Rock N Roll, Ryan Adams, Lost Highway
With so many hypersensitive singer-songwriters on the market, it’s inevitable that artists like John Mayer, Howie Day and David Gray might seem interchangeable. But then there’s good ol’ Ryan Adams, a once countrified-alt-geek of Whiskeytown fame. He has traded in his roots ‘n dobro for rock ‘n’ roll on his newest release. Rock N Roll is the title, go figure, of his new album and it’s one hell of a good time.
Without the sweet, country ache of Heartbreaker or the catchy grandeur of Gold, Rock N Roll features exuberant guitars crashing through Adams’ hung-over soliloquies about unfulfilled love and living a wreckless life. Sound like Mayer, or even David Gray? Maybe so, but there’s no denying the appeal of songs that deal with drugs, overdoses and promiscuous sex with Adam’s bittersweet honesty and lyricism.
The album’s opener, “This Is It” sets the tone: Adams growls in the verses but soon give way to melodic cacophony in the choruses. And with a line like, “Let me sing a song for you / That’s never been sung before,” Adams’ dry sense of humor comes through as he pokes fun at all of his own rock ‘n’ roll heroes.
“Anybody Wanna Take Me Home” recalls those all too familiar times when the bar lights come up and you’re still alone. Adams has no pretensions about asking for what he wants: “Does anybody want to take me home? / Take me to your house / And I’ll leave you alone,” he howls over jangly guitars and an inebriated drum beat.
“I Am On Your Side” showcases Adams’ ability to sing in a high alto, a rare talent reminiscent of the late Jeff Buckley., though Adams prefers simple chords and steady beats to Buckley’s operatic brooding. Adams shows that his misery has given way to a new-found exhilaration when he gleefully sings: “I am on your side / And so alive / And so alive.”
In Adams’ world it’s “raining like a nosebleed, cigarettes and sweets” on the mid-tempo rocker “1974.” Reminiscent of ‘70s hard rock, it’s a solid song that doesn’t feel like a carbon-dated copy of dinosaur rock because the harmonized lead-guitar and feedback give way to acoustic guitars that fade at the song’s closing.
Adams’ sense of humor comes through the strongest on the title track: the album’s only down-tempo song. While the detached piano and Adams’ lackluster vocals feel depressing, it’s hard not to snicker when he sings, “Everybody’s cool playing rock ‘n’ roll / I don’t feel cool at all.”
While many of the songs may sound the same given the strong presence of overdriven guitars and loud drums, the differences are all in the melodies and stories of each song, each sloppily and distinctly documenting different aspects of the boho culture of nightclubbin’ and barhoppin’.
With the pace Adams is going at (one album per year since 2000 and another slated for release this December), he’s only getting stronger and better at knowing what he wants-and what we want to hear. John Mayer wishes he were so prolific.
