CD Project Thing #2 - Ryan Adams pt. 1
Ryan Adams - "Gold" (and "Side 4" bonus disc)
I think I was affected less by 9/11 than just about any other American. You always read about how everybody was affected and nobody was ever the same, but I really can't say that I was. Sure, I thought it sucked, but it didn't especially surprise me, and I don't think my life changed one bit because of it. The closest I came to knowing somebody who died that day was Marisa's friend's uncle, who I didn't even know existed before that. So, I thought most of the 9/11 tribute things were really silly. The one thing that DID almost get me was the video to "New York, New York" by Ryan Adams, probably because it wasn't originally intended as a tribute - the video was filmed on 9/7/01 and heavily features the World Trade Center. Besides that, though, I thought it was just a really great song.
Ryan Adams had a few albums with Whiskeytown and a solo album before this, but I don't own any of those so let's pretend they don't exist. "Gold" is a sprawling 21-song (counting the bonus disc) album that just sort of goes all over, but works really well, too. I'd actually forgotten how much I like it, there are a few songs here that are just really wonderful. I get the impression that some hardcore fans don't like this album or think it's a sellout or something, but for me he's never even come close to it again. Also, sadly, after this album he's never again taken the "let's throw everything out there on a disc" approach again, instead issuing multiple albums featuring his different sides and themes and stuff. That might make the albums a little more consistant sounding, but, I dunno, just not as interesting to me.
Ryan Adams - "Demolition"
Following "Gold", Ryan Adams did the classic "low-key followup to lower expectations" trick with the release of this collection of demos (get it? DEMO-lition? Ha ha? Yeah, I didn't think so). It was actually rumored that this would turn out to be a 4 disc box of demos, but in the end it's just this one disc (and my question is, how did two people get producer credits on it without producing a single song on the disc?).
The songs here mostly lean more towards country, and sound more like studio tracks than you'd expect a demo to. There are a handful of standout tracks here, but a lot of forgettable ones, too, and it just never FEELS like a real album. Of course, that might just be me feeling that way because I KNOW it's not a real album, but I suppose we'll never know.
Ryan Adams - "Love Is Hell"
"Love Is Hell" was supposed to be the official follow-up album to "Gold". Problem was, Lost Highway didn't want to follow-up his hit album with an album that's slow, depressing (and very good!) like "Love Is Hell". Eventully, a deal was worked out where "Love Is Hell" was released as two EPs around the same time as another album, "Rock N Roll" (see below). Then, a year later, they released the album on one disc as intended (with a bonus track). Normally that might have slightly annoyed me, but my various sales and purchases actually netted me a profit, so it was all good.
And the album, that's quite good, too (although it's no "Gold"). One of the highlights is his cover of "Wonderwall" that sounds nothing like the Oasis version. There's plenty of good originals too, but I'm really tired and don't know what to say about them, so let's just move on, shall we?
Ryan Adams - "Rock N Roll"
When Lost Highway wouldn't release "Love Is Hell", Ryan went in and knocked out the exact opposite, apparently only in about two weeks. Like the title implies, "Rock N Roll" is a straight rock record. Problem is, it's just not very good. It's not embarassing or anything (I think he's saving that for his rumored Hip-Hop record), but it's about the most generic sounding album possible. Most of the songs just sound like filler that any band could do, and there aren't any big singles or anything between the filler to make the album at all worthwhile. It's so forgettable, in fact, that I might just put it in my sell pile and forget I ever owned it...
I think I was affected less by 9/11 than just about any other American. You always read about how everybody was affected and nobody was ever the same, but I really can't say that I was. Sure, I thought it sucked, but it didn't especially surprise me, and I don't think my life changed one bit because of it. The closest I came to knowing somebody who died that day was Marisa's friend's uncle, who I didn't even know existed before that. So, I thought most of the 9/11 tribute things were really silly. The one thing that DID almost get me was the video to "New York, New York" by Ryan Adams, probably because it wasn't originally intended as a tribute - the video was filmed on 9/7/01 and heavily features the World Trade Center. Besides that, though, I thought it was just a really great song.
Ryan Adams had a few albums with Whiskeytown and a solo album before this, but I don't own any of those so let's pretend they don't exist. "Gold" is a sprawling 21-song (counting the bonus disc) album that just sort of goes all over, but works really well, too. I'd actually forgotten how much I like it, there are a few songs here that are just really wonderful. I get the impression that some hardcore fans don't like this album or think it's a sellout or something, but for me he's never even come close to it again. Also, sadly, after this album he's never again taken the "let's throw everything out there on a disc" approach again, instead issuing multiple albums featuring his different sides and themes and stuff. That might make the albums a little more consistant sounding, but, I dunno, just not as interesting to me.
Ryan Adams - "Demolition"
Following "Gold", Ryan Adams did the classic "low-key followup to lower expectations" trick with the release of this collection of demos (get it? DEMO-lition? Ha ha? Yeah, I didn't think so). It was actually rumored that this would turn out to be a 4 disc box of demos, but in the end it's just this one disc (and my question is, how did two people get producer credits on it without producing a single song on the disc?).
The songs here mostly lean more towards country, and sound more like studio tracks than you'd expect a demo to. There are a handful of standout tracks here, but a lot of forgettable ones, too, and it just never FEELS like a real album. Of course, that might just be me feeling that way because I KNOW it's not a real album, but I suppose we'll never know.
Ryan Adams - "Love Is Hell"
"Love Is Hell" was supposed to be the official follow-up album to "Gold". Problem was, Lost Highway didn't want to follow-up his hit album with an album that's slow, depressing (and very good!) like "Love Is Hell". Eventully, a deal was worked out where "Love Is Hell" was released as two EPs around the same time as another album, "Rock N Roll" (see below). Then, a year later, they released the album on one disc as intended (with a bonus track). Normally that might have slightly annoyed me, but my various sales and purchases actually netted me a profit, so it was all good.
And the album, that's quite good, too (although it's no "Gold"). One of the highlights is his cover of "Wonderwall" that sounds nothing like the Oasis version. There's plenty of good originals too, but I'm really tired and don't know what to say about them, so let's just move on, shall we?
Ryan Adams - "Rock N Roll"
When Lost Highway wouldn't release "Love Is Hell", Ryan went in and knocked out the exact opposite, apparently only in about two weeks. Like the title implies, "Rock N Roll" is a straight rock record. Problem is, it's just not very good. It's not embarassing or anything (I think he's saving that for his rumored Hip-Hop record), but it's about the most generic sounding album possible. Most of the songs just sound like filler that any band could do, and there aren't any big singles or anything between the filler to make the album at all worthwhile. It's so forgettable, in fact, that I might just put it in my sell pile and forget I ever owned it...
posted by Adam at 6:53 PM
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