Day 0925 - Gold

Ryan Adams "Gold" (2001)

I have to admit that my earlier prejudice against Adams (as per my write-up for "Heartbreaker", day 902) was definitely unfounded.   This is another good album, this time in an alt-country vibe with more than a few nods to the rootsy folky rock of The Band.

Adams had wanted to make it a double album but his record company cut the last few songs and offered them up as a bonus disc on some versions of the album.   They would later refuse to release albums Adams had recorded and tore 3-4 potential albums to pieces in order to put together the next album they released... so much for artistic freedom.

"Gold" is at least a collection of songs that Adams wanted to present together.   It opens with the peppy "New York, New York" which got a lot of airplay after the September 11 attacks (which occurred just a few days after Adams filmed his music video in front of the NY skyline).   "Answering Bell" sounded familiar to me, and "When the Stars go Blue" is just lovely.   

 

The last track "Goodnight, Hollywood Boulevard" seems an appropriate closer with its piano and strings putting forward an 'end of night' feel.

Day 0902 - Heartbreaker

Ryan Adams "Heartbreaker" (2000)

I've never had a huge urge to check out Ryan Adams.  Not sure why, I think I heard a song or two back in the day that I didn't care for, then heard stories about him being a bit of a dick (not that that necessarily makes for bad music) so didn't really feel the motivation.

After the breakup of his alt-country group Whiskeytown, Adams teamed up with country/Americana artists Gillian Welch and David Rawlings to work on his solo album.

The album was actually pretty good.  It's mostly alt-country with a bit of a Bob Dylan vibe in places (drawling vocal, harmonica and acoustic guitars).   The opening track is wasted on a discussion about which album a particular Morrissey song is on... not exactly going to stand up to re-listens that one.  

After that it bursts into an ambitious rockabilly track "To be young (is to be sad, is to be high) which breaks into more melodic passages.  "Amy" is a gorgeous 60s flavoured ballad that wouldn't be out of place on a later era Beatles album.   "Oh my sweet Carolina" is a smouldering country ballad with guest vocals by Emmylou Harris, whose album "Red Dirt Girl" shows up shortly in this list.  "Bartering Lines" almost has that atmospheric T-Bone Burnett production to it and some lovely vocal harmonies.

Perfectly listenable, and I'd be more than happy to check out further Adams albums based on this.

Day 0714 - It's a Shame About Ray

The Lemonheads "It's a Shame About Ray" (1992)

The Lemonheads were up to album number 5 with "It's a Shame About Ray" leading to a few commentators to point to the rise of grunge as being beneficial for the band.   The band were also buoyed by their remake of Simon and Garfunkel's "Mrs Robinson" which was put out in conjunction with a re-release of the film 'the Graduate'.

Things hadn't been rosy before that.  The band's fourth album hadn't fared too well and one band member left the group.  Guitarist/singer/songwriter Evan Dando decamped to Australia to work on songs that would end up going towards this album.

With its upbeat, catchy songs with a bit of straight-ahead rock guitar backing, the Lemonhead's sound would occasionally get tagged with the label of "bubble grunge".  The group combine grunge, pop, garage and even a bit of country to make their sound.

Another one, unfortunately, that falls into the category of "I liked it well enough, but won't rush to revisit it."