Das Album ist inzwischen geleakt, und auf den RA-Message-Boards wird über nichts anderes geredet. Hier mal einer der wertvolleren ersten Eindrücke von www.alt-country.org (mehr als ein „oh, I just HEART this record..“ oder „Ry’s vocals on this track are sooo sexy!“ ist dort normalerweise nicht drin.;-)):
I’m sure many of you already have the record and those that don’t probably want to wait the two weeks. I am a Ryan completist and obviously plan on buying but I couldn’t resist the leak. For starters I have to say that this is a perfect Ryan Adams record or as close to it as possible. It has something for every type of Ryan fan, the casual fan, the hardcore, and maybe even something for a newbie. The way the album places all of the electric songs first and ends with 4 acoustic solo numbers seemed strange at first but in a very „Bringing it all back home“ sort of way it really showcases two very distinct sides of Ryan. I will provide a track by track for those that want to hear about the record but refuse to listen to it. I hope I can give you all something to look forward to.
Goodnight Rose: A bigger produced less jammy Cold Roses tune. In fact it sounds very similar to the CR title track but with its huge sound, massive chorus and beautiful melodic guitar line, it is clearly more accessible
Two: I’m sure most of you have heard it. Its a short Gold-esque love ballad with a „harder not that its over“ feel, but sweeter. Sheryl Crow sings backup but she is not overly distinguishable like Norah Jones on Dear John. A short beautiful song.
Everybody Knows: Somewhat like something that could be found on Gold or Love Is Hell. Another well produced short ballad with a great singalong chorus. Very catchy. Wish it were 1 verse longer though.
Halloween Head: The album’s most controversial song. Many think it doesn’t fit with the overall feel of the album. Personally I think its a great hard rock song, think Pinkhearts or R N R but again bigger production. Very commercial,catchy as hell,and great fun.
Two Hearts: Very poppy uptempo song with elements of 48 Hours, Gold R N R type songs. Reminds me a bit of a more polished „I wanna see you smile“. Great tune
Tears Of Gold: The most country tinged song so far. Almost sounds like it could have been on 29, but its electric sound is more polished. The bridge is awesome. It was at this point that I said Holy crap this album kicks ass!
The Sun Also Sets: This has got to be one of Ryan’s best all around tunes and that’s saying alot. He sings in his „RnR“ voice yet the song could easily be on Gold along with Rescue Blues and Answering Bell (its better than both of those tunes imo) It builds up to a massive sweeping anthemic sound that has to be heard to be believed. This song is a masterpiece. Up there with „Come Pick Me Up“
Off Broadway: After the glorious TSAS, this was a bit of a letdown. I loved the original SH version, and I found the music (more electric with some light tom drumming)to be great, but Ryan’s ultra hushed vocals didn’t grab me. It is hard to make out the words and it ends rather abruptly. Good but not on par with the rest.
Rip Off: Another classic. I was worried about this one because the original live versions seemed to be a really slow plodding piano ballad without much substance. He turned it in to another huge sounding Gold-esque anthem. Some of Ryan’s finest soulful vocals to date.
Oh My God, whatever etc.: From this point on there are no more drums on the record. This is a gorgeous Classic Ryan ballad reminiscent of „Dear Chicago“ and some Love Is Hell tunes. The piano is gorgeous and the song doesn’t sound slow despite being a ballad.
Pearls On A String: While I enjoyed the full band live version better, this is still one of the highlights of the record. Its a quick country/folk song that wouldn’t at all feel out of place on a Hank Williams or Pete Seeger recording. A perfect inspirational Ryan song! Some cool banjo too
These Girls: Not much to say other than Its Mrs. Lovely with new words. Performed basically the same way. Ryan and his acoustic, with a beautiful new outro that really makes the song.
I Taught Myself How To Grow Old: The slowest song on the album. Some great harmonica and gospel sounding backup singing. The live version was slightly better mainly due to Ryan’s more aggressive vocals, and for this song I found the drums added. Great song overall though and one of his best ballads. Would fit nicely with La Cienega, Friends and How do you keep love alive.
Overall, the record will keep me interested for a long time. It is succint , gorgeous and shows just the right level of restraint while still being exciting. At this point it is probably my favorite overall record (no skips) but ask me in a month once the excitement settles and we’ll see if I feel the same way
Ryan you’ve delivered a 5 star masterpiece that we all knew you could.
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Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to exit the donut!