Heartbreaker (Lost Highway ’00) Rating: A-
Formerly the leader of the acclaimed "alternative country rock" band Whiskeytown, Ryan Adams recorded his first solo album, Heartbreaker, in a mere 14 days, with significant contributions from Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, and producer Ethan Johns. Heartbreaker is aptly titled, for it's a sad, lonesome album about love lost, with lyrics like "is God playing evil tricks on me?" and "oh, I just want to die without you" being typical of his depressing down-and-out lamentations. However, though the album's downcast themes makes it an album that I need to be in the mood for, there's no denying the appeal of his stripped down yet emotionally and melodically rich music. Simply put, this album has some great songs, beginning with "To Be Young," which has the ragged quality of Dylan circa Bringing It All Back Home/Highway 61 Revisited, while "My Winding Wheel" is even harder to shake (love the atmospheric Hammond organ that appears here and elsewhere), and "Oh My Sweet Carolina," a love letter to his home state, is a duet with Emmylou Harris that would've made her long-lost duet partner Gram Parsons proud. The more lushly fleshed out "Amy" is also impressive, as are "Call Me On Your Way Back Home" and "Come Pick Me Up" (which features Kim Richey on backing vocals and this memorable lyric: "come pick me up, come take me out, fuck me up, steal my records, screw all my friends, they're all full of shit, the smile on your face, and then do it again"), both of which again strongly recall Dylan; when he breaks out the harmonica damn it if it doesn't nearly give me goosebumps. "Why Do They Leave?," which improbably brings Jeff Buckley and Bob Dylan to mind, is another highlight-able number, as is "In My Time Of Need," one of the most intimate tracks on this most intimate of albums. At 15 songs (really 14, as song 1 is just a needless intro) there are a few too many of them, especially since many of these mostly mid-tempo folk ballads share a similarly dreary mood; the average Stonesy rocker "Shakedown On 9th Street" sticks out like a sore thumb and would make my choice for the cutting room floor along with "Damn, Sam (I Love A Woman That Rains)" and "To Be The One." Overall, Heartbreaker is a very good if obviously flawed first solo effort that has a focus of purpose and a poignant sincerity that Adams has since had trouble matching.
Gold (Lost Highway ’01) Rating: A-
Released a mere year after Heartbreaker (in fact, by the time you finish reading this review the prolific Adams' has probably penned another song), Gold starts off strong with "New York, New York," a brisk love letter to that great city that should be required listening post-September 11th (it always lifts my spirits, anyway). Next, "Firecracker" is another upbeat, catchy song with a distinct Dylan-esque flavor, while "Answering Bell" is a simple but highly effective pop ballad on which the pedal steel guitar colors the background rather than leads the way (that Hammond organ sure hits the spot as well), demonstrating how this diverse solo set differs from his more country rooted former band (for the record, I prefer both of Adams first two solo albums to any of his Whiskeytown albums). In addition to the aforementioned songs, the album's strongest songs are ballads such as "The Rescue Blues," a gutsy. riff-based blues ballad with gospel backing (I'd love to hear The Black Crowes cover it), "Somehow, Someday," a melodic, catchy soft rocker with movingly devotional lyrics, "When The Stars Go Blue," an utterly lovely, questioning ballad that's become perhaps his most famous song, and "Harder Now That It's Over," a memorably sad and poignant breakup ballad. However, during the album's ambitious 70 minute duration it becomes obvious that this could've been a killer 50 minute album with but a bit of judicious editing. Not that there's a lot of filler - there isn't - but there are several merely solid songs, particularly on the album's second half, and cutting some of them would've improved the overall product. Also, though I like the majority of the extended guitar epic "Nobody Girl," it certainly didn't need to be nearly 10 minutes long! Then again, quality control has always been Adams' biggest problem (along with record company interference), but this was still a striking second album from this talented tunesmith. It may lack the emotional resonance of Heartbreaker, but it has far more variety, plus Adams' pens some of the best melodies of his career so it's a worthwhile tradeoff. True, Adams' songs sometimes fail to rise above their at times all too obvious influences; Gold can be seen as Ryan's homage to some of his favorite '70s classic rock heroes, including Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Neil Young, and Elton John. But Adams is an affecting singer who is adept at a great many styles, both from a songwriting and performance standpoint; witness the wistful literary ballad "Sylvia Plath," the guitar heavy rocker "Enemy Fire," the catchy Bo Diddley beat driven "Gonna Make You Love Me," and the soulful gospel-ish "Touch, Feel, & Lose," for examples. Also, the album's sound is fittingly commercial without being overly slick, making Gold a fine "classic rock" record for modern times.