Album Rating: 3.0

And yeah gotta agree with klap, I love you Doof but this might be your worst review.

Yeah Doof your reviews are always quality, did you just throw this together real quick to get it out there?

Album Rating: 3.0

I think he put it out just to spite me ;-]

Album Rating: 1.5

Flag - new Jens is quality of course, completely different deal with Jens, sounds totally his own man. Picked up a CD copy earlier today, after two listens so far a 4 (I usually rate his stuff 4).



klap - I'll admit I've only listened to three Ryan Adams but I don't state anywhere that I'm a super fan of his. I thought I had just enough experience of his work to write something, but perhaps more importantly I'm into the genres he dabbles in in a big way.



It may seem harsh to say the album left me with little to expand on but after three listens that's just how I felt. It is totally unremarkable and the songwriting/vocals are downright thievery at times.

Album Rating: 1.5

FoS - users sometimes complain about longer reviews so I thought I'd mix it up with a shorty.



Breaking this down track by track would have been pointless for me as honestly I have the same complaints to almost an identical degree with all of them.

Album Rating: 3.0

The problem Doof is that at this point Heartbreaker isn't the best reference point for his current work and the only depth you have to build on here is that it does what that album does but worse. If this were the guy's second album or even his fifth what you do would me more appropriate but in this case it just doesn't cut it. For example as I've said earlier he's now done two album before this that are essentially the same but for someone reading this it would sound like this is the first time.

Album Rating: 3.0

Plus a sentence like "I cannot think of a single reason why anyone would listen to this album ahead of the work of The Boss as Adams brings absolutely nothing of himself to the table" doesn't seem constructive - again, maybe this would apply if Adams were new to the game but obviously lots of people are going to listen to this because it's a Ryan Adams album, not a Springsteen album.

Album Rating: 1.5

Well, a review sets out its own intentions.



I never intended to write a review explaining how this fits with his current output, I was just saying that the way I found Adams on his debut is similar to here (he's still consciously trying to approximate the style of another 'classic' artist imo). On the debut he got away with it, here he doesn't.

Album Rating: 3.0

I mean I accept your opinion and the reasoning behind it, I'm just not sure that it warrants or works as a review.

In essence this is your review: "It sounds like Bruce Springsteen and it's not as good as Bruce Springsteen." Ok, that's valid. It's a good summary. But I want a bit more from a "review", espectially one of a very well-established artist.

Album Rating: 1.5

I see your point but that is getting close to saying that no one can review Ryan Adams unless you know all 16 albums which in turns means no one other than an Adams aficionado can review Ryan Adams. That's not how it works. I've listened to a few hundred albums in this style, that's probably better than someone who listened to 50 albums of this style, 16 of which are Ryan Adams



My other point would be, why would anyone write a long review for a nondescript album they found unoriginal, derivative, samey and distractingly phoney the whole way through? Makes no sense.



It won't service the established fan, but in its own way it's definitely one of my most effective reviews lol

Album Rating: 3.0

And regarding the relationship to his past work, this is so similar to his last two albums (I'm countingg 1989 here) that a reader knowing about those is interested in how this does that style as opposed to those and the discussion feels empty without that.

Album Rating: 1.5

Boney this review says:

- Adams was a fake with a Dylan fixation in a hurry to create his own mythology on his debut which was forced and uncomfortable.

- He got away with it then thanks to song quality.

- He's still a faker now but he's changed his style to the popular fashion of the day.

- He doesn't get away with it this time because the songs aren't there and he doesn't match his peers.



That's enough for a review.

You get your point across that it sounds like a Springsteen, but as a person who's never any of Adams, I don't know anything about Ryan Adams himself

Album Rating: 3.0

To be fair Full that is kind of his point, that there's nothing unique about Ryan Adams himself.

Album Rating: 1.5

He used to try and sound like Dylan, he now sounds a lot like Springsteen, he always comes across as more an actor playing at being a certain type of artist.



The whole review is a character and artistic assassination of the man as the album is such a huge blank and gave me nothing of any musical interest to talk about :/



For a similar review see my Paloalto one where I explained why sometimes you can't actually drill down into details in a review as it would serve no function.



This review is like an intro and conclusion without the meat...because there is no meat. An album gets the review it deserves, this album has no meat, it's nothing but a bun and lonely lettuce leaf. A hole where a soul should be.

Album Rating: 3.0

It won't service the established fan

Sorry I worded that wrong - the backups to this claim don't tell me anything

Album Rating: 1.5

I would welcome someone writing the counter review to this and getting it flagged ahead of me but I'm an alt country/folk fan and this dude getting so much attention meant i had to check this and then the crappy nature of it stuck in my craw enough for me to want to review it.



Not every review is written by a fan of the artist, sometimes it's from a disgruntled fan of the genre.

Is this the dude who covered 1989 in full?

Album Rating: 1.5

Well FoS the claim that the man is an out and out phoney is quite a big claim.



I can't back it up with evidence that he spent hours meticulously writing notes and copying Springsteen from video footage.



I could explain what Dylan and Springsteen sound like but everyone already knows what they sound like. The fact it goes beyond influence means I can't break it down into finer details of what constituent parts sound like either artist, it's for all intents and purposes the whole thing. The atmosphere, the melodies, the vocals, the guitar tone...the lot pretty much.