Gone Troppo must have seemed like George's swan song in 1982, to people unaware of how his musical career would rebound at the end of the '80s. It's not terrible; it's not Extra Texture. There are no great songs here, but "That's the Way It Goes" is pleasantly memorable, "I Really Love You" feels like an unearthed classic from the 1950s (it's not, but it's close -- I read later this is a cover of a 1961 song), "Gone Troppo" is far catchier than it has any business being, and "Dream Away" and "Circles" are both pretty good -- the latter apparently being yet another one of those tunes he had pitched to the Beatles that John and Paul shot down -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPLer5cehdM&list=PLYq_mcte9NvC5JKi3U-lI8H-iTAJw5oAm&index=10.
I was really into comic books and this "new" thing called Dungeons & Dragons when Ringo's Old Wave album came out -- not that I would likely have encountered the album if 12-year old me was looking for it, as Ringo was apparently having some crazy trouble finding a record company that didn't think he was washed up at the time and Old Wave had terrible distribution. I like it; "In My Car" is a very Paul-like song, "Hopeless" has the negativity of an early John song, "Alibi" sounds like country but in a good way. "She's about a Mover" is a cover that starts out really strong, but gets lost in its Dixieland middle. "Picture Show Life" feels like something Tom Petty would later put on Full Moon Fever. "As Far As We Can Go" is strangely drums-less, in both versions -- I read later that the version on the album had its backing track entirely redone by The Eagles' Joe Walsh, and I think it was a mistake; I much prefer it with strings -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlDcg2sSPK8&list=PLZCDbeZmzy0PZ_3ksv1PGeb1CxbAE--2p&index=11
I'm more familiar with Paul's next album, Pipes of Peace, than any of the other albums I've sampled lately, but even this one I've never heard all the way through. "Pipes of Peace" is a good song. I do not like "Say Say Say" because of Michael Jackson. These songs I already knew. "The Other Me" was a surprise, sounding very much like the sort of reflective songs Paul has done on his most recent albums. "Keep Under Cover" is not a bad song, but is more of a movie soundtrack-type song, foreshadowing the upcoming "Spies Like Us." I honestly can't decide if I like "The Man" -- there are things I like and dislike about it. "Sweetest Little Show" is one of those almost-good songs that maybe just needed a little more work on it. "Average Person" is an eccentric, more-upbeat sequel to "Eleanor Rigby" thematically, while sounding more like "Rock Show." Two bonus songs not found on the original album need mention here -- one is "We All Stand Together," the song written for the animated Rupert short that I saw aired on Nickelodeon way back then, and "Simple As That," which is a great song with a unique sound and could have been my favorite song on this album, but was released on a charity album instead -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klPJzmflOrc&list=PLi_eUMd6th2K4IEcV6EOomA6sjOzNq3EH&index=15. Nice of Paul to give the best away to charity!
Bonus link: the Rupert cartoon! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1ZLpqhdm2w
Anyone who's been following these posts knows what I think of Yoko Ono, but I'll say this for her -- she probably would have made more money releasing Milk and Honey right after John's death, but she waited a respectful four years before releasing this posthumous album (although it's possible she simply thought it would have more nostalgia value later). Like Double Fantasy, it is marred with Yoko songs as every other piece on the album, almost all of which is garbage, though "Let Me Count the Ways" is the most normal among them. This album's best track is, of course, "Nobody Told Me" -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1bV8gOvJAo&list=PLA2-nXsHvm3LeXmsIIBPpZoAXr09Om8I2&index=6 -- though "I'm Stepping Out" is a pretty good dance song too.
Give My Regards to Broad Street was a difficult thing to review. Do I treat it as a movie and rewatch the movie? Is only the soundtrack important? What about incidental music on the soundtrack, or do I just focus on the songs? And then, do I focus on just the three new songs, or treat this as a best of album? Because it's kind of all of the above. "No More Lonely Nights" is definitely the highlight here, being the best new song, and there's really no surprise there. The Beatles covers are tricky. On one hand, it's always fun listening to variants on the old standards, but a true fan is always going to say the original Beatles songs are better, and someone who's not a true fan may feel that the orchestral arrangements try to give the songs a gravitas they don't warrant. Me, I'm a sucker for strings and I really like the string arrangement on "For No One" -- and I love the original. It may also be worth noting that the starting words to "Here There and Everywhere" are different, perhaps changing the meaning of the song. The extended version of "Eleanor Rigby," combined with "Eleanor's Dream," is nice, though "Dream," at nine minutes, might need to be that long for the movie, but feels long for the soundtrack. "Good Night Princess," an instrumental, feels like it came straight from a 1930s film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3Xn9A4Negk&list=PLNZ4pVtD8MsH3RYU5EP2SE37gb4EhLA5S&index=16
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