Ryan Adams Comes Clean

noah | October 28, 2008 10:00 am

Our look at the closing lines of the biggest new-music reviews continues with a roundup of reactions to Ryan Adams and the Cardinals’ Cardinology, which lands in Stateside stores today:

• “Cardinology‘s riveting finale is ‘Stop,’ a fragile piano ballad sung in a shaky voice that slowly gains strength and takes flight. It’s clearly about rehab, and while rehab rock may be a bit of an oxymoron, Adams—who has reportedly cleaned up—defines a genre here. If it helps undermine some of the bogus junkie myths about hard drugs and creativity, all the better. ” [RS]

• “Adams today is clearly not the man he used to be—the impetuous bad-boy who thrived on excess and impulse. For all the noble soul-searching and recovery he has gone through, he should be congratulated. But ultimately most of his words here feel like common poems, platitudes and prayers, and most of Cardinology makes me miss the old Ryan Adams.” [Kansas City Star]

• “But if this album is a misstep, it’s a minor one with more than a few 
moments of redemption—the latest missive from a talented group of musicians likely to find their way back to the path before long.” [Paste]

• “Like a sip of Maker’s Mark, it’s dark, rich, grainy, if factory-produced. One could say ‘all right if you like that sort of thing,’ were it not the case that Adams makes music for people who don’t. ” [Independent]

Tags: