and singing one of his typically pleasant blues-like numbers in "Can't Do it Wrong".

But my favorite track is what has to be one of Ringo's best songs in the last years, the beautiful "Walk With You", a lyrically interesting product about friendship, which also shines due to Paul's very creative backing vocal, which truthfully takes the song to some other, high level. Perhaps reminiscing the heights of the Beach Boys ballads from the 60's (some of them were actually co-written by Van Dyke Parks as well), it is a sentimental number which demonstrates that Ringo still can produce nice songs over his 70s.

Only the title track and the old clichés found on "Peace Dream" (otherwise saved by a terrific performance by Paul on bass) disappoint me a bit. But to me this symbolizes the start of yet another phase in Ringo's carrer, when perhaps he will be tempted to stop reminiscing his Beatles days on every song, and to start saying what he wants to say, his true message, and make laid-back, quiality music with talented friends, and directed to those willing to hear him.

If I had to give grades (and only because I'm a number-friendly guy), I'd give Y Not 7 out of 10 points. But listening to it again, as I do not really hear any references to "It Don't Come Easy", I'd have to raise that score to a solid 8.

well i've just had my first listen and its better than i expected. imo the last ok album of ringo's was 'rotogravure', his best being the 'ringo' album of course.

i really like the production on this lp. sometimes the lyrics did make me cringe with embarrassment, but thats pretty normal with a ringo album i'm afraid.

'whose ya daddy' is awful, the title alone has negative connotations.
the song with paul is very catchy, i wonder if it was the first single?

have to give it a couple more listens.

I think a lot of the songs felt very 80s/90s..Not that it's a bad thing. Anyways my fav songs from Y Not are Mystery of the Night + Everyone Wins. Honorable mentions to Time, Walk With You, and Peace Dream. I think it's a solid album and his best since Vertical Man. WAY Better than Liverpool 8, which I only liked two songs on - Love Is + Liverpool 8.

You know, for a man nearing 70, a man who is probably old enough to be most Beatlelinks people's "Granddad" ... a man who was around when Rock and Roll just started... he's to be admired for his work. He loves the music, he's not arrogant or full of himself... he just wants to do what he thinks his fans will love and what feels right in his heart.

He may not ever win a grammy for album of the year... but...it's all good.

It really is.

Originally Posted by JudithKristen

You know, for a man nearing 70, a man who is probably old enough to be most Beatlelinks people's "Granddad" ... a man who was around when Rock and Roll just started... he's to be admired for his work. He loves the music, he's not arrogant or full of himself... he just wants to do what he thinks his fans will love and what feels right in his heart.

He may not ever win a grammy for album of the year... but...it's all good.

It really is.

So I assume you like the album.

Originally Posted by JudithKristen

You know, for a man nearing 70, a man who is probably old enough to be most Beatlelinks people's "Granddad" ... a man who was around when Rock and Roll just started... he's to be admired for his work. He loves the music, he's not arrogant or full of himself... he just wants to do what he thinks his fans will love and what feels right in his heart.

He may not ever win a grammy for album of the year... but...it's all good.

It really is.

Who takes the Grammys seriously anymore? Taylot Swift won Album of the Year. It's a joke.

Well, this thread convinced me to order it - so we shall see :)

Ok, this is my first listen, so these are all first impressions.



Fill In The Blanks - Doesn't do anything for me.

Peace Dream - Now, I'm ALL FOR peace songs, but this one makes me go "it's been done.." And the lyrics are bad. Sorry. And yes, Ring, we know you used to know John Lennon. We knooooowwww.

The Other Side of Liverpool - I'm a bit tired of him singing about Liverpool and the past and yadda yadda, but at least there's a slightly different approach here, and it sounds good. The music's cool.

Walk With You - I for one love the fiddle. That ol' chap Paul McCartney is rather nifty as well. And this is a nice song. I'm enjoying it very much. Well done.

Time - I actually rather dig this one. I like the eighties-esque groove, and the piano. It's a cool track.

Everyone Wins - Kind of reminds me of Paul's This One, for some reason. Probably wouldn't have cared much for it if I didn't care for the artist, but it's a nice song. Has potential to really grow on you.

