Gold - Ryan Adams > Reviews > Adams strikes songwriting gold

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Talented songwriter with skills and a great voice
Disadvantages:	Bit long?

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

This is one of those albums that twines itself around your life until you can't separate events from music. At least, it was that way for me because I couldn't stop listening to it for a month. The sweet melodies drove me into a state of melancholy which was kind of addictive. When somebody writes so much from his heart, your own can't help but resonate with it.

Ok, lets get some actual information out there. Ryan Adams is an alt-country bad boy from North Carolina. Or at least he used to be. Now he really can't make up his mind what he is. His music vears from the sparse folkiness of 'Heartbreaker', to the distorted guitars of 'Rock n Roll', back into the dark country of 'Cold Roses'. This tends to frustrate fans who fall in love with just one of his sounds. Personally, I think its great that he's still experimenting. 'Gold' happens to be my favourite of all his albums.

Adams describes it as him trying to recreate an oldies station in his own work. I think he downplays the work and originality
evident in this album, but it definitely has that classic rock feel, as it bounces through the shimmery 'New York, New York' and the Stones-y 'Gonna make you love me'. 'Firecracker' boasts a mean harmonica, while 'Tina Toledo' goes all bluesy on you. There are also the haunting ballads that Adams' breaking falsetto seems built for, such as 'When the stars go blue'. Mixing in gospel and country flavours, this album is a work of thought and breadth that you rarely see in pop. And no one can do 'follow-me-into-depression' music better than Ryan. The ultimate song for that is 'La Cienega just smiled'. So simple, achingly beautiful. 'How could I know I'd feel so bad for such a little girl'... Pretty much how I felt on discovering this album. You don't have to be into your rock'n'roll history to enjoy it, just susceptible to some youthful energy, nice hooks and a voice which will reach through your chest into your heart.