Ryan Adams: Gold

Ryan Adams: Gold

2001

Lost Highway Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing:  1. New York, New York  2. Firecracker  3. Answering Bell  4. La Cienega Just Smiled  5. The Rescue Blues  6. Somehow, Someday 7. When the Stars Go Blue  8. Nobody Girl  9. Sylvia Plath  10. Enemy Fire  11. Gonna Make you Love Me  12. Wild Flowers  13. Harder Now That It's Over  14. Touch, Feel and Lose  15. Tina Toledo's Street Walkin' Blues  16. Goodnight, Hollywood Blvd

Wow, I hadn't listened to this in a looong time. I remember me and my old friend (and former band-mate)  Joe used to listen to Ryan Adams a lot.  I bought this somewhere around its release and played it to death back in the day.  I can't recall playing it at all in the last 5 years, so it was fun rediscovering it.

It's a pretty laid back affair. Think of a relaxed, sprawling classic rock record with a somewhat modern, millennial, over-emotive feel.  A good record to pull out when you're in the mood to listen to some Eagles, but then you realize that you can't stand the Eagles.

The uptempo stuff on here is really where it's at. I like "New York, New York," which is a strummy acoustic rocker that references a  bunch of cross streets. God, this guy loves cross streets. Sometimes, he even goes as far to make up his own. "Firecracker" is another winner that follows in much the same mode. "Tina Toledo's Street Walkin' Blues," is pretty much a Stones rip, but a cool one. I don't mind Stones rips as long as they're done well...

The record also has its share of weepy, country-tinged ballads. Here's where things can get a little mixed, for me. Sometimes his ballads can be melodic and moving ("When Stars Go Blue," "La Cienega Just Smiled,") but sometimes some of these long stretches of slower-stuff can  make the album feel like it runs a bit long... But I guess the album should feel a bit long, since it does clock in at 70 minutes. 10 of which belong to "Nobody Girl," which isn't bad at all.  Does it need to be 10 minutes? No, not really... But what's a double album without an overlong guitar workout? A single album, that's what!

All in all, I think this still holds up. A pleasant listen for your afternoon barbecue, or if your Friday Night Record Party needs a good, slick weeper...I know I  usually have  a lot more pictures and singles covers and stuff, but modern records don't really have singles per se...just recommended itunes downloads...and I can't post a picture of a download, dammit!

Well, let's watch a video, then...one of the few thriving artifacts from the days of music's tangibility.... I can recall seeing this video for "New York, New York" shortly after 9-11... As it notes at the start of the video it was shot on September 7th, so the Twin Towers were still intact. It felt a little weird watching this at the time, but now it stands as a pretty cool tribute to the way things were... Long live September 7th!