Liverpool 8

''Liverpool 8'' is the 15th studio album by Ringo Starr, released worldwide on 14 January 2008. Received with mixed reviews, it marked Starr's return to EMI for the first time since leaving the label in 1975, following the end of the Beatles' recording contract with the company.

Background

''Liverpool 8'' was originally planned for release in June 2007, and began as another production by the collaborative team of Mark Hudson and Starr (the two had previously co-produced ''Vertical Man'', '' I Wanna Be Santa Claus'', '' VH1 Storytellers'', ''Ringo Rama'', and '' Choose Love''). However, the release date was pushed back to the beginning of 2008 when Hudson was replaced by Dave Stewart after a falling out with Starr. The album's production credits read, "Produced by Ringo Starr and Mark Hudson; Re-Produced by Ringo Starr and David Stewart."

All of the songs but one were written with the Roundheads, although Stewart also has several co-writing credits. Starr's attorney Bruce Grakal told journalist Peter Palmiere that the partnership between Hudson and Starr was over and they would never work together again. This happened after Hudson dropped out of Starr's 2006 tour as musical director to do the television special '' The One: Making a Music Star''. According to Palmiere, Hudson claimed that the split was over Starr's insistence on using synthesized sounds, for which Stewart is known, whereas Hudson wanted real guitars, pianos, strings etc. However, concerning the parting of ways with Hudson, Starr commented, "The separation between Mark Hudson and myself was a question of trust and friendship and had nothing to do with synthesizers."

Release

''Liverpool 8'' was released worldwide by Capitol Records. The title refers to the postal district of the Toxteth area of Liverpool in which Starr was born. The album was released on CD, MP3, and USB Wristband. It was available as a free audio stream at ''www.vh1classic.com'' before its release date. The title track was released on CD and digital download as the first single from the album on 7 January 2008. ''Liverpool 8'' entered the UK Album Chart at number 91, and reached a peak of number 94 in the US. The album sold 7,000 copies within the first week of release and as of January 2010, 31,000 copies have been sold.

A few weeks later after the album release, readers of the ''New York Daily News'' were offered a non-album track called "It's Love", which was recorded during the sessions for ''Liverpool 8''.

Reception

''Liverpool 8'' has a 59 percent "mixed or average" rating from Metacritic. ''Billboard'' gave the album a positive review, calling it "full of nostalgia for the good ol' days".Liverpool 8
/ref> Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic writes that "it's nothing too flashy and it has not one tune that calls attention to itself". In a particularly unfavourable review for '' The Times'', Pete Paphides wrote that "it’s hard not to boggle at Liverpool's susceptibility to flattery", and "Just because he albumwas fun to make, it doesn’t follow that you might enjoy listening to it."

Track listing

All tracks written by Ringo Starr, Mark Hudson, Gary Burr and Steve Dudas except where noted.

USB file listing

The Ringo Starr Liverpool 8 Exclusive Reusable USB Wristband claims to contain on its packaging:
* Entire album in MP3 format
* Personal message from Ringo Starr
* Behind the scenes interview video from Ringo Starr
* Track-by-track video commentary by Ringo Starr
* 2 brand new ringtones
* Photos and Bio
''The Bio could not be located among the USB files.''

These are the actual files found on the USB drive.

Root Directory

The root directory contains two system files, one system directory (empty), and four directories with the actual assets. Note, the original directory dates were lost when the USB was inserted into a Windows 10 PC.

Liverpool 8 - 192kbps Directory

This directory contains the twelve songs on the album in MP3 format. Technical details of the files are:
* Encoded by iTunes v7.1.1.5
* Codec: MPEG Audio layer 1/2 (mpga)
* Type: Audio
* Channels: Stereo
* Sample rate: 44100 Hz
* Bits per sample: 32
* Bitrate: 192 kbit/s

Liverpool 8 Artwork Directory

The artwork is found on a single PDF file with two pages showing the album's cover art on the first page and a track listing next to Ringo's picture on the second page.

Liverpool 8 Video Directory

The single video file contains three of the items promised on the packaging:
* Personal message from Ringo Starr
* Behind the scenes interview video from Ringo Starr
* Track-by-track video commentary by Ringo Starr
The technical details of the video file are:
* Audio
** Codec: MPEG AAC Audio (mp4a)
** Channels: Stereo
** Sample rate: 32000 Hz
** Bits per sample: 32
* Video
** Codec: H264 - MPEG-4 AVC (part 10) (avc1)
** Video resolution: 480x270
** Frame rate: 29.966428 (NTSC)

Ringtune Clips - 192kbps Directory

The two ringtones are encoded identical to the twelve songs. They are 38 and 27 second edits of two of the album's songs.

Personnel

Personnel per booklet.

;Musicians
* Ringo Starr – drums, vocals, percussion, backing vocals, claps, organ
* Sean Hurley – bass
* David A. Stewart – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, orchestra arrangement, backwards fabulousness, slide Guitar
* Gary Burr – backing vocals, claps, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, whistle, keyboards, mandolin
* Steve Dudas – backing vocals, claps, electric guitar, classical guitar
* Brent Carpenter – backing vocals, claps
* Mark Hudson – backing vocals, claps, bass, electric guitar, piano, keyboards, acoustic guitar, bongos, harmonica, mellotron
* Bruce Sugar – backing vocals, claps
* Keith Allison – backing vocals, claps
* Suzie Katayama – orchestra arrangement, conductor
* Zac Rae – keyboards
* Dave Way – bass
* Jesse Davey – electric guitar

;Production
* Ringo Starr, Mark Hudson – producers, except on "Liverpool 8"
* Ringo Starr, David A. Stewart – producers on "Liverpool 8"
* Mark Hudson – additional production
* Ringo Starr, David A. Stewart – re-producers
* Bruce Sugar – engineer
* Steve Dudas, Gary Burr, Ned Douglas – additional engineers
* Bill Malina – mixing
* Ted Jensen – mastering
* Tom Recchion – art direction
* Paul Moore – design
* Brian Griffin – photography

Charts

References

External links

*

The Official Ringo Starr Site

{{Authority control

2008 albums
Ringo Starr albums
Albums produced by David A. Stewart
Albums produced by Ringo Starr
Albums produced by Mark Hudson (musician)
Capitol Records albums