Ryan Adams – Rock N Roll
Posted by Sam on August 17th, 2010
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As the album’s title indicates, this is Ryan Adams’ full-on rock outing. Here the former Whiskeytown leader/enfant terrible eschews all twang in favor of indulging his alt-rock id, and the result is a whirlwind tour through rock & roll history as filtered through his trademark swagger. Adams wears his influences brazenly, like patches sewn on his jean jacket, from the T-Rex stomp of “Shallow” to the snotty Nirvana/Smashing Pumpkins hybrid of “Note to Self: Don’t Die” to a number of Replacements-influenced tracks, including “This Is It” and “Do Miss America.” Ever the contrarian, Adams leaves the only truly subdued song on ROCK N ROLL for the title track, a move which nods towards the melancholy pop of his simultaneous release, LOVE IS HELL PART 1.
Tracklisting
1. This Is It
2. Shallow
3. 1974
4. Wish You Were Here
5. So Alive
6. Luminol
7. Only You Know and I Know
8. She’s Lost Total Control
9. Note to Self: Don’t Die
10. Rock N Roll
11. Anybody Wanna Take Me Home
12. Do Miss America
13. Boys
14. The Drugs Not Working
15. Hypnotixed (Bonus Track)
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (12/25/03, p.104) – Included in Rolling Stone’s “50 Best Albums of 2003″
Rolling Stone (11/13/03, p.90) – 4 stars out of 5 – “…The best bullets here are like excerpts from a fantasy mix tape of classic glam and garage rock…”
Spin (12/03, pp.124-6) – “…He swaps pedal-steel filigree for synthesizers, and everywhere the guitars are cranked, the sneakers set on stun…”
Entertainment Weekly (11/7/03, pp.69-70) – “…In keeping with the alt-rock aesthetic, there is a primitive urgency to many of these tracks…” – Rating: B
Q (01/01/04, p.75) – Ranked #46 in Q’s “The 50 Best Albums of 2003″
Q (12/03, p.121) – 3 stars out of 5 – “…Adams is on fine, growly form on the uptempo ‘This Is It’…”
Magnet (2/04, p.90) – “[U]tterly fascinating…”
CMJ (11/10/03, p.6) – “…This time, the alt-country ballads are nowhere to be seen, with Adams fully indulging his inner rock-star desires….with meaty hooks and distorted guitars that lurch from chord to chord, Adams growls out break-up and make-up anthems one right after the other…”
Mojo (Publisher) (11/03, p.120) – 4 stars out of 5 – “…Ostensibly straightahead, uncontentious music….Like his debut, it feels like Adams has unleashed himself, without fear…”
Ryan Adams – Heartbreaker
Posted by Sam on August 17th, 2010
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Whiskeytown were one the mid-’90s wave of bands who approached American roots music–country, folk, singer/songwriter, and combinations thereof–from an alternative rock standpoint. They were apt to be as influenced by Nick Drake and Superchunk as by Johnny Cash and Neil Young. Ryan Adams performs vocal duties for Whiskeytown, and HEARTBREAKER is his first solo album. It’s primarily a singer/songwriter affair, with lots of acoustic guitars, gentle drums, subtle keyboards, and back-porch harmony vocals, but there’s also a lot of variety and kick. “To Be Young” tears out of the gate like a rollicking out-take from Dylan’s HIGHWAY 61 sessions, and the gentle, shimmering, baroque-tinged “Amy” recalls both the Left Banke, and the Beatles in their “Eleanor Rigby” mode. Many tunes–like “To Be the One”–have a bare-bones, dusty, story-telling quality that recalls Dylan, John Prine, Woody Guthrie, and Steve Earle (who Adams slightly resembles vocally) without ever sounding like Adams is aping them. As a bonus, Emmylou Harris and Gillian Welch supply heavenly harmonies.
