Rock N Roll

by

Ryan Adams

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At this point, Ryan Adams must be wondering what it's going to take to establish himself as a mainstream artist. He's dated several movie stars (Winona Ryder and Parker Posey), written a song inextricably linked with a major event in our nation's history ("New York, New York"), and released an album of relentlessly accessible rock songs (Rock N Roll). Still, Adams remains relatively ignored except by music critics and his cult of devoted followers. Since I have no intention of scrutinizing his dalliances with waifish actresses or offering social commentary on post-9/11 America, I'll focus on the third topic - Adams' recent rock album, Rock N Roll.

For an album that contains myriad potential radio hits, Rock N Roll sold rather poorly. Familiar, catchy hooks from the 1970s and 80s lurk within almost every song and perhaps therein lies the problem. By so ably aping his predecessors, Adams fails to establish his own voice as a rock musician. At times, Rock N Roll practically becomes Adams singing karaoke. "So Alive" is a great lost U2 song and Adams does a fine job singing it. Nevertheless, it's a guaranteed number one single with Bono hitting those high notes instead of Adams. "Anybody Wanna Take Me Home" is straight out of the Smiths' songbook, but Adams is less suited to providing vocals here - the song practically begs for Adams to concentrate on his guitar-playing and let Morrissey take over on lead vocals. "Shallow" is a not unpleasant hybrid of T Rex's "Bang a Gong" and the Hollies' "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress", but doesn't exactly scream originality. Most of the songs are good, but few can be considered great. Not surprisingly, the great ones are the songs that don't obviously recall another artist - "Luminol", "Note to Self: Don't Die", "Wish You Were Here".

With his tendency towards the prolific and fondness for media coverage, Adams may yet attain the mainstream popularity he desires. As far as I can tell, he has two options. On the one hand, he could make a concerted effort to follow his more original musical instincts. The other option would be to start dressing stylishly while continuing to churn out mostly derivative tunes. The latter approach worked like a charm for another band, that is only half as good as Adams is, but of which Adams is inexplicably fond. The next time Adams decrees "This Is It", I want him to be telling the truth.

Yes, we've all heard the stories: "Love is Hell" was rejected and sliced in two by the record company, who also sent Adams back to the studio with his tail between his legs. Out of the predicament comes this monster (not an endearing term in the least), known to many as "Rock N Roll" and known to Rolling Stone as "lloR N kcoR" (pretentious idiots). Can something written and recorded in two weeks (already a recipe for disaster) reach the rockin' heights of "Gold" or the lovely lows of "Heartbreaker" and "Love is Hell"?

The answer, sadly, is "no." Essentially, "Rock N Roll" is a chronicle of Adams' seemingly extensive record collection; elements of his countless influences prevail throughout. In fact, you can barely listen to a track without first going, "My God, this sounds just like [insert prominent 70s, 80s, or 90s band here]." If this were anyone but Ryan Adams, this attitude would be a problem. Fortunately, Adams managed to carve a beautifully bloated album out of his influences 2 years ago (2001's "Gold"), putting nearly every criticism to shame. And it's no surprise that he's repeated the formula for "Rock N Roll." The unfortunate thing is this: it simply doesn't work as well the second time around.

Don't get me wrong though: by no means does "Rock N Roll" sound a thing like "Gold." Whereas "Gold" was really really pretty rock and roll, "Rock N Roll" (anyone get the feeling I'm repeating myself) is dirtier, grimier, and messier than anything he's put to tape before. There's no better example of this than in the opener, "This is It" (a coy little Strokes reference of no consequence, since the song sounds nothing like them). The guitars bang in furiously until Adams decides to rip into the mix with one of his "rougher" singing voices, stating right off the bat: "Let me sing a song for you/ that's never been sung before." Of course, we can only imagine this was Adams' intent from the beginning. Still, his derivative songwriting nature hangs like a cloud over "Shallow," which is only saved by its astounding chorus.

But so far, it's pretty good... isn't it? Well, get ready for the quality to dip - FAST. "1974" is the perfect example of how bad this record gets. An empty hook matching with a decidedly unmelodic chorus does not a good song make. Things only get worse later on in the album with "She's Lost Total Control," which is only effective as a one-chord headache doubled over with a not-so-special chorus. Fortunately, however, these songs are about as bad as it gets. "Wish You Were Here" is relentlessly catchy, despite its terribly trite attempts at shock value through the use of expletives. And then there's "So Alive," which just SCREAMS "U2," but, somehow, I find myself adoring it... I wouldn't have bought the album had this song not popped up one late night on MTV2. The guitar lick, the lyrics, and Adams' soaring voice - "So Alive," to me, stands strong as a testament to the brilliant songwriter that Ryan Adams is. Still, the influences can grow overbearing; I know a few U2 fans who simply cannot listen to this song. Also worth mentioning is the "Love is Hell"-reminiscent "Burning Photographs," which never fails to bring me in with the line "I used to be sad/ Now, I'm just bored with you."

I think the best moment on this album, however, is summed up in the quiet irony of the title track. Somehow, in the middle of the endlessly clashing guitars, Adams crafted a brilliant little piano piece that, despite its relatively short length, manages to be the best track on the album. And "Do Miss America" may quite possibly be the catchiest damn thing Adams has written yet.

So why shouldn't this album receive four stars instead of three? After all, there are only a few bad songs. Unfortunately, that's not the point. This record is what it set out to be - a terribly RUSHED collection of "off the top of my head" songs, having no real connection to Adams whatsoever. When you listen to "Heartbreaker" and even "Gold," you get a sense that Adams is putting his heart and soul headfirst into the music. With "Rock N Roll," this sense is sadly absent, replaced with extremely useless piano outros ("1974") and Sonic Youth/Nirvana hearkenings ("Note to Self: Don't Die"). Of course, "Rock N Roll" wasn't created with the intent of moving the heart or the soul; rather, it was more created with the intent of "rocking out." And it succeeds for the most part. But, while listening to this, I can't help but find myself entirely separated from these songs... which takes a big bite out of the enjoyment factor, and is thus reflected in my overall rating.