Big Machine Label Group

Release Date: November 17th 2023

Reviewed by: Joshua Andre

Dolly Parton– Rockstar (Amazon mp3/iTunes)

Track Listing:

1. Rockstar (special guest Richie Sambora)
2. World on Fire
3. Every Breath You Take (feat. Sting)
4. Open Arms (feat. Steve Perry)
5. Magic Man (feat. Ann Wilson with special guest Howard Leese)
6. Long as I Can See the Light (feat. John Fogerty)
7. Either Or (feat. Kid Rock)
8. I Want You Back (feat. Steven Tyler with special guest Warren Haynes)
9. What Has Rock And Roll Ever Done For You (feat. Stevie Nicks with special guest Waddy Wachtel)
10. Purple Rain
11. Baby, I Love Your Way (feat. Peter Frampton)
12. I Hate Myself for Loving You (feat. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts)
13. Night Moves (feat. Chris Stapleton)
14. Wrecking Ball (feat. Miley Cyrus)
15. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (feat. P!nk and Brandi Carlile)
16. Keep On Loving You (feat. Kevin Cronin)
17. Heart of Glass (feat. Debbie Harry)
18. Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me (feat. Elton John)
19. Tried to Rock and Roll Me (feat. Melissa Etheridge)
20. Stairway to Heaven (feat. Lizzo and Sasha Flute)
21. We Are the Champions / We Will Rock You
22. Bygones (feat. Rob Halford with special guests Nikki Sixx & John 5)
23. My Blue Tears (feat. Simon Le Bon)
24. What’s Up? (feat. Linda Perry)
25. You’re No Good (feat. Emmylou Harris & Sheryl Crow)
26. Heartbreaker (feat. Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo)
27. Bittersweet (feat. Michael McDonald)
28. I Dreamed About Elvis (feat. Ronnie McDowell with special guests The Jordanaires)
29. Let it Be (feat. Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr with special guests Peter Frampton & Mick Fleetwood)
30. Free Bird (feat. Ronnie Van Zant with special guests Gary Rossington, Artimus Pyle and the Artimus Pyle Band)

Dolly Parton, one of the most accomplished singers ever, is still making music to this day. She has been a force to be reckoned with within the country music sphere for many decades now, and she has even crossed over the CCM circles, collaborating with Zach Williams and for KING & COUNTRY to name a few. Dolly is synonymous with the smash-hit “Islands In The Stream” (sung with Kenny Rogers, but actually a Bee Gees song!). We ‘reviewed’ her new collaboration with Kelly Clarkson last year (a re-recording of her hit “9 To 5”), while we also voiced our brief but definitive thoughts on Dolly’s greatest hits album from last year. However, we’re not here to write an exegesis about Dolly and her influence. We will write about her in our forthcoming blog about her in our series about iconic and identity building artists. Yes, yes, I know that we mentioned earlier that it will probably within a few months’ time. But since we’ve taken a year off in terms of blogging… who actually knows when I’ll be writing about Dolly? But… as we are writing about one of the last reviews before we switch over to exclusively covering Christmas music for a month or so; how about we dive deep into Dolly’s latest album- a rock album called Rockstar, which is a part original, part covers rock album that is really a tribute and homage to great rock artists in the past and present? Rockstar may not be everyone’s preference; but objectively, this is head and shoulders above anything that has ever released this year, as Dolly still proves that form may be temporary, but class is permanent. You may not agree with all of these song choices and guest vocalists here. But Dolly is a living legend, and this album objectively is so, so, so, good. Personally, I couldn’t get enough of it, and though I’m not familiar with some of these powerful melodies; Rockstar still rocks, and you all need to drop what you’re doing and immerse yourself in this epic work of art!

