Today was a big day. It marked the release of yet another Ryan Adam’s album, “Easy Tiger” his 13th (by my count) since 1996 (if you count his first band Whiskeytown, which released three albums between 96 and 2001). Adams is now closing in on his mid-thirties (shocking considering the man was famously said he would die by 30 by the talented-but kinda-geeky band The Old 97’s around the turn of the millennium) and still pumping out nearly an album a year.
While Adams is most often categorized by the press as being too prolific, his fans are marked as those who can be seen proclaiming in a quiet bar they wish he’d release all his music while simultaneously telling strangers they are talking about “RYAN Adams, not, of course, Bryan Adams.” While releasing nine albums (including a double album and no live albums) since 2000 could certainly be considered overly prolific, I always find it strange that reviewers can never decide what songs and albums should have been scrapped and which are the mark of a true genius. I found it humorous that when “Cold Roses” (arguably my favorite album ever, yet second favorite Ryan Adams album. Yep, he’s that good) was released, songs some critics hated, others loved. It seems that the only thing critics can agree on is that he writes too much. Marking what he should not have written seems a much more difficult task for them to agree on.
My introduction to Ryan Adams came in the summer of 2001, while I was sleeping. Earlier in the week I had purchased three separate albums, the last of those I digested was Whiskeytown’s 1997 release, “Stranger’s Almanac.” I had come home from a morning shift working at the golf course at the Grand Traverse Resort and had crashed on a hot day in my room after going for a run on the VASA trail. Before falling asleep I put “Almanac” on my CD player. I woke up to the lines “Eisenhower said in the war/He kept her picture in his pocket that was closest to his heart/And when he hit shore/It must have been a target for the gunmen.” As a sophomore English major, I was astonished at the depth and creativity of the lines; I was even more surprised when I found out Adams was barely twenty years old during the recording of the album.
On September 25th, 2001, two weeks after 9/11 and only a few days before I left for study abroad in England, Adam’s “Gold” was released and immediately blew my mind. Everything I did in England (good and bad) was done as a reflection of how I interpreted that album. It was a play-hard and work-hard attitude (the mixture of Adam’s prolific nature and party-too-much lifestyle). As a 21-year-old, it was the kind of lifestyle I longed to experience. Since then, Adams seems to have grown up with me, his albums reflecting each new turning point in my life (one of my biggest pop culture regrets is that I didn’t purchase his first album, “Heartbreaker,” when it was released my sophomore year in college – I could have used it to get through some hard times). In 2005, Adams released three albums (two excellent ones and one okay album) just as I was starting my career, getting married and buying a house. His music has been the soundtrack for my twenties.
So, today comes “Easy Tiger,” Adam’s latest album and, it seems, another great album. I’ll do a more pronounced review sometime next week (I’ve only listened to it twice so far), but I thought everyone would like to see where my Ryan Adam’s greatest albums ranking looks as of today (“Easy Tiger” may be moving up or down in the next few weeks – we’ll have to wait and see). Here goes:
Gold (2001)
Cold Roses (2005)
Pneumonia (Whiskeytown, 2001)
Demolition (2003)
Heartbreaker (every music critic's favorite, 2000)
Jacksonville City Nights (2005)
Easy Tiger (2007)
Stranger’s Almanac (Whiskeytown, 1997)
48 Hours (bootleg, 2002ish)
Love is Hell, Vol.1 and 2 (EP’s, 2003)
Rock N Roll (2003)
Faithless Street (1996)
29 (2005)
Go get them all and let me know what you think. And if you think "29" is bad because its last, its not. It's just Adams' worse, which is a whole heck of a lot of a lot better than Bryan Adams' best.
-BP
While Adams is most often categorized by the press as being too prolific, his fans are marked as those who can be seen proclaiming in a quiet bar they wish he’d release all his music while simultaneously telling strangers they are talking about “RYAN Adams, not, of course, Bryan Adams.” While releasing nine albums (including a double album and no live albums) since 2000 could certainly be considered overly prolific, I always find it strange that reviewers can never decide what songs and albums should have been scrapped and which are the mark of a true genius. I found it humorous that when “Cold Roses” (arguably my favorite album ever, yet second favorite Ryan Adams album. Yep, he’s that good) was released, songs some critics hated, others loved. It seems that the only thing critics can agree on is that he writes too much. Marking what he should not have written seems a much more difficult task for them to agree on.
My introduction to Ryan Adams came in the summer of 2001, while I was sleeping. Earlier in the week I had purchased three separate albums, the last of those I digested was Whiskeytown’s 1997 release, “Stranger’s Almanac.” I had come home from a morning shift working at the golf course at the Grand Traverse Resort and had crashed on a hot day in my room after going for a run on the VASA trail. Before falling asleep I put “Almanac” on my CD player. I woke up to the lines “Eisenhower said in the war/He kept her picture in his pocket that was closest to his heart/And when he hit shore/It must have been a target for the gunmen.” As a sophomore English major, I was astonished at the depth and creativity of the lines; I was even more surprised when I found out Adams was barely twenty years old during the recording of the album.
On September 25th, 2001, two weeks after 9/11 and only a few days before I left for study abroad in England, Adam’s “Gold” was released and immediately blew my mind. Everything I did in England (good and bad) was done as a reflection of how I interpreted that album. It was a play-hard and work-hard attitude (the mixture of Adam’s prolific nature and party-too-much lifestyle). As a 21-year-old, it was the kind of lifestyle I longed to experience. Since then, Adams seems to have grown up with me, his albums reflecting each new turning point in my life (one of my biggest pop culture regrets is that I didn’t purchase his first album, “Heartbreaker,” when it was released my sophomore year in college – I could have used it to get through some hard times). In 2005, Adams released three albums (two excellent ones and one okay album) just as I was starting my career, getting married and buying a house. His music has been the soundtrack for my twenties.
So, today comes “Easy Tiger,” Adam’s latest album and, it seems, another great album. I’ll do a more pronounced review sometime next week (I’ve only listened to it twice so far), but I thought everyone would like to see where my Ryan Adam’s greatest albums ranking looks as of today (“Easy Tiger” may be moving up or down in the next few weeks – we’ll have to wait and see). Here goes:
Gold (2001)
Cold Roses (2005)
Pneumonia (Whiskeytown, 2001)
Demolition (2003)
Heartbreaker (every music critic's favorite, 2000)
Jacksonville City Nights (2005)
Easy Tiger (2007)
Stranger’s Almanac (Whiskeytown, 1997)
48 Hours (bootleg, 2002ish)
Love is Hell, Vol.1 and 2 (EP’s, 2003)
Rock N Roll (2003)
Faithless Street (1996)
29 (2005)
Go get them all and let me know what you think. And if you think "29" is bad because its last, its not. It's just Adams' worse, which is a whole heck of a lot of a lot better than Bryan Adams' best.
-BP
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