Tracklisting
1. Argument with David Rawlings Concerning Morrissey
2. To Be Young (Is to Be Sad, Is to Be High)
3. My Winding Wheel
4. Amy
5. Oh My Sweet Carolina
6. Bartering Lines
7. Call Me On Your Way Back Home
8. Damn, Sam (I Love a Woman That Rains)
9. Come Pick Me Up
10. To Be the One
11. Why Do They Leave?
12. Shakedown On 9th Street
13. Don’t Ask for the Water
14. In My Time of Need
15. Sweet Lil Gal
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (9/14/00, p.177) – 3 stars out of 5 – “…[His] sources run deep…he has the raspy, quavering voice and innate tunefulness to be worthy of [his sources]…which run from Paul Westerberg to Hank Williams….[He has] considerable talent and charm…”
Entertainment Weekly (9/8/00, p.89) – “…A brash, alt-country balladeer with a rock instinct….cementing [his] rep as a latter-day Gram Parsons.” – Rating: B+
Q (1/01, p.104) – 4 out of 5 stars – “…An album of aching ballads topped and tailed by some irresistible barroom remorse….Gram Parsons would have been proud.”
Uncut (p.92) – “[A] brilliant mix of romantic burn-out, reckless bravado, charred emotions, tender swagger and fractured beauty…”
Alternative Press (5/01, p.104) – Included in AP’s “10 Essential Breakup Albums” – “…The torment is all Adams’ – we can be certain of that…”
CMJ (1/08/01, p.9) – Included in CMJ’s “Best of the Year” for 2000.
CMJ (9/4/00, p.3) – “…A brand-new set of foot-stomping anthems and rum-soaked ballads….[He] is the newest icon of heartfelt country rock.”
Mojo (Publisher) (p.61) – Ranked #52 in Mojo’s “100 Modern Classics” — “Adams conjures a kitbag of Dylanesque blues, tear-in-your-beer country and aching Greenwich Village-style folk.”
Mojo (Publisher) (11/00, p.98) – “…Haunted and hurting, this is an album about love….though quiet and spare…it’s impassioned, lyrically and melodically…”
NME (Magazine) (12/30/00, p.79) – Ranked #45 in NME’s “Top 50 Albums Of The Year”.
NME (Magazine) (11/25/00, p.34) – 8 stars out of 10 – “…Adams takes sighing acoustic guitars and melancholic country melodies and strips them bare until all that remains are the stinging truths of the heart, and his own ruminations….a fine successor to Jeff Buckley’s throne as visionary rock troubador.”
Ryan Adams and the Cardinals – Cardinology
Posted by Sam on August 16th, 2010
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CARDINOLOGY is the 10th full-length release in eight years by the prolific Ryan Adams and the fourth he’s recorded with his band, the Cardinals. After the mercurial genre experiments of his earlier albums, it finds Adams assimilating those various styles into one comprehensive aesthetic. Accordingly, CARDINOLOGY flits between many of the sounds he’s devoted entire albums to in the past. From Neil Young-indebted balladry (”Stop”) to Americana (”Born Into a Light”), hard-driving rock & roll (”Magick”), and ’80s-obsessed Britrock (”Cobwebs”), Adams is no less eclectic than usual here, but with the help of the Cardinals he somehow manages to make all these disparate strands sound like part of the same sonic cloth.
Tracklisting
1. Born Into a Light
2. Go Easy
3. Fix It
4. Magick
5. Cobwebs
6. Siciliana: O Lola, C’hai di Latti
7. Crossed Out Name
8. Natural Ghost
9. Sink Ships
10. Evergreen
11. Like Yesterday
12. Stop
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (p.124) – 4 stars out of 5 — “CARDINOLOGY is a classic-rock record to the bone, nodding to influences that Adams has conjured before but never so well: the country rock of the Grateful Dead and Gram Parsons, the arena anthems of U2.”
Rolling Stone (p.90) – Ranked #14 in Rolling Stone’s 50 Best Albums Of 2008 — “Adams’ best LP in years…”
Spin (p.106) – 3.5 stars out of 5 — “Like TIGER, CARDINOLOGY is long on midtempo country-rock shuffles that sound comfortable with their own familiarity…”
Entertainment Weekly (p.62) – “He’s allowed his songwriting to settle into a comfortable pattern as he’s matured, but that hasn’t made it any less vital.” — Grade: A-
Alternative Press (p.129) – 4 stars out of 5 — “‘Go Easy’ is soft and reassuring, getting your heart worked up with warm fuzzies before it transitions into the deep, sultry blues of ‘Fix It.’”
