Get To Know My Friend Vol.1: Ryan Adams

Yes i have started another regular segment, one through which i hope to educate many of you out there in cyberland. Basically, the concept is that i select one of my favourite artists and give you a basic bio and album rundown and review. Trust me, its better to have a basic knowledge of an artist before you start trashing them in public. I've decided to begin with Mr Ryan Adams, considered to be the angriest and most prolific artist currently operating in the alternative country scene. Born David Ryan Adams he began playing music with his highschool punk band "Patty Duke Syndrome", influenced by the likes of the Dead Kennedys, Sonic Youthand Ryan's beloved Husker Du. However, after his love of punk turned sour he converted to the sounds of country music and 60-70's country infused rock. He first hit the Jacksonville music scene with his band "Whiskeytown" who released two albums, the second garnering Adams public and critical acclaim which aided him in his assimilation into a solo career following a few years of introspection. I must admit that sometimes i am hesitant to give Ryan Adams my money. He's obviously talented and you'd be hard pressed to find an act releasing this much material in so little an amount of time. But he possesses that holier than thou rock star attitude where he knows hes more talented than you and doesnt care. I prefer my rocks stars as crazy megalomaniacs (e.g. Axl Rose, Scott Weiland) or modest and humble (e.g Chris Cornell,Eddie Vedder) his manner does grate on my nerves. Material wise its a total mixed bag. He varies wildly from genius to utter drivel. However, this kind of inconsitency is unavoidable when you release three albums in one year as he did in 2005. I think anyone who knows their Ryan Adams would agree that one album of quality controlled material rather than 3 erratic ones would have been simply breathtaking. Hes also rather entertaining, rock star antics wise. His most famous antic being his ejection a fan from his concert at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium for yelling out "play summer of 69". Apparently Ryan was tired of the Bryan Adams jokes, turned the house lights on, singled out the guy, personally refunded him the 30 buck entry fee and refused to continue with the concert until he left. Fair enough i say, i would have killed the guy. Anyway, I regard Ryan Adams as the creative pinacle of the modern alternative country music scene, combining his 60's-70's rock influences like Gram Parsons and The Grateful Dead with an adoration of real 60's country music stating influences such as Johnny Cash, Hank Williams and Merle Haggard to name just a few. During the course of his career Adams has gone from country rock to pop rock to piano ballad guy to what the hell is he going to do next. Perhaps the most infectious thing about his music is his voice's ability to crack at that perfect breaking point where it just breaks your heart, its the ability to convey the two emotions of misery and bittersweet love that makes a true country music singer.

For the MP3's i've decided to use live tracks out of respect for the artists, sounds like a wank but then again i dont care how it sounds.

Whiskeytown - Faithless Street (1996) Whiskeytown's first release which suffers from poor production quality , a mistake that his band has subsequently corrected on its 1998 re-release. On this album we can see Ryans talents emerging, even from this early release. At this early time in his career he was already able to blend his country roots with his love of rock and roll. There are paralells to be drawn to legendary country rock band Uncle Tupelo but Whiskeytown definitely rock more than they ever did. My personal favorite cut from the album is "Too Drunk To Dream" (download).

Whiskeytown - Strangers Almanac (1997) This is without a doubt one of the, if not the best album of 1997. With its beautiful fusion of those country elements its sounds like what would happen if Uncle Tupelo, The Rolling Stones, The Replacements and Gram Parsons all got in bed, had one perfect night of passionate love making, discovered they were pregnant and booted the subsequent offspring into the gutter. Ryan Adams uncanny ability to portray the bittersweet really comes across here. Songs like the exquisitely beautiful "Excuse Me While I Break My Own Heart Tonight" (download) are a testament to his emerging talents as a songwriter but the emotional intensity of "Houses On A Hill" (download) is arguably Whiskeytowns greatest song, its definitely mine.

Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker (2000)
Ryans solo debut and in my opinion one of his finest. Heartbreaker opens with an argument about a Morrissey song before kicking into the the first track and this self referential gloominess carries though into Adams solo material. His country boy soul shines through in this release despite his rocker attitude. However there is a much more rounded set of textures at use here than his old bands alt country twang. Use of glockenspiel and organ signal his movement into a more sonic type of arrangement, yet still reflecting his aforementioned influences. Stand outs include the opener "To Be Young(Is To Be Sad Is To Be High)" (download) and the Emmy Lou Harris Colaboration "Oh My Sweet Carolina" (download).

Ryan Adams - Gold (2001) The first example of Ryan's execution not matching his vision. This album includes some of Adams's brilliant moments such as "New York, New York" (download) a success in the wake of the the 9/11 attacks despite it actually being a song about a girl. However, I just couldn't seem to stomach the mess of plodding percussion and indistinct guitars that make up the remainder of Gold. This doesn't mean that Ryan cant strike a few emotional chords or two with tracks like "When The Stars Go Blue" (download), one of my personal favourites.

Ryan Adams - Demolition (2002) After releasing Gold Adams wrote enough material to fill a 4 disc box set. However, he made one of the only good quality controlling decisions hes ever made and decided to single out 13 of his best unreleased demos to go on the appropriately named Demolition compilation. And in my opinion it totally eclipses Gold in both its writing and execution and is some of Ryans best material to date. Tracks like the acoustic ballads "Dear Chicago" (download) and "Tomorrow" (download) are just a few highlights.

Ryan Adams - Rock N Roll (2003) Every artsist has to have one. This is the album for which his public accused him of "selling out" whatever the hell that means. This album's mission statement is blatantly obvious in its title, and if you don't like Rock And Roll you can stick it where it gets uncomfortable. Adams sets out not to create a smorgasbord of accessible rock and roll tunes and in that respect Rock n Roll is a total success. His fans hated it. The album remains his lowest selling album despite positive critical accliam. Maybe i'm being a rebel but i don't mind itas light entertainment. My faves include "This Is It"(download) and "Shes Lost Total Control" (download).

Ryan Adams - Love Is Hell (2004) This was originally released in the form of two separate EP's and then subsequently made one. This album remains the favourite of many a devout Adams fan as it is arguably his most beautiful if not most consistent. I maintain that the latter half of the album is considerably weaker than its beginning, as all my favourite cuts are taken from the first EP. Production wise it was a step up from his earlier stuff and this helps to create some beautiful ambience. Leaving behind the alt country stigma, parts of this album sound Jeff Buckleyesque in their arrangement. Best tracks includean interesting interpretation of the Oasis smash hit "Wonderwall" (download) and the truly beautiful ballad "The Shadowlands" (download).

Ryan Adams - Cold Roses (2005) He just had to one-up Conor Oberst's 2 album effort in 2005 by releasing three albums and this, the first one, a double album no less. However, just beacuse there's lots of it doesn't mean it's any good. If anything this is the least impressive of the trio being held down by too much of his trademark "Heartbreaker" style laments, which seem unconvincing after he revealed his mainstream ambitions in his previous two releases. However, tracks like the country rockin' "Let It Ride" (download) and the beautiful ballad "Mockingbird" (download) save it from mediocrity.

Ryan Adams - Jacksonville City Nights (2005) Jacksonville City Nights was the second album released in 2005 and consisted of some of Adams most straightforward country tunes. And this is a good thing, if you like true country music, and i do. So i highly enjoyed Jacksonville City Nights with its pedal steel and its honky tonk piano. There's also the interesting song "The End" (download) dedicated to his hometwon of Jacksonville. However "A Kiss Before I Go" (download) sticks in the memory as the one that deserves some heavy itunes rotation.

Ryan Adams - 29 (2005) Adams's third release of 2005 finds him at his most dreamiest and romantically indulgent. Many of the arrangements are stripped back to simple piano and guitar backed by non-intrusive percussion which gives the material an ethereal ambience. On tracks such as "Elizabeth, You Were Born To Play The Part" (download) he exhibits his soft side for all to see, and although it sometimes comes accross as syrupy sentimentality its equal with Jacksonville in my opinion.

I hope you find this enjoyable and enlightening because it took me a fuckload of time.

Till next time.