Following his CD of the same title, Ringo recently released the vinyl edition of EP3 his third such offering on the shorter EP format, though the price I paid was the equivalent of any contemporary full LP release. As with ‘Change The World’ from earlier in the year EP3 adopts the 10″ vinyl standard and contains the following tracks:

World Go Round opens the proceeding, a fairly uptempo rock offering with distinctive guitar play from loyal All-Star bandmate Steve Lukather. Rock steady drumming from Ringo and complementary backing vocals round out a solid rock sound and is a good start as an opener.

‘Everyone And Everything’ slows the tempo just a little with Ringo’s vocals appearing to be more noticeably “tuned’ in the recording process and the song being a jaunty sing-a-long offering with which Ringo is more than comfortable in delivering.

Side 2 opens with ‘Let’s Be Friends’ which has a really nice groove and an infectious chorus with customary ‘Peace and Love’ reference. This my favourite track on the EP with a fabulous bass contribution by seasoned veteran Nathan East.

The final track Free Your Soul slows the pace and introduces a latin style rhythm, Spanish guitar and a very 80’s flavoured saxophone leading the tune. This is a really nice counterpoint to the other songs and is the only track with a Starkey writing contribution.

Overall I think this is a really good, balanced and warm sounding release. I could certainly argue about the high cost of the EP, though it is great to discover we have been provided with another solid offering from Ringo who, with some sympathetic production techniques, sounds as good as he ever has. Long may that continue …

Review by Gwyn Jenkins.