Your 5 Ryan Adams albums

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Interpolantics, Apr 13, 2018.

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  1. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    After tearing my hair out, I managed to trim down to a 62 track playlist from 164 songs to choose from. And I can trim two if I force myself to.

    Made the cut:
    Heartbreaker 7 tracks
    Gold 9
    Demolition 7
    Rock n Roll 6 (I could cut one)
    Love Is Hell 5 (I could cut Wonderwall as it's a cover, but it's so beautifully done; or This House is Not For Sale)
    Cold Roses 8
    Jacksonville 5
    29 -- 3
    Easy Tiger 8
    Follow the Lights EP 2 (could cut Dear John)
    Ashes & Fire 1
    Willow Lane single 1
     
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  2. chervokas

    chervokas Senior Member

    Maybe I'm a little harsh when it comes to Love Is Hell, there's probably a good album lurking in there; some fine songs with plenty of tunefulness like "I See Monsters" and "Please Do Not Let Me Go," and there are some very Smiths-y moments, like "Anybody Wanna to Take Me Home." But there's something that's always ground me down about the record/records.
     
  3. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    Anybody Wanna Take Me Home is on Rock n Roll, too.

    Yeah, I love I See Monsters. Excellent song.
     
  4. chervokas

    chervokas Senior Member

    It's on both albums, I think they're different performances, vocal and production is better on Rock n Roll, but IIRC there are more layered Johnny Marrish guitar parts on Love Is Hell....

    This thread is gonna get me to go back through the whole Adams oeuvre. The problem for me with Adams is that he had pretty much no filter all those years making albums, he hit a lot of the same lyrical themes and musical elements over and over, and he had the production discipline of a total burnout, so at a certain point following his career and work became exhausting, like caring for a busload of gifted kids with severe ADHD.....

    And then there were all these great songs but often on indifferently made records -- which I think was my impression of Love Is Hell...it probably has more classic Adams tunes on it than a lot of his records -- This House Is Not for Sale and Anybody Wanna Take Me Home and Please Do Not Let Me Go and I See Monsters and English Girls Approximately and even Hotel Chelsea Nights...but it's not as easy to listen to as a lot of the other records that perhaps don't have as much top notch material on them, like Jacksonville City Nights or Cardinology.

    One of my fave Adams records is Demolition, and yeah, I've heard some of the unreleased records, but Demolition is so great because its just kind of the best material from the period and it has a range of different moods on it. He doesn't have a lot of albums like that. They're more just like albums that were vomited out, at least through the break up with The Cardinals. Cold Roses I think works so well because it captures all these different moods and modes of Adams on one album too, like Demolition did, even if it was by accident in that case.
     
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  5. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    I think Demolition is right up there with Gold. I had no idea it wasn't put together as a cohesive album (or intended to be all part of a single album). It doesn't sound disjointed or a hodgepodge to me. It's got a great flow.
     
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  6. neilpatto

    neilpatto Forum Resident

    Location:
    Leeds, UK
    Yes, there was another injury in the first Cardinals era which led him to cancel dates in Europe. And a further injury around Easy Tiger which led to DRA performing Blue Cave style (low key semi acoustic shows on stools), with Neal Casal handling all guitar duties.
     
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  7. autumn daze

    autumn daze I really don't belong here

    Location:
    Milton Keynes, UK
    Those first Cardinals era shows were outstanding. Just beautiful stuff. I cannot for the life of me remember her name, but I think there was a female bass player that was perfect for the job.

    I've been highly critical of Neal Casal on here in the past, and maybe it's undeserved given the accusations I was throwing at him re bringing Ryan into MOR were very likely just Ryan bringing himself there. However, I really did not like the Casal era Cardinals. The change from one year to the next was so evident and it all coincided with Adams getting clean, which makes me feel even worse for not liking it!

    After Ryan's injury, meaning Casal played the guitar for him, they performed at Koko in London and it was by far the worst gig I ever went to, of Ryan's or anybody. They performed 'How Do You Keep Love Alive?' that night, a song that just oozes emotion on Cold Roses, but was played live that night with as much emotion one usually reserved for reading the phone book aloud. The gig was 55 minutes long, no encore and stale from start to end.

    That and Easy Tiger were the beginning of the end for me and I've never fallen back in love with his stuff since. I'll always have the 97-2006 Ryan memories however. Nobody can ever take those away from me. Seeing Ryan in Paris on the Gold tour, playing to around 100 people, standing 3 feet in front of me playing Call Me on Your Way Back Home... transcendent. They guy was a genius. He seems happy and healthy now and I'm really pleased for him. But seriously, dude, release some of the dozens of unreleased amazing sessions you have already!
     
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  8. neilpatto

    neilpatto Forum Resident

    Location:
    Leeds, UK
    Cat Popper was that bass player.

    I understand your perspective on the arc of Ryan's career and to a degree I agree. But I will say that I've seen Ryan nearly 30 times going back to Whiskeytown and some of my favourite shows were Casal-era Cardinals. And I really enjoyed the Manchester Blue Cave show from the same tour as your Koko tour! Just goes to show, there's enough different Ryans to go round.
    I certainly agree that he should free the archives!!
    NP
     
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  9. Did my best 5 before.My worst 5 working from the bottom up-Rock n' Roll,Cardinals3/4,Orion,-big jump up-Demolition,Cardinology.
     
