Well, it's been a busy year for our friend Ryan Adams: a rock and roll record, two EP's, a broken heart, and a broken wrist. This is a lot to fit in, especially considering how busy he was whining about reviews and threatening to retire from music. If there is one thing I can count on each month it's that somewhere in a magazine I'm guaranteed to see his homely face staring back at me with a caption underneath detailing the latest drama. Let's face it, the guy is a pre-Madonna... but hey, at least he's got some personality.
Due to the close proximity of the recent release of Adam's rock and roll album, aptly titled Rock & Roll, to the release of Love is Hell, he was forced by his label to release the album as two separate EP's for differentiation purposes. Now that both EP's have been put out separately, they have finally been combined onto one disk to compose the album that Adams' originally conceived. Wow, that was confusing; if there is anything that can be taken for this review, let it be this: read contracts carefully before signing them.
Despite all the fiasco involved in releasing this album, it turned out pretty darn good. Love is Hell serves as Adams' bi-polar, contrasting personality to Rock & Roll . No distortion and no yelling, just beautiful love songs; this is where Adams' bread is buttered. While it was fun to hear a fit of self-righteousness on Rock & Roll , I'm relieved that Adams is back to his old self, the hopeless romantic.
The themes contained in the album are can easily be derived from the title. Adams sings us songs about loneliness, heartache, friendship, and fear. The majority of the song-craft is relatively intriguing, but at certain points the subject matter and imagery becomes a bit monotonous. Ironically, the highlight of the songwriter's album happens to be a cover or the mid-nineties Oasis hit, "Wonderwall". Adams gorgeously weaves the piano and the guitar to produce a chilling interpretation of an amazing song. Another standout track on the album is "English Girls Approximately", one of the few upbeat songs where Adams discusses his Euro-relations, "You said you didn't love me, it was right on time/ I was just about to tell you, but ok, alright".
Everyone has a different opinion about this guy, but that's okay because I think that is what he wants. My opinion is this: Ryan Adams is a whiner and a drama king, but you have to give him credit for wisely choosing a profession that glorifies his personality traits. As long as he keeps pumpin' out decent records, what's wrong with him shedding a few tears in his beer?