Mojo (Publisher) (p.110) – 4 stars out of 5 — “From the word go, CARDINOLOGY establishes a mood of quiet expectations….This is watercolour…with gentle shadows, dappled light, no large strokes, just restrained and organic….[A] moving album.”
Blender (Magazine) (p.76) – 3.5 stars out of 5 — “[T]his is a group effort, and affirmation of Cardinal principles. For the most part, that means less acoustic lilt and more bruising force.”
Record Collector (magazine) (p.84) – 3 stars out of 5 — “‘Crossed Out Name,’ ‘Sink Ships,’ and ‘Evergreen’ have the right mix of emotion and atmosphere…”
Ryan Adams – Easy Tiger
Posted by Sam on August 6th, 2010
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EASY TIGER–recorded with his backing band, the Cardinals–is the closest Adams has sounded to the style on his excellent debut, HEARTBREAKER. His ADD genre approach is on display here–from the lazy, AMERICAN BEAUTY-style bluegrass of “Pearls on a String” to the full-roar power pop of “Halloweenhead” to the blue-eyed-soul duet with Sheryl Crow, “Two.” The songs are tight and to the point; almost all are uniformly great; and all serve to bolster his case for “importance” as a songwriter that years of overt trying have failed to yield. Seems like “easy, tiger” is that successful approach Adams has been looking so hard for.
Tracklisting
1. Goodnight Rose
2. Two
3. Everybody Knows
4. Halloweenhead
5. Oh My God Whatever Etc
6. Tears of Gold
7. Sun Also Sets
8. Off Broadway
9. Pearls On a String
10. Rip Off
11. Two Hearts
12. These Girls
13. I Taught Myself How to Grow Old
14. Nobody Listens to Silence (Bonus Track)
Professional Reviews
Spin (p.96) – 4 stars out of 5 — “You get deep-twang country rock, fuzzy new-wave pop, a little old-school mountain music, and a handful of acoustic emo-folk ballads.”
Entertainment Weekly (p.139) – “EASY TIGER keeps it simple: beguiling melodies, an ace band, and Adams’ elastic tenor.” — Grade: A-
Uncut (p.114) – 4 stars out of 5 — “Adams appears more at ease in his own skin, soothing himself into these 13 songs rather than straining hard….EASY TIGER feels like a more assured follow-up to the countrified COLD ROSES.”
Alternative Press (p.178) – 3.5 stars out of 5 — “Adams often finds himself revisiting past glories on EASY TIGER….A rather pleasing listen…”
CMJ (p.41) – “Backed by his trusty band, the Cardinals, Adams continues to touch hearts with woeful tales of love-gone-wrong.”
No Depression (p.92) – “‘Two Hearts’ is as catchy a piece of country-rock as a Flying Burrito Brother could have imagined, and the execution is flawless.”
Q (Magazine) (p.78) – Ranked #27 in Q’s “The 50 Best Albums Of 2007″ — “[T]hese 14 compact, tuneful songs slip by with a deceptive, but pleasing ease.”
Ryan Adams – 29
Posted by Sam on August 6th, 2010
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Ryan Adams’s third album of 2005, 29, is his only outing of the year not co-billed to his band, the Cardinals. The distinction is important–while Adams’s Cardinals-backed outings allowed the North Carolina-born singer/songwriter to get in touch with his alt-country roots, 29 is a more minimalist offering that features gritty blues (the simmering title track), spare ballads (the lovely “Starlite Diner”), and emotive pop/rock (the delicate “Blue Sky Blues”). Although this disc is closest in spirit to Adams’s LOVE IS HELL releases, it’s a much more eclectic affair, leading the listener down many of the performer’s subtler musical paths and back to one lonely intersection on the edge of town.