  10. windfall

    windfall Senior Member

    Location:
    UK
    Jeez, Neil, didn't realise you were THAT much of a fan! I saw him with Whiskeytown once at the Borderline in London. Cool gig, he really had a great thing going musically with Caitlin Cary. Have great memories of a Cardinals show (with Casal) in Southampton, and then saw him in London twice doing that solo acoustic tour that yielded the Live after Deaf box. Stunning. And Jason Isbell opening. Since Ashes and Fire, I cannot recall hearing a song by Ryan that I would make an active choice to listen to more than once, sadly. The muse has departed, at least for now. All IMHO, YMMV etc.
     
  11. neilpatto

    neilpatto Forum Resident

    Location:
    Leeds, UK
    Stevie, I can be a bit obsessive! Also I'm well placed to travel to gigs in Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, York, Sheffield, Liverpool, Nottingham, so plenty of opportunities to see Ryan since that Whiskeytown tour (Manchester for me). Throw in cheap flights to Dublin and that adds up to a stack of Ryan gigs over the years. Of course, like you I've seen Chuck Prophet more than that, and he's a lot more dependable than Ryan!!
    Hope all goes well with you, NP
     
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  12. windfall

    windfall Senior Member

    Location:
    UK
    Ha, well I can relate! I envy your geographical position. Some superb venues in all those cities. And, yes, CP has never let me down so far...
     
  13. WorldB3

    WorldB3 Forum Resident

    Location:
    On the continent.
    Whoa, everything about that sounds amazing.
     
  14. Instant Karma

    Instant Karma Forum Resident

    Location:
    Florida
    I really love Gold. Could be a desert island disc for me. Every other title I listened to was kind of a let down compared to Gold until I heard Cold Roses. Really like that title as well, but not quite as much as Gold. I believe I have listened to Rock n Roll, Demolition, Heartbreaker and Easy Tiger. I also have the Gold 5.1 Surround Sound DVD A disc which is fantastic. Can definitely recommend it.
     
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  15. autumn daze

    autumn daze I really don't belong here

    Location:
    Milton Keynes, UK
    It really was. The place was pretty much half empty and it was small to begin with. I was at the front standing directly in front of Ryan and there was no security or barrier so you stood where the stage ended. So the only distance between us was his monitor and mic stand really. The stage was tiny, he and the band were talking to the crowd all night, in separate conversations, and the band were joking about the whole night (from memory it was the Sweetheart Revolution backing him up).

    I hadn't slept the night before so was a little weary towards the end but seem to recall the show being about 2.5 hours long if not longer. Songs descended into jams throughout the evening and they added in covers at random times. It really felt like seeing a bunch of friends just having fun rather than watching a professional music act - and I mean that in the best way possible. His first encore was solo acoustic before a second encore with the band.

    I also remember this stunning French woman standing next to me asking Ryan if she could sing the harmonies on Oh My Sweet Carolina and he was thinking about it but when it came time to play the song he didn't ask her up. Shame, that would have been a nice touch.

    Feb 15 2002, Le Trabendo, Paris.

     
  16. BryanA-HTX

    BryanA-HTX Crazy Doctor

    Location:
    Houston, TX
    The one with "Summer of '69"
     
  17. Interpolantics

    Interpolantics Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Ireland
    That's original
     
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  18. wallpaperman

    wallpaperman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Edinburgh
    Indeed, pure comedy gold. Never before seen on a Ryan Adams thread....
     
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  19. BryanA-HTX

    BryanA-HTX Crazy Doctor

    Location:
    Houston, TX
    He did cover Summer of '69 ;)



    Ok ok I've never heard of Ryan Adams before seeing this thread but those arcade machines in the back make him pretty legit in my book, if it's part of his set.
     
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  20. wallpaperman

    wallpaperman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Edinburgh
    Yip, more or less everyone who any interest in Ryan is aware of that, he's covered 'Run to You' as well on the odd occasion.

    Do yourself a favour, dive into Ryan's deep catalogue of different musical styles, get yourself away from the rock dinosaurs that you seem to like. :sigh:
     
  21. Exile On My Street

    Exile On My Street Senior Member

    Location:
    Long Island, NY
    This is how it stands right now:

    1. Heartbreaker
    2. Gold
    3. Cold Roses
    4. Love is Hell
    5. Jacksonville City Nights

    6. Ryan Adams (S/T 2014)
    7. Easy Tiger
    8. Ashes & Fire
    9. Prisoner
    10. Demolition (tie)
    10. Rock n Roll (tie)

    11. 29
    12. Cardinology
    13. III/IV
    14. Orion
     
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  22. Interpolantics

    Interpolantics Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Ireland
    29 is far better than the poll suggests
     
  23. stefane

    stefane Forum Resident

    01) Heartbreaker
    02) Gold
    03) Love Is Hell
    04) Cold Roses
    05) Easy Tiger

    "Heartbreaker" and "Gold" tower above all other records by quite a margin.
    In recent years, I somewhat lost interest in Ryan Adams' work. "Cardinology", which was released in 2008, was the last of his albums that I bought.
     
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  24. Interpolantics

    Interpolantics Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Ireland
    Interesting to see Ryan Adams was posed the same question on twitter the other day. He picked the following 4 albums as his favourites:

    Prisoner
    Ryan Adams
    Love Is Hell
    Cold Roses

    Ryan Adams on Twitter
     
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  25. Interpolantics

    Interpolantics Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Ireland
    Does anyone know why Whiskeytowns "Faithless Street" isn't on Spotify?
     
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