On Friday, Nov. 17, Dolly Parton released her newest and biggest album yet — a 30-song, two-hour and 21-minute opus titled “Rockstar.”
This era of Dolly Parton is an artistic evolution akin to a caterpillar finally escaping its chrysalis and spreading its wings. A mix of covers and new songs, Parton’s new record only plays to her strengths as a singer, songwriter and musical curator.
Parton sounds as comfortable as ever on cover songs like “I Want You Back,” “Baby, I Love Your Way,” “Purple Rain,” and “Let It Be.” The 77-year-old artist sounds like she is just plain having fun on these songs with her equally famous collaborators.
Released as a single, Parton covered Miley Cyrus’s “Wrecking Ball,” originally released in 2013. “Wrecking Ball,” in a broader cultural context, was part of a culture war around women’s bodies and their sexualities. It was a song that was culturally lambasted by a more socially conservative population at the time.
However, times are different now. Miley and Dolly — goddaughter and godmother — have artistically changed over time, and so has our understanding of social issues as listeners. “Wrecking Ball,” in this context, is covered as a pop-soul ballad of female empowerment no matter what age.
Speaking of empowerment, the first and title track of the album, “Rockstar,” features a younger Dolly saying in the intro, “Well, I’m gonna be in rock ‘n’ roll, whether you two like it or not/I’ll show them.”
This triumphant anthem is for everyone who has ever been doubted in their life.
“I stand before my mirror, play and sing and dream, someday/I’ll be standing in the lights, selling shows out every night/Have ’em dancing in the aisles, I’ll be famous/I’ll be a rockstar,” Parton sings in the chorus.
The features on this album are absolutely nothing to scoff at either and are immediately impressive with Lizzo, Peter Frampton, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Steven Tyler, Steve Perry, Cyrus and more. The legendary rock greats and more are here for this triumphant love letter to not only rock and roll but to music in general.
The best songs and covers on the album not only add their own original flare, but they enhance the experience as a whole. “Stairway to Heaven” is a big standout to me.
Robert Plant’s original lyrics are only sweeter when Parton sings them, and it only makes sense that the Queen of Country would cover one of the greatest rock songs of all time on her rock album. The progression of the song is done incredibly well instrumentally, and Parton’s vocal passages still hold up compared to the original.
The length of Parton’s opus is its only downside. While I could not have gotten enough of Parton, 24 songs and two hours in, I was starting to feel the fatigue. However, I was not ready for the end of the record.
The album closes with “Free Bird,” which contains what is largely believed to be the single greatest guitar solo of all time. Parton brings in the original band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, to play along.
I have said this enough in this write-up, but triumphant is an understatement. The original song and Parton’s cover can go toe-to-toe with each other, and I cannot tell you which one I prefer. It’s that good.
When that guitar solo hits around five minutes in, you feel as free as Dolly, free as the entirety of Lynyrd Skynyrd and you feel as free as you have ever felt in your entire life.
Free as a bird.
Rating: 4/5 stars