You don’t have to be a Dolly fan to appreciate this album. You don’t even have to know all of the songs. Songs like “Every Breath You Take” (Sting), “Wrecking Ball” (Miley Cyrus), “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” (Elton John), “Let It Be” (The Beatles), “Stairway To Heaven” (Led Zepellin), “We Are The Champions” and “We Will Rock You” (Queen), “Purple Rain” (Prince) and “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (The Rolling Stones) are just a few of the many iconic and influential songs ever within the rock music sphere (or simply the music sphere); and the few but punchy originals songs, such as “Bygones”, “My Blue Jeans” and lead single “World On Fire”, remind us why Dolly is still a force to be reckoned with in the music industry even now. The guest vocalists across all of the 30 epically tracks is intimidating and yet equally as iconic and respected and inspiring- Elton John, Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, Chris Stapleton, P!NK, Miley Cyrus, Lizzo, Sting, Sheryl Crow, Debbie Harry of Blondie, Emmylou Harris, Pat Benetar, Michael McDonald, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney of The Beatles, Brandi Carlile, Joan Jett, and Melissa Etheridge to name a few; and even if some of the reviews online have been less than stellar, I’m more of the opinion that there will be something on this album for everyone- even if you only like a couple of songs. Sure, you may prefer that Dolly stick to country music. but in all fairness though, it’s hard not to love Dolly’s music. Rockstar isn’t the perfect rock album. After all, Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, Bonnie Tyler, Cher, Bon Jovi, REM, Tracy Chapman, Belinda Carlisle, Annie Lennox, Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones, Bono of U2, Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders, Don Henley of The Eagles, Steve Miller and Billy Joel were all not present (maybe a sequel to Rockstar is in the works?); but the album though, is still a hopeful, positive and optimistic musical experience, and Dolly’s passion for life and her overflowing radiance shines through as well!

If you’re gonna take on a thing like this, you gotta make sure that you’re gonna do it good. Just making the decision to do a rock album was made easier when they decided to go ahead and put me in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I didn’t feel like I had earned it, but they told me that I had. That’s when I thought, Well, I’m going to have to at least have something to say now that I’m in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I had thought years ago that I might one day do a rock album, and it’d be more like a Linda Ronstadt-type album, with some girls singing great rock songs. But this [project] just opened up every window and every door in the world for me to call on some of these great artists who are in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I wanted the rock people to be proud of me. I don’t want them to say, “Did you hear Dolly’s rock album? It’s O.K. She did O.K.” I wanted them to say, “Did you hear Dolly’s rock album? Man, she killed it.” So I went through those kind of emotions more than a deep fear. I was determined I was going to do it. And I thought, I’ll cover up any fear I might have by bringing on some of these great people who I know will make it great.

People that know me and love me have to love me as I am, doing whatever it is I do. They know that I’m gonna take chances and that I feel like I have a right to be me, whatever it is I may try to do. I wasn’t afraid of that. Just like when I went out on my own, leaving country music, trying to do more pop, and getting into the movies. A lot of people thought at that time that I was making a big mistake, getting out of country music. I was going to fall on my face. But I thought, Well, I’ll fall on my face, but I can get up. I’ll fall on my butt now and then, but I’ll still get up, and I’ll try whatever. Another thing is that I’ve been in this music business for a long time—six decades, as a matter of fact—and people feel like they know me, and they’re willing to allow me to try things and to respect me for it. That’s what I hope. So, if that collective love you’re talking about is true, I think a big part of it is that people know I’m just willing to be me, willing to allow other people to be them and to accept things as they are—or, if I don’t accept them as they are, try to make a change and do good things.

[So] I have a certain way of singing. I have a certain sound in my voice that’s very identifiable. I guess they call that being a stylist. I’m like Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline. It’s a voice you know when you hear it, whether you like it or not. But I was trying hard not to make these songs like country songs. I wanted the phrasing to be good. In country music, I can sing any way, anywhere—if I want to sing on top of the beat or lag along or whatever. But in rock and roll—and I had a lot of help from Kent Wells with that, too, with him saying, “You need to stay on the beat on this,” “You don’t need to trail too much here and there.” But I just wanted to choose songs that would fit my voice, that I felt my range would cover, and that I could sing with emotion without over-singing them or trying to sing gimmicky or any of that. I wanted to not have people think, Oh, she just sang all over that, or, She did too much on that. I tried to be respectful of the songs.

