Magnolia Mountain February 25, 2009

I got into Ryan Adams in 2006, and started going after his back catalog like it was nobody’s business.  I was nuts about “Gold” and “Demolition”, found pleasure in listening to “Rock n Roll”, and connected with “Love Is Hell” more than I should have.  When I finally hit “Cold Roses”, I didn’t know what to think.  I could tell by the artwork that this album was just going to be…  you know… different… 

So when I put in that first disc and heard this start up, I really didn’t know what to think.  After the first listen, I could get into “Beautiful Sorta” and a few other obvious ones, but it wasn’t until a few more spins that I realized how great of a song “Magnolia Mountain” is.  What I like about the album is the fact that it’s set in its own little world.  There’s Magnolia Mountain, the Easy Plateau, Cherry Lane, Meadowlake Street…  I’m not sure if all of the geographical titles were intentional or not, but I’m a big fan of them. 

What I really like about this song is the way they manged to really capture the soft/loud dynamics without sounding like Nirvana or something.  Really, this is probably the most live-sounding recording the band has.  Sure, they tried to achieve it on Cardinology, but there’s a certain freedom I hear on “Magnolia Mountain” that hasn’t been matched by any other studio recording I’ve ever heard.

My Winding Wheel February 22, 2009

I’ve expressed in several other posts on here that I never really saw Heartbreaker as the amazing album that a lot of other fans do.  I feel like it has some good songs and a few that are absolutely amazing, such as “Oh My Sweet Carolina” and today’s song: “My Winding Wheel.”  It’s a pretty simple folk song, all built around a loose guitar rhythm and lyrics about lovving someone who has other men on her mind.  What’s interesting about it is the fact that this song isn’t sad, though.  Rather than sitting around, feeling sorry that he isn’t up to her standards, the narrator is defiant and challenges her to go out and try to find someone better.

The chorus is one of his best.  “Buy a pretty dress/Wear it out tonight/For anyone you think could outdo me/Oh, better still/Be my winding wheel” truly says it all.  But, to be honest with you, I don’t know what a “winding wheel” could be.  I mean, I guess every wheel winds…  I just don’t really understand the words in the line.  I completely get what he’s saying, but the term just doesn’t really click with me.  I feel like this song is the highlight of his folkier material, and I’m surprised it isn’t a regular in his setlists.

Dear Chicago February 11, 2009

I’d put this one in my top three Ryan Adams songs.  I love the heavy reverb on the guitar and vocals, the way he hammers-on the third fret of the high E string during the “I’m sorry about the every kiss” part…  I just feel this recording perfectly captured the moment.  Everything about it is so open and empty, it’s stirring to hear it.  Just the way he sounds weak when he’s admitting all of these things to someone who has left him is enough to move you.  And you get the impression that she either:

A) Isn’t listening
or
B) Isn’t there at all

He tries to make it sound like he’s moving on, seeing other girls, etc.  But eventually just gives in and admits to her that he’s been thinking about suicide and how desperate he really is.  Of course, at the end he goes back to being defensive by saying “I think I’m falling out of love with you.”  Whether or not he really means it is up for debate, though. 

Such a brilliant, haunting song…

My Love For You Is Real February 10, 2009

I really enjoyed Follow The Lights more than most people, I think.  The two truly new songs gave us a peek at a very different Ryan Adams and the Cardinals than we had seen on Easy Tiger.  While that album had a lot of pretty intense moments, this material presented a band who were writing songs that were much more relaxed and peaceful sounding.  I feel like these are the first songs that could be listed as “The Cardinals”, due to the fact that they play a much bigger role in it than previously.  Especially in “My Love For You Is Real”, where the backing vocals weave in and out, working well with the CSNY-esque music.

While “Follow The Lights” can be praised for carrying a great message and being charmingly simple, “My Love For You Is Real” is almost the opposite.  My favorite part is when the reverb-laden, distorted electric guitar chords get thrown in the middle of the mix near the end.  I don’t know that they’ve done this song live, but I feel like it carries the potential for some nice jamz… (with a z!)

Two Hearts February 7, 2009

A lot of people felt like Easy Tiger was too safe of an album, especially considering the fact that it was coming from an artist who was known for being prolific (not that he would admit to it) and bold with his stylistic choices.  He had been an alt-country pioneer…  A rough ‘n’ ready garage rocker…  A brooding hipster…  And with the release of the album, it seemed like he was just putting out what people were expecting from him.  While I think there are some incredibly strong songs on the album, I can definitely see what people might not like about it.  There’s only one song on the album that never did anything for me, and it was “Two Hearts.” 

I don’t think it’s a bad song at all, it just never stood out compared to the rest of the work.  There’s an abundance of emotion in “The Sun Also Sets” and “I Taught Myself How To Grow Old”, lovely folksy charm in ‘These Girls” and “Pearls On A String”, and some new ground being covered with “Rip Off.”  Still, there’s nothing that’s impressing about “Two Hearts.”  It’s a good vocal performance, with my highlight being when he wails “just three wo-o-o-ords.”  Still, that isn’t enough to keep it from being my least favorite track on the album.

