Ryan Adams - Ryan Adams
Ryan Adams
Ryan Adams
Tiger Rating: 8.5 / 10
Americana / Alt-Country / Singer,Songwriter
My first introduction to Ryan Adams was in 2003 with 'Rock N Roll'. At the time 'So Alive' was dominating Alternative Nation on MTV (my primary source of discovery for indie rock at the time) and the album got heavy airplay from a 17 year old me. I knew him to be a gritty, grungy, punked out, roughed-up version of Billie Joe Armstrong. Without the 90s exposure and bubblegum blue hair.
So it was rather a shock when I delved into his back catalogue to discover a shameless young country singer winking back at me. His cover of Oasis' 'Wonderwall' was as indie as he got (one of the best recorded covers of any song ever).
2011's "Ashes and Fire" was the perfect album for me to bridge my two experiences of Ryan Adams - the gritty rock star and the patched jeans alt-country pioneer. Of course having been exposed to more Americana 60s, 70s and 80s artists myself in the intervening time helped me better get to grips with Adams and his inspirations. Author Austin Kleons asserts that "every artist steals" and that inspiration is, in itself, a form of theft. You're absorbing something that rings true for you and expelling it, filtered through yourself - your experiences, aesthetics and preferences. That is what Ryan Adam's self titled fourteenth studio album is to me.
Having been in the game for so long, having had so many outputs and having followed whatever path his muse lead him down, Ryan now sounds like an expert. You can hear it. 'Ryan Adams' is no picnic. The few upbeat tracks ('Feels Like A Fire' sounds like ''Rock N Roll" Adams) are underpinned by a wealth of blues laden, songs of lament. But if Adams has become a legend of the music scene, he has also scored life points. Rather than let his setbacks, disappointments and regrets overwhelm him, as is a poet's wont, Adams is taking all of that and effortlessly channeling it and moulding it into something reminiscent of Dylan and Springsteen, and yet entirely his own sound. His blues are not despairing and yet they're real and heavy. On the smoky, woozy opener 'Gimme Something Good', Adams laments his poor physical state over a chugging bluesy guitar and keyboard. 25 bars later and the track stretches upwards and morphs into a countrified celebration for four bars without breaking stride. That method is replicated to an extent on 'Stay With Me', this time with the addition of 80s synths, giving it a near Duran Duran feel. Without the cheese. The lightest moment on the record comes in the form of penultimate track 'Tired Of Giving Up'. Tinkling keys join with Ryan's trademark jangly guitar while Ryan sings about how he's "tired of giving up so easy / tired of giving up at all". It's an ironically lighthearted track of simple determination and delighting in new found perseverance.
This mix of despair and determination, blues and country, light and dark is the consistent theme here and I know of few artists who could do it in as fresh and exciting a way as Adams. His arsenal of guitar effects - both electric and crystalline acoustic - transform the album into something truly unique and beautiful. His songwriting has simplified and he communicates ideas now with little difficulty or convolution. "Ryan Adams" is a well titled album. It reveals the essence of an artist dedicated no longer to letting his inspirations define who he is, but taking charge of his muses and making them work for him.
WVS
So it was rather a shock when I delved into his back catalogue to discover a shameless young country singer winking back at me. His cover of Oasis' 'Wonderwall' was as indie as he got (one of the best recorded covers of any song ever).
2011's "Ashes and Fire" was the perfect album for me to bridge my two experiences of Ryan Adams - the gritty rock star and the patched jeans alt-country pioneer. Of course having been exposed to more Americana 60s, 70s and 80s artists myself in the intervening time helped me better get to grips with Adams and his inspirations. Author Austin Kleons asserts that "every artist steals" and that inspiration is, in itself, a form of theft. You're absorbing something that rings true for you and expelling it, filtered through yourself - your experiences, aesthetics and preferences. That is what Ryan Adam's self titled fourteenth studio album is to me.
Having been in the game for so long, having had so many outputs and having followed whatever path his muse lead him down, Ryan now sounds like an expert. You can hear it. 'Ryan Adams' is no picnic. The few upbeat tracks ('Feels Like A Fire' sounds like ''Rock N Roll" Adams) are underpinned by a wealth of blues laden, songs of lament. But if Adams has become a legend of the music scene, he has also scored life points. Rather than let his setbacks, disappointments and regrets overwhelm him, as is a poet's wont, Adams is taking all of that and effortlessly channeling it and moulding it into something reminiscent of Dylan and Springsteen, and yet entirely his own sound. His blues are not despairing and yet they're real and heavy. On the smoky, woozy opener 'Gimme Something Good', Adams laments his poor physical state over a chugging bluesy guitar and keyboard. 25 bars later and the track stretches upwards and morphs into a countrified celebration for four bars without breaking stride. That method is replicated to an extent on 'Stay With Me', this time with the addition of 80s synths, giving it a near Duran Duran feel. Without the cheese. The lightest moment on the record comes in the form of penultimate track 'Tired Of Giving Up'. Tinkling keys join with Ryan's trademark jangly guitar while Ryan sings about how he's "tired of giving up so easy / tired of giving up at all". It's an ironically lighthearted track of simple determination and delighting in new found perseverance.
This mix of despair and determination, blues and country, light and dark is the consistent theme here and I know of few artists who could do it in as fresh and exciting a way as Adams. His arsenal of guitar effects - both electric and crystalline acoustic - transform the album into something truly unique and beautiful. His songwriting has simplified and he communicates ideas now with little difficulty or convolution. "Ryan Adams" is a well titled album. It reveals the essence of an artist dedicated no longer to letting his inspirations define who he is, but taking charge of his muses and making them work for him.
WVS
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