I think there’s a whole lot of freedom that comes with getting older. And, when you’ve done everything, you don’t have to answer to other people. It’s, like, why wouldn’t I be allowed to do this? You know, at my age—I’m seventy-seven years old, and I’m a rock star. I get a kick out of it. The title of the album—it was a little tongue-in-cheek. I thought, What am I going to call this album? Well, I’m going to call it “Rockstar,” duh. Anyway, the whole thing was just kind of fun for me. I took the music serious. I take my work serious, but at the same time I enjoy it.

Remember when I said earlier that I had often thought of doing a rock album? But, as the years went by, I thought, Nobody’s going to take me serious now, you know, getting older. But then it was just laid right in my hands when they put me in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. And I am not one to miss timing. Timing means everything. And I always think [with] these things that a higher wisdom is speaking to me, saying, “Just do it. You got your chance. If you ever had a thought about doing it, do it now.”

So, when I was doing the rock album, I thought, Man, this is an opportunity for me as a singer and as an artist. And as a person, you know? I grew up loving these songs. I mean, we all loved the Beatles, and we all loved these great songs that we have grown up with.

I didn’t think of it to that depth [consciously trying to change the image of rock as a boys’ club by highlighting so many women]. I just knew I was a girl, and I was going to do rock and roll. And I knew there were some great girl rock and rollers—especially, you know, in the early days, like Joan and Melissa and some of the others. And then, of course, I love singing with all these women. Many of these girls are my friends. So I thought, I’m going to ask some of them if they’ll join me.

With Joan, she was the sweetest thing. When I said I wanted to do “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll,” she said, “Oh, Dolly, don’t do that one. Everybody does that one. Why don’t we do ‘I Hate Myself for Loving You’? It’s got a little more meat, and you got a little more depth than just singing ‘I Love Rock ’n’ Roll.’ ” Which I thought was great, because she’s the writer! But people took the time—you know, these artists took time to say, “I’m glad you’re doing this. This is a cool move. I’ll help you all I can.”

I have so many sisters, and I just related to all of [my collaborators] like one of my sisters. And so it was conscious in the respect that I felt I needed to have a lot of these girls on here. I wasn’t trying to do any MeToo movement or make a big statement of any kind. But, with the songs that I wanted to do, these seemed to be the voices that I heard on them.

While Dolly Parton, a living legend in her own right, answers to no-one, and we all wouldn’t even be fazed if she never makes another album ever again (because she has earnt her right to relax, and she doesn’t really need to explain her decisions to anyone!); Dolly continues to remind us of her class, permanence, and her timeless influence in this album and in every album she has released. The world will mourn when Dolly passes away someday- and so, while Dolly is still alive, shouldn’t we celebrate her legacy with this new album that defies genres and reminds us that a good artist is a good artist is a good artist is a timeless artist?

The only way I know how to fight back is to write songs that say how I feel. And that song [World On Fire] I felt led to write. I had finished the album altogether. We’d already done [all the] songs, and Kent said, “We got to stop somewhere.” But I went home that night, and that song just came to me, and I got up in the wee hours, wrote the song, and called Kent the next morning. I said, “We got to do another session, because I’ve written a song that I think has to be on this album.” It says everything I needed to say, what I felt needed to be said. It’s just me trying to throw some light out. Because we’re in a dark place. We need some light thrown on it.

It was just what you see in the streets every day. I was trying to be as poetic as I could to try to get the point across: people are marching in the streets, people are killing one another, people are destroying each other, and the ones that are not doing that are carrying a sign that’s saying whatever. So it was just about what’s going on in the world. They’ve got their guns, they’ve got their knives, they’ve got their signs… And I understand the frustration in everybody. I understand the frustration in myself. But the only way I know how to deal with it is to express it in music, because God has given me that voice. And so that’s what I will continue to do. And anytime I see that there’s a need that I can fill, or something that I can do personally to make life a little better, I will continue to do that.

8 songs to listen to: World On Fire, What Has Rock And Roll Ever Done For You, Purple Rain, Wrecking Ball, Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me, Bygones, Let It Be, Free Bird

Score: 5/5

RIYL: Martina McBride, Alan Jackson, Vince Gill, Carrie Underwood, Faith Hill, Shania Twain, Lady A, Luke Bryan, Reba McEntire