So.
The prior installment of Late To The Party included a brief summary of Ryan Adams' catalog. Each of Adams' 18 releases was given a concise and perhaps offensively laconic synopsis. Regardless of my inefficiency, hopefully my admiration for the singer/songwriters' work was made quite apparent.
And even if more than three persons read the prior blog post I would most likely continue in my vain self deprecating manner...
Now.
Ryan Adams' III/IV. I previously mentioned that this particular record inspired my sophomoric feature of Mr. Adams' ouevre. III/IV is a double album consisting of songs written/recorded during sessions that would yield his fantastic 2007 release Easy Tiger. The title is referential to Adams' earlier double album Cold Roses which logically represents records I and II. Contrasting with Cold Roses, the subject matter of III/IV marks a period in which Mr. Adams was living a sober lifestyle. The III/IV album also represents a stylistic reversal with its predominant rock flavor compared with Cold Roses' acoustic roots character.
III/IV was released in 2010 on PAX AM Records and allegedly was rejected by Adams' then current record label Lost Highway. I do not wish to speculate as to why this was the case. Rather, I want to highlight the fantastic musicianship provided by The Cardinals: the rock solid Brad Pemberton on drums, the fantastic and then new addition of Neal Casal on guitar, the wonderful Catherine Popper on bass, the ever reliable Jon Graboff on pedal steel guitar, and the talented, diverse Jamie Candiloro on keyboards who also produced the record. III/IV contains beautifully crafted dense material that I find truly inspiring. It is wonderfully arranged and is concocted with timbres that are nigh impossible to improve upon in my opinion. And now I will dive into a short inventory of the album's tracks (I've starred personal favs):
Side 1:
- Breakdown Into The Resolve - A chronicle of the inevitability of bad decisions and its persistent cycle, love the half time breakdown outro
- Candy* - A farewell letter to cocaine it seems, insanely awesome groove, beautiful background vocals on choruses
- Wasteland* - A lamenting description of the destruction left in the wake of a drug addict, again beautiful background vocals and love the bridge breakdown
- Ultraviolet Light* - This tune seems to describe the unrelenting pull of what I can only imagine is heroin addiction, an appropriate lazy groove and the first appearance of acoustic guitar accompany
- Stop Playing With My Heart* - Love, love, love this tune, a perfect song; it captures the exhaustion that results from a rocky relationship and could be interpreted as metaphor for addiction; fantastic grooves, infectious melodies, and hooky guitar lines are included
- Lovely and Blue - A tune seemingly about letting go, awesome rhythmic hooks throughout
- Happy Birthday - A song that captures the shame and embarrassment of being a drug addicted fuck up, exceptionally great guitar tones and awesome synth hook
- Kisses Start Wars - Another tune about the battle of addiction
- The Crystal Skull - Seemingly a story about going out and partying with "Scarlet" at "The Crystal Skull" which I can only imagine is a euphemism for cocaine, another lazy acoustic number
- Users - This one appears to convey that "users" can get over their problems and chronicles the contrasting head space of a sober lifestyle, awesome groove and great verse riff
- No* - I absolutely love the chorus of this song, combining pain with triumph, some sludgy riffs and nice driving figures
- Numbers - The recklessness and emotional roller coaster ride of being a drunk is the focus of this punk infused tune
- Gracie* - This one is a real heartbreaker, I imagine it is remembering a special relationship that may have revolved around drugs
- Icebreaker - A quick rocker that captures the icy feeling of being isolated by drug addiction
- Sewers At The Bottom of The Wishing Well* - This one grooves hard, lots of 'tude and contrasting parts that underlay a self deprecating mindset
- Typecast* - Possibly my absolute fav on the record, sounds like a laid back Steely Dan tune, it should be against the law to compose a song as groovy as this; it is concerned with replaying an unwanted role in the game of love; Norah Jones (love of my life) features on backgrounds
- Star Wars - Who says there isn't room for a juvenile rocker on each record, awesome chorus groove
- My Favorite Song* - Love this one as it seems ambiguous to me as many a great tune are, I think that is probably the point of the tune as it seems to be about the relationship between songwriter and song, despite my potential misinterpretation the tune has great feel all around
- P.S.* -A song about apologizing and confronting the imperfections of personality, wonderful vocal performance
- Death And Rats - This one seems to be about looking back on the folly of youth and being distracted by the glamorous surface, specifically that of New York City as the lyrics might suggest; the light hearted feel contrasts well with the lamenting subject matter
- Kill The Lights - The final tune of the record continues with the romanticism of New York City where Adams has spent a significant amount of time, this one rocks hard but then changes gear midway through where The Cardinals get all Grateful Dead on ya
And there you have it. Until next time...
Ryan Adams III/IV iTunes
Ryan Adams III/IV on Spotify
Ty
