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Ryan Adans vs Jeff Tweedy contrasting record reviews


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really, what do people see in Ryan Adams? how much trite semi-country wannabe crap can you listen to by this asshole before you realize he's just some kid who got lucky with a record deal and has been playing rock star all this time? hey, look at him pretend to be Neil Young, now he's playing Springsteen, then he has Dylan mask on...sheesh, I can't understand what possible interest there is in his sound...

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really, what do people see in Ryan Adams? how much trite semi-country wannabe crap can you listen to by this asshole before you realize he's just some kid who got lucky with a record deal and has been playing rock star all this time? hey, look at him pretend to be Neil Young, now he's playing Springsteen, then he has Dylan mask on...sheesh, I can't understand what possible interest there is in his sound...

 

Burn.

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really, what do people see in Ryan Adams? how much trite semi-country wannabe crap can you listen to by this asshole before you realize he's just some kid who got lucky with a record deal and has been playing rock star all this time? hey, look at him pretend to be Neil Young, now he's playing Springsteen, then he has Dylan mask on...sheesh, I can't understand what possible interest there is in his sound...

I like Heartbreaker a lot. I mean c'mon...Gillian Welch, Emmylou Harris, David Rawlings. I don't mind if he channels Dylan. I'd be hard-strapped to impersonate Neil Young, Springsteen, or Dylan. If Ryan Adams wants to give it a go and manages to turn out some rather sweet songs along the way, more power to him. I can't speak so highly of anything he's done since Demolition though...none of the last few albums/Cardinals stuff has caught on with me.

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really, what do people see in Ryan Adams?

A hell of a good songwriter and great singer with a bit of a self-editing problem.

 

how much trite semi-country wannabe crap can you listen to by this asshole before you realize he's just some kid who got lucky with a record deal and has been playing rock star all this time?

Opinions are like assholes...

 

hey, look at him pretend to be Neil Young, now he's playing Springsteen, then he has Dylan mask on...sheesh, I can't understand what possible interest there is in his sound...

Fine, then don't listen to his records.

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A hell of a good songwriter and great singer with a bit of a self-editing problem.

Opinions are like assholes...

Fine, then don't listen to his records.

 

I'm with Cryptique - like Neil Young, Ryan Adams puts out a tonne of stuff so sometimes you have to work to separate the wheat from the chaff.

 

That said, I don't think it's possible to listen to something like Heartbreaker and not see the talent there. Everyone one of his albums has some redeeming qualities even if, as a whole, they're indulgent. Either way, his music always heartfelt and honest. Sometimes its musically a bit tooo country or mopey for me but when he is on he is on.

 

I don't expect everyone to like the guy but I'd think someone who has dug deep enough to find Wilco would appreciate Adam's authenticity and heart.

 

Oh, and I'm a Springsteen fan and I don't hear very much of him in Adam's music at all. Not that much Dylan either. I'm sure little bits and pieces and that are in there but so are bits of Hank Williams and The Clash so....chacun son gout.

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That's exactly how I see SBS and Wilco as a whole. In 20 years they will get their due and be remembered as a truly great and influential band.]

 

 

what exactly is their due? They have a grammy, a gold record (or two?) and critical acclaim. Do we need statues chipped in every town square in America?

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I'm with Cryptique - like Neil Young, Ryan Adams puts out a tonne of stuff so sometimes you have to work to separate the wheat from the chaff.

 

Comparing neil young to ryan adams in this way is specious. They both have high outputs, but NY's duds are forgiven in the spirit of their experimentation and the solid catalogue of proven quality. Adams has released 1 good solo album, several lesser duplicate versions of that album and was in the poor man's jayhawks. Maybe he has it in him to be good on a more consistant basis but he has not shown it yet. Their output amount really has nothing to do with anything.

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Adams has released 1 good solo album, several lesser duplicate versions of that album

Around here, I would imagine that opinion places you in a rather small minority.

 

and was in the poor man's jayhawks.

I'll take Whiskeytown over the Jayhawks any day, though I love both bands.

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If you are talking about the "Kiss Destroyer" boots, I read somewhere he got them from Sir Elton.

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I think I am going to start a thread about it on the Ryan board.

 

While you are overthere, some dude was looking for the tab to Fool's Gold, its Capo 3, Am, G, F (verse) Am C G F, C G F (chorus).

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I'll take Whiskeytown over the Jayhawks any day, though I love both bands.

 

 

true that

I would also say that is very apt to compare ryan to neil young. I dont think ryan isquite on the same level as Neil, but both have simmilar musical output, ranging from the softer country tinged albums (harvest, heartbreaker) to the more rock influenced albums ( Everyone KNows this is nowhere, cold roses). They both even have backing bands that make them much much better.

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Comparing neil young to ryan adams in this way is specious. They both have high outputs, but NY's duds are forgiven in the spirit of their experimentation and the solid catalogue of proven quality. Adams has released 1 good solo album, several lesser duplicate versions of that album and was in the poor man's jayhawks. Maybe he has it in him to be good on a more consistant basis but he has not shown it yet. Their output amount really has nothing to do with anything.

 

Opinion, of course, is subjective but I think it's very specious (if you will) to suggest that Adams' other albums are duplicates of Heartbreaker. If anything (like Neil Young, as I said) Adams has a habit of putting out albums that veer all over the stylistic map. We can call forgive something like "Trans" in its spirit of experimentation but I doubt any of us are going to slip in the CD player on the way home from work today. You can't "forgive" young for it just because he also did "Tonight's the Night" (or "Harvest" or "Ragged Glory" or whatever your personal version of Vintage Neil is).

 

As for Adams and the idea that he duplicates himself, here is my summary of his discography:

1) Heartbreaker - singer/songwriter countryish rock

2) Gold - pop/rock in the Tom Petty vein

3) Demolition - a little of both

4) Love is Hell - dark, alt-country, sorta

5) Rock n Roll - alt rock and a bunch of other things with no country influence at all

6) Cold Roses - Grateful Deadish country rock with some guitar noodling

7) Jacksonville City Nights - Nearly a pure country record

8) 29 - Long, mainly piano ballads

9) Easy Tiger - back in the alt rock vein...kinda #2 + #7

 

Did I miss one? I like some of these albums more than others but no two are the same. That much is indisputable. (There's also at least 5 other albums of outtakes etc. floating about which fill in a lot of the stylistic gaps and transitions.)

 

And I have nothing against the Jayhawks but Ryan Adams, whatever his faults, is not a poor man's anything. And just when the "bad boy of alt country" thing was getting way tired he cleaned up. He doesn't have to be to everyone's taste and - no, he ain't in Neil Young's league quite yet - but he's still the real deal.

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