Blowin' Indie Wind Better Than Bryan Adams, It's RYAN Adams' New Cut, "Demolition"

Author: Erika Mercer

"It's really liberating for me to cock my hip to one side and sneer sometimes."
Uninhibited, notoriously hot-blooded and irresistibly charismatic, Ryan Adams has, in a span of two years, hypnotized the music world with his sound and persona. He's the eighth grade bully who picks fistfights with all the guys and plants kisses on all the girls (from Winona Ryder to Beth Orton). Yet, he's also the guy who sings beautiful songs about his bruises and heartbreaks and makes everyone love him all over again.
A North Carolina native, Adams' first foray into the rock star life occurred in high school, when he and several friends formed a punk band, the Patty Duke Syndrome. Realizing that punk was not the best genre to express his many aches and love-pains, Adams soon turned to folk and country, finding that crooning and whining suited him much better. Fresh out of high school, Adams helped form the band Whiskeytown and found his niche as an alt-country singer and songwriter.
With the rapid release of two successive — and successful — albums, "Faithless Street" (1996) and "Strangers Almanac" (1997), Whiskeytown was credited as the next big thing in alt-country music. Personal and artistic disagreements, however, compounded with drug and alcohol abuse, kept them from fulfilling their destiny. Soon after the release of "Strangers Almanac," the band began to dissolve. Their final release, "Pneumonia" (2001), marked Whiskeytown's official breakup. Yet, by that time Adams had already released his first solo album, "Heartbreaker" (2000), a tremendous critical success and proof that he could survive the turmoil of Whiskeytown's demise.
"Heartbreaker," despite its combination of stunning subtlety and ripping emotionality, remained for the most part commercially undiscovered during 2000. It wasn't until the release of "Gold," Adams' sophomore album in 2001, that people stopped confusing the name Ryan Adams with Bryan Adams and began watching this volcano of talent starting to explode.
Adding to the success of the album was the fact that "Gold," featuring the single, "New York, New York," was released shortly after Sept. 11, turning the single into a rock anthem of the day. In general, the album is much more rock-based (though it still features its share of slow ballads), confident and polished, but it lacks the rough edges that made "Heartbreaker" so affecting. It's also a much longer album — 17 tracks and a full 74 minutes — a lengthy enough listen to prompt several critics to question its quantity vs. quality ratio.
Despite everything, "Gold" triggered the explosion of a red-hot Adams and turned all ears — of critics, fans and other musicians — in his direction. Noel Gallagher of Oasis stated, "I went to see Ryan Adams in Manchester … So he's playing away and he just does 'Wonderwall' right there in the middle of the set. The f***ing place went silent. It was so beautiful … Afterwards I told him, 'You can have that song, man, because we could never quite get it right.'"
Adams continues this rise to glory with his most recent release, "Demolition," a compilation of unreleased studio tracks, based on and dedicated to the memory of actress/musician Carrie Hamilton (daughter of Carol Burnett), who died at age 38 of cancer just after she and Adams began dating. The first song on the album, "Nuclear," tells about the moment they met (comparing the explosiveness of the meeting with the explosion of an atomic bomb) and the final song, "Jesus, Don't Touch My Baby," reflects on her death — a bitter, tragic piece in which Adams sings, "Jesus, don't touch my baby / She's all I've got."
"Demolition" was originally intended as a four album set — a testament to Adams' astounding prolificacy and inexhaustibility as a songwriter. Bearing in mind the criticism on "Gold," however, the decision was made to cut "Demolition" down to a "best-of-never-released" album. A collection of the 13 songs that made the cut, "Demolition" is a tight and exciting listen, exploring many different music styles from country and bluegrass to mainstream alternative rock.
Adams claims, "I usually try to do the thing furthest from the last thing," and this album certainly proves that statement. Though several of the rockier singles end up sounding slightly Goo Goo Dolls-esque and stale, this album's array of sad, hazy ballads and slow, bluesy pieces redeems his past mishaps and confirms that Adams is at his best when he lets melancholy, remorse and heartache fuel his songs.
His most inspired songs wake up on the wrong side of the bed and are in a gloomy, brooding mood all day long. They also fit perfectly his expressive, moaning, confessional-type singing voice. For example, the third song on the album, "You Will Always Be The Same," embraces this sad, reflective tone and ends up sounding a lot like Nick Drake with a slight southern twang — a subtle, touching number.
"Demolition" evokes the same sensitivity and sensuality that made "Heartbreaker" such an affecting, memorable listen and ensures that Adams will remain at the top of the charts as he plans the release of his next album, which he calls the true follow-up to "Gold."
Additional information available on Adams' Web site: www.ryan-adams.com.