Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger

Basically, Ryan Adams is a freak. I mean that as a compliment. I really do. He releases way too much material, his albums are all too long, but miraculously, just about everything he does is great. I can literally count on ten fingers anything that I would consider mediocre by the man. Most critics would likely disagree but let me explain. First of all, it should be noted that much of his stuff does take getting used to. Usually when I listen to one of his new releases, I immediately like about a third of the songs and I consider the rest to be filler. The reasons for this however, can simply be chalked up to a simple case of Ryan overload. When listening to all of these songs together, some of them do start to blend in to one another. The A.D.D. kicks in and the mind starts to wander. But then several months later, I'll have the old ipod on shuffle, and one of the "filler" cuts will play. It almost always outshines whatever else I happened to be listening to prior during the day. Yes, Ryan Adams has a gift. He just tends to lack a little discernment, that's all. As of right now, "Easy Tiger," released today, has about 5 or 6 solid cuts on it. I won't run down the whole list, but I will say that it gets better as it plays on. The first two songs do very little for me, but beginning with track three, Adams' impeccable songwriting and melody-making is here in full force. The album has a bit of everything: heavy rockers, classic country, mild Americana, and some stellar singer-songwriter material. One word of caution, this one is being promoted quite heavily, moreso than usual, and the heavily promoted track is the truly boring song "Two", which has Sheryl Crow singing along. It basically sound like, well a Sheryl Crow song. Yawn! Don't judge the whole CD based on this song, because it really is quite good. Like some of his albums, this review is starting to run on way too long. So I'll stop. Now.

Download:
Everybody Knows mp3

Ryan Adams on myspace
Purchase "Easy Tiger" on Amazon.ca