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Ryan Adans vs Jeff Tweedy contrasting record reviews


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"time to sit down and play some motherfucking songs"

 

Also, ryan adams has only 1 album I like.

 

For every good Ryan Adams songs there's 4 shitty ones lying in wait.

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on the one hand, such articles are expected, and comparing artists and musicians is nothing new.

 

on the other hand, i found it to be poorly written, lacking insight, and otherwise irrelevant.

 

like 'em or hate 'em, judge ryan adams and jeff tweedy/wilco on their own merits.

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i like ryans last 4 albums.

i find them amazing. when listening i think about he could be bitching about his dog or being less metaphorical about loosing his girly friends. you know it could be alot worse. evidence is amond pop country stations.

jeff and wilco are great. i love all of their stuff. wether it be straight a.m stuff or 15 minute noise radio edits.

both are good. both have their fans. and both have their haters.

 

this is from a guy who owns all of the supersilent records and is an avid avant o'rourke wanker.

thank you.

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Sky Blue Sky really seems to be a love it or hate it album from what I've read from the critics and from listeners. Personally, I love it. I was lukewarm about the second half of the album at first, but over the last few weeks, I've been playing it a lot and really growing to appreciate the album as a whole. It's not my favorite Wilco album, but I do think it's my favorite album of 2007, and I think it's miles better than Easy Tiger.

 

Ryan Adams and Jeff Tweedy are both incredible songwriters. What this article fails to acknowledge, though, is how different they are as songwriters. There's something very genuine about Tweedy's lyrics, especially in darker songs like "Ashes of American Flags" and "Sunken Treasure" (two of my favorites, for what it's worth). While none of us can know for sure, it seems like he wrote to try to deal with his problems rather than simply writing to show them off. As good as Ryan Adams can be, I do feel like he played up his problems in both his songs and his stage persona. After awhile, I just got tired of him. He's like that friend you love going to parties with, but after awhile you get sick of him passing out on your couch and puking in your bathroom. You feel bad ditching him, but you know he's not going to change until he's good and ready. Then he does sober up, but he's not fun anymore and not nearly as interesting as you always thought he was, so you still don't really want to hang out with him.

 

On Sky Blue Sky, I hear someone who's finally risen above a lot of things that have been holding him back. Things still aren't perfect, but they're better, and he's doing what he can to keep them that way. On Easy Tiger I don't hear anything like that at all. The album falls really flat to me. The music isn't bad, but it's static and in my opinion safe, and I'm really disappointed by the songwriting. I do agree with this article that a lot of the songs sound like they could be played on The OC, but I think that's far worse than mellowing out (or being played in a VW commercial).

 

I'm happy that Jeff Tweedy has gotten control of his problems, and I can't wait to hear what's next from him. Truth be told, I'm not at all convinced Ryan Adams won't go back to his old ways, and even if he does stay sober, another mediocre album might be all it takes for me to write him off for good, which would be a shame, because I really used to love him.

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Art criticism in all it's forms is horseshit. In my humble opinion, it's nothing but their less than humble opinion.

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I read that article in the magazine. While it is an interesting premise, the writer generally rehashes a number of comments I've read in about 50 or so reviews I've read of both albums. There's nothing new here, other than the comparison premise.

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why are they there besides a paycheck? No lit, art, or music review ever told me anything that accurately described my own interpretation of said art.

 

Hi Ben! :wave

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why are they there besides a paycheck? No lit, art, or music review ever told me anything that accurately described my own interpretation of said art.

 

Hi Ben! :wave

Hi Tracy. :)

 

I guess critics exist to spark debate and/or provide a baseline for discussion through informed exposition on art (in whatever form). I'm sure the esteemed Beltmann can give a much more eloquent job description for the lowly critic. If my description is correct, I guess this guy's not doing too badly, depending on how informed you believe his opinion to be.

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^ I agree. As much as I'm enjoying the album, I think I'd get bored with the band if they continued with this lighter sound. I really liked some of the new songs live, but they worked well early in the set, when it was still light out. After the sun went down, I would've been disappointed by a lot of mellow songs.

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Art criticism in all it's forms is horseshit. In my humble opinion, it's nothing but their less than humble opinion.

Ideally, it should be a form of consumer protectionism, but it's such a subjective thing. From a reader's standpoint, it's hard to know who is and who is not full of shit.

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