Oh My Sweet Carolina February 5, 2009

This was one of the first Ryan Adams songs I liked, and I’m really happy to see that he’s been playing it live again.  Maybe I’ll get to hear it when I go down to Nashville and catch him on March 15.  It’s so different from his other songs, though.  It’s not a bad difference, though.  While some may argue that it sounds like he’s holding himself back, that’s definitely not the case.  This is one of those songs that needs to be simple to get its message across, and that’s exactly what he did with it. 

Really, the backing vocals courtesy of Emmylou Harris are better than any big budget choir, and that simple guitar part says more than any experienced orchestra could.  There are some great live performances featuring harmonica that really add to the song, but it was unfortunately left off of the recording.  I’m a big fan of when he busts out the harp, mostly because it’s like the poor man’s woodwind section.  It can really add a lot of emotion to a song when used properly, and it really takes this song to the next level. 

This song is so lonely and remorseful, looking back at how he runs away from everything.  He misses his home, but feels like he can’t go back on his own.  The final verse is the saddest, where he sings about missing his family, and saying “Up here in the city, it feels like things are closing in/The sunset’s just my lightbulb burning out.”  Damn…

Sweet Black Magic February 4, 2009

God, I love it when Ryan Adams gets folky.  This is right up there with “Pearls On A String” for my favorite folk/bluegrass style song of his.  I think one of the reasons I like this one so much is because it breaks one of the major rules of bluegrass.  While a lot of songs refer to simpler times in the Southeastern/Midwestern rural U.S., he goes ahead and modernizes it with references to Los Angeles and drugs…  Not exactly “Keep On The Sunny Side”…

There are bouncy banjos, warm acoustic guitars deep in the background, and some backup singers who make this song sound like it could have been recorded during the Great Depression.  (You know, if they don’t pay any attention to the lyrics)  This is one of the few songs on the bonus disc that I feel wouldn’t have fit on Gold that well, but I’m definitely glad they included it.  It’s a fun listen and a really good song to drive to, as I discovered recently.

You Will Always Be The Same January 31, 2009

It seems like sometimes the quieter songs are the ones that have the greatest impact on the listener.  Songs like “You Will Always Be The Same” will always mean more to me than a song by a band like Radiohead who try to fit a jillion different sounds in one song.  Is it because the focus is on the songwriting and leaves the artist much more vulnerable and honest?  I think that’s a big part of it…  But it’s also like my love for short songs, it says everything that needs to be said without anything extra or excessive. 

“You Will Always Be The Same” is right up there with “Dear Chicago” for my favorite song on Demolition.  I like the idea of these unfinished songs being released, just because you get to see them in their raw, natural, beautiful form. 

Demolition 4 Life!

How Do You Keep Love Alive? January 29, 2009

This song has always sounded like a different version of “La Cienega Just Smiled” to me.  However, I can’t say “How Do You Keep Love Alive?” hits me in the same way.  It might be because I always associate with a song that’s one of my favorites in the Ryan Adams catalog, which isn’t really fair.  There are some real high points in this song for me, like the line “She runs through my veins like a long black river and rattles my cage like a thunderstorm.”  Other than that, this song has always just been a little off for me. 

I’ve heard it live several times, and I have to say I find it a bit surprising how often they perform it.  It definitely isn’t one of the high-energy jam songs, and I feel like there are a lot of songs with the Cardinals that are a lot stronger.  I guess it’s a band favorite or something.  I feel the same way about a lot of those songs that seem to be staples in the setlist.  When you haven’t had any hits or classic songs, it’s a little tough to understand why the shows could become somewhat predictable after a while… 

I don’t know…  I’m more of a Love Is Hell-era Ryan Adams fan, anyway.

My Heart Is Broken January 25, 2009

I’ve mentioned several times on both of my blogs how I feel like short songs can really say a lot.  There’s also the fact that, if it’s good enough, it will always leave you wanting more.  That’s just one of the reasons that “Girlfriend In A Coma”, “Drink!” and “Magick” are all so high on my iTunes play count.  If you listen to a lot of old country and rock recordings (we’re talking 1950s/1960s), a lot songs fell around two minutes in length.  With the old school country theme found on Jacksonville City Nights, it’s no surprise that seven of the album’s songs fall short of three minutes.  Honestly, couldn’t you hear “My Heart Is Broken” being sung by Willie Nelson or Merle Haggard? 

A lot of the lyrics tend not to go in-depth with the situations, either.  Sure, there are tracks like “Hard Way To Fall” that offer details like how the girl reads her magazines.  But for the most part, the songs on this album are simple, the best example being today’s song.  While it’s a really nice song, I feel like it probably took him the same amount of time to write it that it takes to listen to it…