Rating: 3.5 out of 6 stars

Lost Highway; 2007

Well, Ryan Adams isn’t dead. In fact, it looks like he is finally getting it together. I mean, he’s cleaned up (who thought that would happen?) and made some of the more polished recordings of his career. He’s teamed up with the Cardinals again for his ninth LP “Easy Tiger”, so there are the obligatory guitar solos and extended jams. They certainly don’t detract from the album in any way, in fact it makes it into the bona fide alt country-rock album it should be, compete with tasteful pedal steel on “Tears of Gold.”

Although some might write it off as another adult contemporary singer-songwriter post-addiction album fit for the cd stands in Starbucks (which, by the way, is going to happen), there are definitely a few country-pop hooks in this album, enough to justify giving the whole thing a listen to decide for yourself what you like.

One thing I’ve always had to respect about Adams, despite his erratic and sometimes deviant behavior, is the rawness of his lyrics. He can write a love song like Neil Young, leaving you wondering if that really was a love song or just a wistful lingering of thought. It also leaves room for the case that Mr. Adams needs an editor, which seems to me a self-defeating argument. On the same token, some of the content comes across as a bit pedestrian, as if Mr. Adams is trying to make himself a little more marketable. Of course, what can you expect from someone who has built a career on inconsistency?

A few songs really stand out on the album, making them play list worthy, even if the album as a whole gets old after a couple spins. Ryan AdamsDespite the lyrics, “Halloweenhead” is an uplifting rocker contrasted with gentle acoustic tunes like “Oh My God, Whatever, Etc.” or “Off Broadway”, where the guitar gently follows the melody and grows in intensity underneath Adams slightly whiny vocals. The album even touches on the folky – “Pearls on a String” with poppy banjo and mandolin chasing the simple, twangy vocals. Some of the melodies, namely “Rip Off” have a Steely Dan easy pop feeling without sounding like a dated tune. There’s even a lonely harmonica in “I Taught Myself How to Grow Old”. There is the reality, though, that Adam’s songwriting has been better, but maybe he’s just finding his feet after the marathon 2005 mixed bag of recordings and excessive drug use. It seems that, fortunately, Adams’ hip hop alter ego DJ Reggie had no influence in this record.

There are definitely some very tastefully done songs on this album, which is certainly his best in the past few years (despite a few hidden gems on “29”). It brings back the Adams of “Heartbreaker” and “Gold”, if not completely, at least enough to satisfy fans of those albums. But the album itself stands on its own without the knee-jerk comparisons to the other albums in
Adams’ interesting and somewhat checkered catalogue.