By Michael Tedder, eMusic ContributorLater this month, the legendary underground rock icons/heart-rending poets/drunken screw-ups the Replacements will play their first shows since breaking up onstage in Chicago 22 years ago. (Well, Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson and some other… more »
By Anna Bond, eMusic ContributorOh, Ryan. Before the website rap, before the celebrity romances, before the Pitchfork freakouts, before the seeming dozens of Paste Magazine covers – and before “alt-country†was a dirty word – Ryan Adams was 27, embroiled in Whiskeytown’s bitter dissolution, and making one of the best albums of the last decade. Heartbreaker kicks off with a skit, an argument between himself and occasional co-writer David Rawlings about whether a particular Morrissey song appeared on both Viva Hate and the singles collection Bona Drag (an argument that everyone of a certain tendency has had at one point or another), resolving amidst giggles into the pitch-perfect country-rock anthem “To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High).†A rising alt-country star starting his first solo record with a goof about a British mope-rock icon? Sure, that works, when the record is perfect. The thing about Heartbreaker is that after thundering in, it gives… more »
By Andrew Mueller, eMusic ContributorAfter three albums with cultishly adored alt country troupe Whiskeytown, it was widely appreciated that Ryan Adams was a smart, literate songwriter and a distinctive singer. However, Heartbreaker, Adams '2000 solo debut, marked the moment… more »
By Andrew Mueller, eMusic ContributorAround the release of 2007's Easy Tiger, Ryan Adams complained that it wasn't the record he'd wanted to make. He'd wanted to do something more rock-oriented, something that pushed his adored backing group, the Cardinals,… more »