Mystery of the Night - Ahhhh, this song had me at "hello". Probably the '80s power ballad guitars. Good love song with a very catchy chorus. Apart from some mentions of angels singing, I'm liking the lyrics as well.

Can't Do It Wrong - This really isn't my style. But it's not bad.

Y Not - I'm.... having some trouble deciding whether I like it or not. Needs more listens. No, wait, I'm liking it. Yes, yes, I think I'm liking it.

Who's Your Daddy - Err... who's your granddaddy?.... Somehow it seems a bit unfortunate to use that phrase in a duet where the age difference is that big, buuuut..... it sort of works in a strange way.. I'm definitely not hating it. And Ringo sounds good.

Ummm, yeah, okay, I can't stop listening to "Time".

I haven't been this hooked on a Ringo song since The Great Caffeine & Snookeroo Fest of 2008.

The other side of Liverpool
Is cold and damp
Only way out of there
Drums, guitar and amp

The other side of Liverpool
Where I came from
My mother was a barmaid
At the age of three my father was gone

Dave, if you are listening
Well, you know what I mean
It was you and Brian Briscoe
Got me through my early teens alright

The other side of Liverpool
The other side, the other side
The other side of Liverpool
You know it's true

The other side of Liverpool
The other side, the other side
The other side of Liverpool
You know it's true

The other side of Liverpool
You just had to laugh
We had to go to Steeple* Street
Just to take a bath

The other side of Liverpool
We used to play for free
They'd give us lukewarm beer
To keep us sweet, Eddy, Roy and me

And Roy if you are listening
Thanks for all you've done
It was you and me on the factory floor
When rock and roll had just begun, oh yeah

That was the other side of Liverpool
The other side, the other side
The other side of Liverpool
You know it's true

The other side of Liverpool
The other side, the other side
The other side of Liverpool
You know it's true, the other side, alright

That was the other side of Liverpool
The other side of Liverpool
You know it's true

I was a sailor first, I sailed the sea
Then I got a job, in a factory
Played Butlin's Camp with my friend Rory
It was good for him, it was great for me

Livepool I left you, said 'goodbye' to Madryn Street
I always followed my heart, and I never missed a beat
Destiny was calling, I just couldn't stick around
Liverpool I left you, but I never let you down

Went to Hamburg, the red lights were on
With George & Paul, and my friend John
We rocked all night, we all looked tough
We didn't have much, but we had enough

Liverpool I left you, said 'goodbye' to Madryn Street
I always followed my heart, and I never missed a beat
Destiny was calling, I just couldn't stick around
Liverpool I left you, but I never let you down

In the U.S.A. when we played Shea
We were Number One, and it was fun
When I look back, it sure was cool
For those Four Boys from Liverpool

Livepool I left you, said 'goodbye' to Admiral Grove
I always followed my heart, so I took it on the road
Destiny was calling, I just couldn't stick around
Liverpool I left you, but I never let you down

La la la la la la... Liverpool
The Other Side Of Liverpool


The other side of Liverpool
The other side, the other side
The other side of Liverpool
You know it's true

The other side of Liverpool
The other side, the other side
The other side of Liverpool
You know it's true

The other side of Liverpool
The other side, the other side
The other side of Liverpool
You know it's true

*pronounced in the song as "Steppel"

I liked it. I don't have it an autoplay in my car during my commute, but it was good enough.

I also like it. Hearing Paul sing with Ringo for me is just a bit of that Beatles magic all over again. The only song I usually skip over is Time.

Don't know if you know this or not Bangs but you've intertwined the lyrics from The Other Side Of Liverpool with Liverpool 8. 2 different songs 2 different albums. But I do see the theme!

I think that's it is very good and a vast improvement on "Liverpool 8".

Not his best album, but it's good.

I have not heard a version of "The Other Side of Liverpool" with the reference to 1965 and 1966 Shea Stadium concerts.

I think he's a dear, sweet, sentimental man and his music reflects it. So it's NOT The White Album or Pepper... but it's pure Ringo and at 70, he gives new meaning to the word Senior Citizen. :)

... and he's clean.

:)