Tracklisting
1. Twenty Nine
2. Strawberry Wine
3. Night Birds
4. Blue Sky Blues
5. Carolina Rain
6. Starlite Diner
7. Sadness, The
8. Elizabeth, You Were Born to Play That Part
9. Voices
Professional Reviews
Entertainment Weekly (p.79) – “It’s definitely one of those three-a.m.-of-the-soul affairs….The net effect is something close to that produced by Bob Dylan’s ‘75 depresso classic BLOOD ON THE TRACKS.” — Grade: B-
Uncut (p.108) – 5 stars out of 5 — “[T]his is not easy listening, ye he’s never made a more beautiful album….29 sucks the willing listener into the undertow of his private ocean.”
CMJ (p.4) – “His Americana-through-a-haze-of-alcohol spark is never lost among the string sections, piano twinkling and sleepy pedal steel.”
Mojo (Publisher) (p.92) – 3 stars out of 5 — “[T]he overall mood is spare and reflective, with Adams playing mostly alone, on guitar and piano, and rarely sounding better…”
Ryan Adams – Cold Roses
Posted by Sam on August 6th, 2010
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Like most of Adams’s efforts, this album is polished, assured, and pleasurable, with strong songwriting at the fore throughout. The opener, “Magnolia Mountain,” sets the tone–a warm, back-porch vibe tinged with melancholy and buoyed by Adams’s emotive warble. Sometimes Adams downshifts to straight folk (”Rosebud”); at other times, he is more pop-minded (”Cherry Lane”), while mixing in simple, swaying melodies (”When Will You Come Back Home”) and the occasional blues-based rocker (”Beautiful Sorta”). Despite the stylistic variations, COLD ROSES is extremely cohesive, and represents a welcome return to Adams’s early sound.
Tracklisting
Disk 1
1. Magnolia Mountain
2. Sweet Illusions
3. Meadowlake Street
4. When Will You Come Back Home
5. Beautiful Sorta
6. Now That You’re Gone
7. Cherry Lane
8. Mockingbird
9. How Do You Keep Love Alive
Disk 2
1. Easy Plateau
2. Let It Ride
3. Rosebud
4. Cold Roses
5. If I Am a Stranger
6. Dance All Night
7. Blossom
8. Life Is Beautiful
9. Friends
10. Tonight (Bonus Track)
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (No. 975, p.74) – 3.5 stars out of 5 – “At its best, COLD ROSES lives between the twin blooms of the Rolling Stone’s “Dead Flowers” and the Grateful Dead’s AMERICAN BEAUTY…”
Spin (pp.102-105) – “Adams’ tune-smithing has never been sweeter.” – Grade: B+
Uncut (p.105) – 3 stars out of 5 – “[F]ull of encouraging hints the 30-year-old is feeling more comfortable in his own skin…”
Mojo (Publisher) (p.102) – 3 stars out of 5 – “[T]he 18 songs here boast plenty of twanging harmonies and pedal steel whine, and the marked influence of his recent infatuation with the Grateful Dead.”
Ryan Adams – Gold
Posted by Aaron on December 21st, 2009
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The “it” boy of early-’00s roots-rock, former Whiskeytown leader Ryan Adams has responded to the mountain of hype surrounding him with an arrogance worthy of his idol, mid-’60s Bob Dylan. Accordingly he follows his stripped-down solo debut with a two-disc, fully produced set that finds him grasping for the mantle of alt-country messiah. GOLD picks up where Whiskeytown’s swan song PNEUMONIA left off; a step removed from the country-rock hard line but still full of rootsy, organic, Band-like warmth.
The up-tempo opening tune “New York, New York” recalls vintage Steve Forbert, while “Answering Bell” sounds like David Gray fronting the aforementioned Band on a rewritten “The Weight.” The epic, acoustic guitar-based ballad “Nobody’s Girl” is one of the more overtly Dylanesque pieces here, and while trying to overshadow Zimmy is a fool’s errand no matter how big your britches, one has to admire Adams for the considerable chutzpah necessary to even take up the task. Whether you believe he’s the Gram Parsons of the 21st century or not, its that undeniable spirit and ambition that lay at the heart of GOLD’s appeal.
