Ryan Adams and the Cardinals - Cold Roses

Ryan, listen: you’re killing me. I’ve tried to be a fan over the course of your last four albums, but my patience is running low.

To be fair, Ryan Adams doesn’t owe us, his fans, anything. He can create the music he wants to create, and he has already proven his song-writing prowess from his days fronting Whiskeytown and from his brilliant solo debut, Heartbreaker. But the hope that Adams inspired with his early work has dwindled substantially since. His sophomore effort, Gold, was a decent foray into 70’s rock, Demolition was a solid collection of B-sides. Love is Hell was slow with a few bright spots. Rock and Roll…well, it was a disappointment: Ryan’s take on the garage-rock band was as good as any Hives album, but it didn’t stack up to his previous works.

Ryan Adams is releasing three albums in 2005, and Cold Roses, recorded with his new band, the Cardinals, is the first of the year. Cold Roses suffers from a few issues. Most simply, the two-disc album is too long. There are quite a few gems within the 19 tracks, but there are more than a few misfires, as well. The early release on iTunes, “Let It Ride” is one of the shining moments, a driving country rock tune that is reminiscent of Whiskeytown’s early work. “If I Am a Stranger” mines the same ground, falling somewhere between Heartbreaker and Gold. “Dance All Night” is good.

But mining for those gold pieces also leaves you with a lot of silt. Many of the songs feel like they’re missing something or are just mediocre. Cohesion is an issue, as well. Every great album has its unremarkable tracks, but Cold Roses slogs a bit too much at times. “Blossom”, for instance, is just downright bad.

Frankly, cohesion and song strength are just part of the problem. Adams has begun to rely more and more on a puzzling vocal range, alternately rough and lilting. His dabbling with various voices is tedious and annoying at times, and his best songs (like the ones stated above) always seem to go back to his natural vocals from the Heartbreaker/Gold days.

On a high note, Ryan Adams appears to be shying away from his brash, rock star persona from recent albums. Cold Roses seems to come from humility (some critics have remarked that the album cover is his first solo work not featuring a photo of him), and subject matter seems to dabble in spirituality rather than love lost. On the opening track, Ryan sings of laying his head down on “the mountain my Savior made”, and the references to God do not end there. This lyrical content comes the closest to matching the soul and emotion of the heartbreak of his early works.

Adams would also be well-served to bring back the production talents of Ethan Johns, the producer from Heartbreaker and Whiskeytown’s last album, Pneumonia. Johns was excellent at guiding Ryan’s mercurial behavior into focused and finished products, and probably had some say in track sequence. The thing with Ryan is that we know what he is capable of, and while the magic of Heartbreaker may never be recaptured, Adams may still have great albums ahead.

Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, Cold Roses: B-

The first time Jordan Green saw Ryan Adams, a solo show at the Aladdin Theater, was one of the best shows he’s ever seen.

Posted on May 10, 2005 11:55 AM