DOLLY PARTON Vinilo y CD

Review: The whopping forty-ninth album by country-pop superstar Dolly Parton, Rockstar hears the titanic musician don the vaunted mantle, picking apart what it means to be dubbed a "rockstar" after having been nominated for inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022, despite not personally considering herself to hail from a rock & roll background. Leveraging her power to channel the spirit of rock despite not resonating with the sound at its origin, Rockstar harnesses the power of collaboration and association - with titanic cameos from Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, Linda Perry and Miley Cyrus in tow - to posit an album-length critique of the loudest music genre of the 20th Century.

Review: Where do you start with someone like Dolly Parton. Singer, songwriter, actress, philanthropist, entrepreneur, she's been there, done that, got a stack of t-shirts and survived to tell the tale. Fiercely determined and staunchly independent, the fact she's one of the best-selling female artists of all time, with more than 100million units shifted, speaks volumes about her ability to capture a lived experience on record. The fact she managed to navigate a notoriously ruthless industry during its most notorious decades proves her grit.
The Monument Singles Collection presents a convincing case for all this. Comprising early work for the eponymous Monument label, this was Parton emerging from a successful but largely unsung period as songwriter for others, and becoming a veritable star in the making. Songs about overcoming adversities from poverty to patriarchy, which would go on to become anthems in their own right.