Tracklisting
1. New York New York
2. Firecracker
3. Answering Bell
4. La Cienega Just Smiled
5. The Rescue Blues
6. Somehow, Someday
7. When The Stars Go Blue
8. Nobody Girl
9. Sylvia Plath
10. Enemy Fire
11. Gonna Make You Love Me
12. Wild Flowers
13. Harder Now That It’s Over
14. Touch, Feel & Lose
15. Tina Toledo’s Street Walkin’ Blues
16. Goodnight, Hollywood Blvd.
Professional Reviews
Entertainment Weekly (9/28/01, pp.71-2) – “…This sprawling tour through American music…is like a dinner full of comfort food…” – Rating: B+
Q (1/03, p.54) – Included in Q Magazine’s “100 Greatest Albums Ever”
Q (10/01, p.117) – 4 stars out of 5 – “…Adam’s freewheeling nature remains irresistible. He’s a magpie, flitting between people, places and influences with equal enthusiasm…”
CMJ (9/17/01, p.4) – “…Sparkles with its creator’s shaky roots on the West Coast…with a slow, syrupy pace…”
No Depression (9-10/01, pp.129-30) – “…These songs are filled with hot emotion….There are more hooks here than at a pirate’s convention, and Adams’ gift for melody is so strong it’s almost scary…”
Mojo (Publisher) (1/02, p.69) – Ranked #9 in Mojo’s “Best [40] Albums of 2001″.
Mojo (Publisher) (10/01, p.114) – “…A beautiful trip…”
Related Posts
Ryan Adams – Love Is Hell
Ryan Adams & the Cardinals – Jacksonville City Nights
Ryan Adams – Love Is Hell
Posted by Aaron on October 18th, 2009
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The confusing, complex saga of LOVE IS HELL–initially rejected by the label, then begrudgingly issued as two EPs before it finally saw the light of day as a full album–would be just an interesting footnote if not for the shockingly high quality of the material itself. In between his incarnations as alt-country troubadour and Strokes-friendly garage-rocker, Ryan Adams turned out what just might be the best record of his career. A beautiful, bittersweet journey through heartbreak, it’s a ballad-heavy album that bears echoes of Jeff Buckley and Britpop acts from the Smiths to Coldplay. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Smiths producer John Porter is on hand to assist the formerly earthy Americana artist in his transition to fragile, melodic, Anglo-adoring balladeer. While the original EPs were weighty documents in and of themselves, LOVE IS HELL’s full-length version bears an even greater emotional impact, as the mood is allowed to establish itself gradually and dramatically, pulling the listener into a very personal world of gorgeously observed romantic tragedy.
Tracklisting
1. Political Scientist
2. Afraid Not Scared
3. This House Is Not For Sale
4. Anybody Wanna Take Me Home
5. Love Is Hell
6. Wonderwall
7. The Shadowlands
8. World War 24
9. Avalanche
10. My Blue Manhattan
11. Please Do Not Let Me Go
12. City Rain, City Streets
13. I See Monsters
14. English Girls Approximately
15. Thank You Louise
16. Hotel Chelsea Nights
Ryan Adams and the Cardinals – Jacksonville City Nights
Posted by Aaron on September 14th, 2009
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Ryan Adams’s sophomore album with the Cardinals as his backing band, and his second studio offering of 2005, JACKSONVILLE CITY NIGHTS finds the ever-prolific singer/songwriter in his twangy, Gram Parsons-inspired persona. In fact, on “Dear John,” jazz/pop superstar Norah Jones plays Emmylou Harris to Adams’s Parsons, as the two settle into a slow, smokey duet.
While JACKSONVILLE CITY NIGHTS has an energetic moment or two (”The Hardest Part”), it never wanders anywhere near Adams’s amped-up ROCK AND ROLL territory. In general, this is melancholy, down-tempo alt-country, which, given Adams’s past in Whiskeytown, explains why the performer sounds so at ease here. “A Kiss Before I Go” begins the album on a wistful note, setting the tone with bar room piano lines and weepy pedal-steel work. On “Hardest Way to Fall,” Adams indulges in a sauntering Dylan-like vibe, while “September” proves to be almost haunting in its minimalism. Although Adams’s artistic reach occasionally exceeds his grasp, JACKSONVILLE CITY NIGHTS finds the artist playing to his strengths, resulting in one of his most consistent records.
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (No. 984, p.148) – 3.5 stars out of 5 – “…[A]n unadulterated return to form…”
