‘Y Not’

‘Y Not’

Ringo Starr (Hip-O)

Grade: B

Ringo spends a bit of time here simply banging away happily on a couple of rockers that bookend the album (“Fill in the Blanks” and “Who’s Your Daddy”), and there’s one fun name-dropping reminiscence of youth (“The Other Side of Liverpool”). But the heart of the 10-song collection comes from his continued exploration of how to hold onto noble ideals in the face of ever-rising cynicism and violence.

“Peace Dream” guilelessly invokes John Lennon’s name and message; “Walk With You,” which he wrote with Van Dyke Parks, is a big-beat ballad (“love is the answer and it is real”) that soars when Paul McCartney adds one of his incomparable high harmony parts to his old pal’s workaday voice.

— Randy Lewis, Los Angeles Times

‘Storytellers’

Kanye West (Def Jam/Roc A Fella)

Grade: C+

The conceit of “Storytellers” will be a nightmare for most: a live album in which Kanye West talks enough to distend just nine songs over an hour. Given his only previously sanctioned live track, an ill-advised bonus cut that nearly brought down the occasionally brilliant “808s & Heartbreak” altogether, and his mouthy track record — not to mention the dearth of worthwhile live rap albums — this one looked like a compelling train wreck at best. “I’m sorry VH1 for that,” West improvises as a “human being just trying to improve under the microscope” at the end of “Flashing Lights.” And we believe him.

What we won’t believe is that we paid for the audio equivalent of his “I’m-a let you finish” speech.

Right, we’re really here for the music, but Jay-Z’s wonderful “MTV Unplugged” enjoyed two advantages over “Storytellers”: a) Jay-Z’s programmed beats left space for reinterpretation, whereas West’s albums are already fleshed out with live orchestration aplenty; and b) Jay stuck to rap while Kanye uses the occasion to indulge his AutoTune fascination, with no new songs or particularly interesting vocal contributions.

— Dan Weiss, Philadelphia Inquirer

‘Of the Blue Colour of the Sky’

OK GO (Capitol)

Grade: A

Following up 2005’s “Oh No,” the Los Angeles quartet OK Go has returned with an untidy album of jumpy rhythms, humid synths, funk guitar and falsetto. The blown-out production was helmed by David Fridmann, who’s done similar work for MGMT and the Flaming Lips. There’s a lot to digest, from the taut “Before the Earth Was Round” and TV on the Radio-ish “Needing/Getting” to the sweet “All Is Not Lost” and the acoustic anomaly “Last Leaf.” Lead single “WTF?” is suitably catchy, though “This Too Shall Pass” is stronger still. Front man Damian Kulash acknowledges Prince as a longtime influence, which comes out most on “Skyscrapers” and “White Knuckles.” A lengthy outing at 13 songs and 51 minutes, it’s ultimately geeky, cheery and all too affable.

— Doug Wallen, Philadelphia Inquirer

‘Rain On The City’

Freedy Johnston (Bar/None)

Grade: B

Freedy Johnston blames the eight-year hiatus since his last album of new songs on IRS woes and a relationship that soured. While there’s only one jab at the taxman on “Rain On The City,” there are plenty of sad songs above love gone wrong, death and even a found penny — but mostly love gone wrong.

These are cautionary tales. “Don’t Fall In Love With A Lonely Girl” is one title. “You’ll curse the day that you ever were loved,” Johnston warns elsewhere.

The descriptions of heartache resonate more deeply because, as usual, Johnston pairs his lyrics with melodies of uncommon beauty. They’re fetching even on the uptempo tunes, such as “Lonely Girl,” which rocks as hard as anything Johnston has written. He does Buddy Holly proud on the bouncy but biting “It’s Gonna Come Back To You,” and makes like early Steve Earle on “Livin’ Too Close To The Rio Grande.”

More delicate are the melodies snaking through Johnston’s slower songs, such as the wrenching “What You Cannot See, You Cannot Fight.” Hum along to the tracks of his tears.

— Steven Wine, Associated Press