Re: The album running-commentary and general listening discussion thread.

[Guest]

No, it's not,

[The Call of the Wendigo]

It's like Albatross meets Neil Young's Harvest Moon being sung by a drunk.

[Guest]

Well, that's ruined it for me.

[The Call of the Wendigo]

The album is over. Apart from the last track, that was great. The louder Ringo sang, the better it got.

[Guest]

It's like Albatross meets Neil Young's Harvest Moon being sung by a drunk.

A Drunk, not THE drunk.

[The Call of the Wendigo]

Subtlety isn't his strong suit.

[Guest]

Anyway, other than interloper at the end, I liked that.

[The Call of the Wendigo]

I don't have this LP.

[The Call of the Wendigo]

Now there's a bit that sounds like Fame.

The Bowie Fame. Not the Irene Cara Fame.

[The Call of the Wendigo]

Bette Midler was on the album.

[The Call of the Wendigo]

Tony Stark played bass guitar.

[The Call of the Wendigo]

Who played drums? Bruce Wayne?

[The Call of the Wendigo]

[Guest]

Anyway, other than interloper at the end, I liked that.

It was sorta rubbish, but in a good way.

If I see a copy in the £1 bin, I will pick up a copy.

[Guest]

Critical reception[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 2/5 stars[10]
Christgau's Record Guide D[11]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music 2/5 stars[12]
The Essential Rock Discography 4/10[13]
MusicHound 2/5[14]
Rolling Stone (not rated)[15]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide 2/5 stars[16]
Journalist Peter Palmiere states in his front cover story on Starr for DISCoveries magazine in January 2003 that "The music critics and the record buying public took the album as a joke for Ringo's voice was not suitable for the disco flavored music on Ringo the 4th".[citation needed] Palmiere went on to claim that Ringo the 4th destroyed Starr's career and that he never commercially recovered from it.[citation needed]

Music webzine Drowned in Sound contributor Hayden Woolley commented in 2015 that the disco-flavored album "sees Ringo climb aboard the booty-shaking bandwagon with all the grace of a rhinoceros mounting a swan."[17] Wooley adds that Starr is no "Donna Summer" and that even though the album was a "critical and commercial disaster," it provides "an absolute treasure trove of unintentional comedy."[17] Wooley draws particular attention to "Drowning in the Sea of Love," saying it "bubbles into life with synthesised stabs and a slinky funk bassline, before Ringo falls repeatedly on his face like a drunken man trying to climb down from a trampoline."[17]

PopDose contributor David Allen Jones commented in 2017 that the album's considerable failure did not "seem to bother our boy very much — this was at the height of his LA party animal phase, and he was always seen out and about and drinking copiously and generally loving life."[18] Jones highlighted "Can She Do It Like She Dances?," calling it one of the album's better moments: "the arrangement reminds me a lot of can-can dancing or something, appropriate given the subject matter, in which Ringo drunkenly (and I do mean drunkenly) seems to slobber all over the mike as he wonders if the object of his affection can 'do it' like she dances."[18] Jones adds that Starr sounds "guttural and horny as hell."[18]

In drawing comparisons to Starr's fellow Beatles, Rhino commented that "the idea of a Beatle doing disco didn't pan out nearly as well for Ringo as it did for Paul with 'Goodnight Tonight'."[19]

[Guest]

Can we do this one next weekend?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-u9H_i6yjEo&list=PL3FFF5D3E469FEF87

I've not listened to it in years.

There may be a good reason for that.

[The Call of the Wendigo]

I have bookmarked it, in readiness.

[Tina Turner]

After five years of trying, I've finally managed to register with this forum. Now I can do what everyone wants me to do and do a running commentary on my favourite album of all time. Private Dancer. I can't wait to find out what it sounds like.

[Tina Turner]

How do I give myself karma?

[Tina Turner]

It seems to be broken.

Fix it.

[Sponsored content]