Rock N Roll In Reverse?
Rock N Roll
Ryan Adams
I spent too much time reading instead of listening. I read everything that everyone else had to say about Ryan Adams’ new cd. It was important to me to see what other people thought about it, mostly because it wasn’t November 3rd and I couldn’t find out for myself. But when given the opportunity to listen, I didn’t. Yeah it was in my CD player, and yes I’d hear it everytime I got in my car. But the things that other people felt and said stuck in my head and I couldn’t figure it out. I couldn’t figure out their griping, I couldn’t figure out their disgust for the record label and the *tsk tsk* towards Ryan himself for “rushing” this record under the pressure of “The Man”.
Then, suddenly, an older Ryan Adams song popped into my head and I realized what all the hoopla was about … this CD, Rock N Roll, isn’t Ryan Adams. Well, at least not the Ryan Adams that everyone has grown accustomed to. I think it was always evident with this record, that it always took me two or three good listens before I could even recognize his voice on certain songs. But it didn’t bother me. It doesn’t bother me that this record is almost a note-by-note homage to 70′s rock. Then again, I was never a huge fan of 70′s rock. But haven’t we always known that Ryan Adams was a rocker, that he is what rock ‘n roll used to be, only he was more willing to write the “Don’t Be Sads”, the “New York, New Yorks”, and the “Answering Bells” at the risk of separating himself from his Stonesian influence?
Presumably at the behest of his record label, Ryan Adams released a record that was less Whiskeytown and more Ryan Adams. One critic even wrote that this album missed the guitar chops of former Whiskeytown guitarist Mike Daly. This isn’t a Whiskeytown record. It’s Ryan Adams, or at least one side of him. This album only has one of my all-time Ryan Adams faves (almost Robert Smithian “So Alive”), but I think it’s a great album. It’s great to listen to on the road, in your room, anywhere … and, more importantly, all the way through. It won’t go down as my favorite Ryan Adams album, but I’m glad he made this record and I’m glad it’s part of my collection.