ALBUM REVIEW: Dolly Parton’s Got the Glitz, But ‘Rockstar’ Doesn’t Shine

Let’s get this out of the way first: Dolly Parton is no rock singer. Her vocal register lacks the depth and range to reach down into her gut for snarling growls or to modulate into a ringing falsetto. She sings with a crystalline purity that’s well suited to bluegrass and country and gospel, but not to rock and roll.

Rockstar is no rock album, either; it’s a Dolly Parton album on which she performs her own version of familiar rock songs she’s selected. There’s a sameness that permeates all the songs so that “Every Breath You Take” sounds a bit like “Baby, I Love Your Way.” By the time she reaches the final track, “Free Bird,” we’re left feeling that maybe Parton might have made a stronger record if she had been more selective and focused her energies on tunes that let her vocals shine brightly.

Now that that’s out of the way, Dolly Parton is a rock star. She is a world-class artist who deeply honors and respects all forms of music, and she interprets the songs of other artists with the care and devotion she brings to her own songs. And her collaborations with other artists empower them to perform to the level of musicianship she brings to a project. On Rockstar she invites a host of artists associated with these classic rock songs to help her deliver her versions.

Following Parton’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year, she hinted that she’d earn the honor by putting out a rock album. Parton could easily have settled for releasing an album consisting only of covers of her favorite rock songs — and there are 21 of those on Rockstar — but she also wrote nine new songs for the project. The album kicks off with one of them, the propulsive title track on which shredding electric guitars drive Parton’s soaring vocals down a rock-and-roll highway. Playful as ever, Parton introduces the song with a staged argument with her parents about Parton’s desire to be a rock star. “Rockstar” is “9 to 5” dressed up with some wailing guitars.

Shimmering guitars and exalted choral vocals raise the roof on another original, “World on Fire,” a stomping, defiant political anthem — with drumbeats and echoes of the chorus of Don Henley’s “Dirty Laundry” and Queen’s “We Will Rock You” — that pleads for love in the midst of a world burning down because of humanity’s violence, lies, and indifference.

Steve Perry joins Parton for a breathy, expansive version of Journey’s “Open Arms,” while Peter Frampton rides along with Parton on her tremolo-filled “Baby, I Love Your Way.” In this Hallmark version of the song, Parton finds a tender affection missing in Frampton’s original.

Parton teams with goddaughter Miley Cyrus on a version of Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” that starts as a slow simmer that boils over into a towering anthem. Parton unsatisfactorily tackles the Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”; her collaborators Pink and Brandi Carlile turn the song into a romping rocker. Her version of Elton John’s “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” opens with Parton’s breathiness, and it works as a typical Parton song in the first few verses, gaining a harder edge when John joins her late in the song.

What would an album of classic rock songs be without those match-lighting classics “Stairway to Heaven” and Free Bird”? On the former, Parton captures the psychedelic fairy-folk vibe with airy flute warbles and undulating vocals. Her vocals don’t have the depth or strength to pull off the second half of the song, though. Thank goodness she’s joined by Artimus Pyle and the Artimus Pyle Band, Gary Rossington, and Ronnie Van Zant on “Free Bird,” which closes the album. Their playing still makes the song; Parton’s vocals lack the growl to pull it off.

The standouts on the album convey Parton at her best. Her version of John Fogerty’s “Long as I Can See the Light” may be the best song on the album, a country soul number with soaring gospel inflections and choruses with sax solos that carry it back to Memphis. It’s sonically reminiscent of Miko Marks’ version. Joined by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, Parton delivers a spirit-filled version of “Let It Be” that captures the yearning of the song.

There’s nothing especially remarkable about Rockstar, but that doesn’t matter in the end. Dolly Parton’s having fun, and she’s paying tribute to music she loves. Parton’s vocals still spin gold from hay, and her fans are coming to hear those golden tones, whether she rocks or not.

Dolly Parton’s Rockstar is out Nov. 17 on Butterfly Records.