Ryan Adams - Love is Hell pt.1 (en RnR)

Love is hell pt.1 heb ik afgelopen zaterdag gekregen: heel mooi. Het is, ookal is het vrij rustig, toch een stuk anders dan vroeger. Minder country invloeden, meer 80s... ik hoor vooral veel the smiths/morrissey terug. De ep heeft zeer veel sfeer en ik vind m schitterend!

Heeft iemand Rock 'n' Roll al? Ik vind m wel ok, maar wat rommelig, onaf. Gaat er trouwens iemand naar Ryan in paradiso de 19e?

[Xanandu]

Ik heb hem zaterdag gekocht, kwam net binnen. Moet zeggen, wel heel anders dan de ryan adams van een paar cd's terug. Lijkt wel haast op jeff buckley. Ik moet er nog aan wennen, maar ik vind de oude heartbraker-style wel meer ryan adams.

[luckyleo]

ik las in een recensie dat ze hem vonden tegenvallen en dat ie zo meer de kant opging van zijn bijna naamgenoot.

[luckyleo]

hier trouwens een recensie van RnR op http://www.musicomh.com/albums/ryan-adams-2.htm:

Nobody could accuse Ryan Adams of laziness. Although Gold was released two years ago, rumours of the next Adams project flew thick and fast ever since its release. As well as the ones that came to fruition (the album of demo versions, the hardcore punk band with Jesse Malin), there are several others that are yet to see the light of day (including, allegedly, a track-by-track remake of The Strokes’ Is This It played entirely on mandolin!).

Even Rock N Roll has an intriguing back story. Love Is Hell, which Adams originally delivered to the record company as the "official" follow up to Gold, consisted of a series of raw blues songs, stripped down and downbeat. Too downbeat for the record company in fact, who promptly rejected the album with instructions to come back with some more "rock 'n' roll" songs. True to form, Adams did just that (incidentally, the first instalment of Love Is Hell is released simultaneously with Rock N Roll).

One of the main accusations levelled at Adams is that he’s overly derivative, and it’s true that he wears his influences heavily on his sleeve. These are different influences than those on Gold however. Whereas the ghosts of Springsteen, Neil Young and early Elton John hung heavily over his last album, the reference points here are more contemporary.

One glance at the track listing gives some clues - references to The Strokes (This Is It) and The Verve (The Drugs Not Working) abound aplenty. Musically too, Adams indulges his love of Oasis (Shallow, where the guitar riff to Cigarettes & Alcohol - itself nicked from T Rex - is lifted wholesale) and Morrissey (So Alive, where he does an uncanny vocal impersonation of the former Smiths frontman). The marvellously titled Note To Self Don’t Die (featuring Adams' girlfriend, actress Parker Posey, on backing vocals) meanwhile could almost be Nirvana.

This is certainly a less diverse affair than its predecessor - whereas Gold seemed to effortlessly swing from one musical style to the next in a seamless manner, this is "heads down" garage rock all the way. Sometimes it works (This Is It is a gloriously exuberant opener while Anybody Wanna Take Me Home is genuinely catchy) and sometimes it’s a bit dull (Luminol and Burning Photographs both have "average" written all over them).

Rock N Roll may lack the sprawling ambition of Gold and somebody as prolific as Adams ought to exercise some quality control once in a while. Some may prefer him when he’s heartbroken and lovelorn, but they can investigate Love Is Hell Part 1. Otherwise, if you’re a fan of straightforward guitar rock and were disappointed by The Strokes’ last effort, this is a worthy alternative.

en 1 van Love Is Hell Part 1:

Ryan Adams’ last official album Gold (a collection of demo versions, Demolition, was released last year) was widely acclaimed as one of the best records of 2001, so following it up was always going to be difficult. Possibly Adams himself though didn’t realise how difficult it would be.

Love Is Hell was originally rejected by Adams’ record company as being too downbeat and they requested he write some more songs in the vein of Gold. A strange request, as anyone who’s ever heard Adams’ debut solo album Heartbreaker knows just how good he is at writing lovelorn ballads and Love Is Hell is chock full of them.

Now, for reasons best known to Lost Highway, the first instalment of Love Is Hell is being released simultaneously with Adams’ other new album Rock N Roll and the two records couldn’t be more different. Whereas Rock N Roll has the amp volume cranked up to 11 and guitars are thrashed like there’s no tomorrow, Love Is Hell Part 1 shows off Adams’ quieter side.

The irony for the record company is that this is actually a much more successful record than Rock N Roll. It’s not as raw and stripped down as first rumoured, although piano and acoustic guitar feature heavily. What makes this record so good is the atmosphere of sheer devastation that Adams throws over these songs. When you read that Love Is Hell was recorded while a former girlfriend of Adams was dying of cancer, it makes the whole thing almost unbearably poignant.

Adams' lyrics here are possibly the best he’s ever written. Political Scientist is a case in point, the descriptive nature of the verses conjuring up indelible images and reading like pure poetry. The Radiohead-esque Afraid Not Scared is even better, the more personal nature of the lyrics ("I'm really dying in here, and I'm afraid - no I'm scared...") really hitting home.

There’s even an astonishingly desolate cover of Oasis’ Wonderwall which Adams has been playing live for the last year or so. Apparently when Noel Gallagher first heard Adams’ version he was alleged to have said, "It’s your song now." Adams turns the bare bones of the song inside out and stamps his own mark on it.

There’s also the fragile beauty of The Shadowlands and even the addition of two bonus tracks, the excellent Caterwaul and Halloween. Some may find the second half a bit heavy going - it certainly doesn’t lighten up any - but overall, any Adams fan will be scratching their heads as to why this wasn’t the official release instead of Rock N Roll.

Don’t be put off by the official description of this as an EP - at 10 tracks and 45 minutes long, this could easily pass for a proper album. Part Two follows in December, and anyone who likes this will be chomping at the bit for it to be released. For everyone who likes to wallow in a bit of melancholia, here’s some evidence that while Rock N Roll may disappoint, only love break can your heart.