Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger, Cardinology, Etc.

[elevation2u]

this may be my other Sam's Town, the album everyone seemed to hate but with every lsiten I give it, it only seems to get better like fine, bum wine. OMG, Sun, Silence, Tears, Pearls, Girls, Broadway, Hearts ..these are some nice fucking songs, short and sweet. Is it his best album? Of course not, but for those who want that, well he has much time ahead of him and I doubt he'll be slowing down with the music.

After seeing his Letterman performance last night, Two is starting to grow on me,
as is Halloweeen, I came to the conclusion that the song that really sticks out and is hard for me to like is Rip Off...

[LemonMelon]

Originally posted by elevation2u
this may be my other Sam's Town, the album everyone seemed to hate but with every lsiten I give it, it only seems to get better like fine, bum wine.

Well, Sam's Town is completely useless. Who here hates Easy Tiger? I think it's great.

[impy13]

Goodnight Rose - The most Cold Roses-ish song on the album, so I like it.

Two - Decent, but vintage Ryan. I feel like I've heard this one from his twenty times before.

Everybody Knows - I actually like this one. Nice chorus.

Halloweenhead - Stupid as hell, but still one of my favorites on the album. A big dumb fun song.

OMG - Pretty little song. Not bad by any means.

Tears of Gold - I don't care for this song at all.

The Sun Also Sets - The best song on the album, despite the verses (musically) being terrible.

Off Broadway - I loathe this song. By far the worst song on the album and one of his worst ever.

Pearls on a String - Not my cup of tea.

Rip Off - Unremarkable.

Two Hearts - Unremarkable

These Girls - Just okay.

Taught Myself - A waste of a beautiful, sad harmonica part. The way he delivers "I taught myself how to grow" is grating and unimaginative.


By my estimation, the first half of the album is exponentially better than the second, but I've always found Ryan albums a bit top heavy. I just don't think there are that many good songs on the album and the whole thing feels kind of mailed in.

Goodnight Rose, Everybody Knows, Halloweenhead, and The Sun Also Sets are pretty good, so the album does have a few redeeming qualities. After about 6 listens, though, I'm ready to crown this the biggest disappointment of 2007.

[Bonochick]

I LOVE Sam's Town. Makes me feel like a freak.

[elevation2u]

Originally posted by LemonMelon


Well, Sam's Town is completely useless. Who here hates Easy Tiger? I think it's great.

Most of the later critics seemed to loathe it, or loathe Ryan himself, half the time it's hard to tell if they're even reviewing the album or whining about Ryan being too whiny and bitchy. From what I've gathered at Ryan forums and here, nobody seems to like Off Broadway, which for some reason I really do. To me, the song really embodies the feeling of longing without it feeling contrived or forced, It would've easily fit in Love is Hell.
I suppose a great fault of the album is just that, nothing smacks you in the face with creativity or freshness, the songs are like "oh, it's ryan adams", I've already grown to like them because they're easy going and pretty, really reminds me of what it means to be a singer/songwriter.

Personally, the biggest fault of this album is that the lyrics are mediocre. I don't know how other people feel about his lyrics in general, but I've always thought them to be top notch, artistic, genuine, brilliant, heartfelt, simple, beautiful, haunting and whatever other adjective comes to mind when I think of all the great shit he's been putting out since Whiskeytown.
Easy Tiger lyrics are just there, they're good but not great, they don't stay and torture my mind like any one song from his brilliantly crafted 2005 releases. The music itself didn't really grow, it probably took a few steps back. I suppose of it where up to me he would be doing something more in vein of Cold Roses, even 29, something loose, wandering yet beautiful. But I suppose that's Ryan Adams, he just does what he wants (or is in t his case...his record label?)..

But still, I'm enamored by his music, It's too late, I'm hooked. He's one of those handful of artists that I somehow always come around to like even their lesser stuff. Flaming Lips, Springsteen, Wilco, Radiohead, U2, Waits, Dylan, Sad Dracula and uhh....recently...Babyshambles

it's like and at the same time

[BVS]

elevation2u, I couldn't agree more with that post. Well everything except I've never heard of Sad Dracula(but probably will check them out now).

There are some great lines there, just not great entire lyrics...

The only other complaint I have is that the songs are just too damn short...



I read an interview, I can't remember if it's one of the ones posted in this thread or not, about how the band picked which songs went on the album. It would have been interesting to see what kind of album we would have gotten if it wasn't for the Cardinals, I'm actually kind of sad he wants to go that direction rather than just solo...

[BVS]

Ok, I just looked up Sad Dracula, and now know who it is...

Was it just on his website, or is there anyplace where I can get some of that sad dracula stuff?

[elevation2u]

hmmm, ...

htt p://w ww.s ends pace . com/file/5mhvza

[BVS]

Thank you...

[elevation2u]

[joyfulgirl]

I'm liking it more and more with each listen. I haven't really focused on the lyrics yet but I know that last night I just enjoyed having it on in the background while I was doing other things. In fact, I had Ryan Adams going on iTunes all night just listening to his whole catalog. Cold Roses is by far my favorite (unbelievable that out of a 2-disc record I like every single song) but even mediocre Ryan Adams is pretty damn good.

[Bonochick]

I'm actually amazed by how short this album is. It's less than 40 minutes long.

[HeartlandGirl]

Originally posted by Bonochick
I LOVE Sam's Town. Makes me feel like a freak.

I love that album too. Took me a while, but one day, I was like "This is brilliant!"

Originally posted by joyfulgirl
I'm liking it more and more with each listen. I haven't really focused on the lyrics yet but I know that last night I just enjoyed having it on in the background while I was doing other things. In fact, I had Ryan Adams going on iTunes all night just listening to his whole catalog. Cold Roses is by far my favorite (unbelievable that out of a 2-disc record I like every single song) but even mediocre Ryan Adams is pretty damn good.

I've been putting his whole catalog on shuffle lately too. Cold Roses is still my favorite as well, but truly, I love all his stuff. Even Rock N Roll.

[corianderstem]

I'm finally listening to it for the first time, and so far I'm really pleased.

I've never been one to focus too much on the lyrics, though. I mainly like songs that I like based on their overall feel and sound.

[cdisantis83]

After reading these reviews, I am really on the fence about purchasing this. I really enjoyed Love Is Hell; is anyone able to tell me how it compares to that album?

[BonoIsMyMuse]

I've got to admit that near the end of my first listen to Easy Tiger, I'm bored. It's not a bad album, but none of the songs are really standing out to me. It feels like background music. The choruses to many of the songs repeat quite a bit, and the verses aren't as strong lyrically as I'd hoped. This was one of my most-awaited albums of the year, and for the most part I'm disappointed. I think the songwriting on Heartbreaker and even Gold was much better, and while I didn't think Demolition or Rock N Roll were as strong, both of them had some great songs. I'm up to Two Hearts and haven't found a song I'd call great yet.

[joyfulgirl]

Originally posted by BonoIsMyMuse
I've got to admit that near the end of my first listen to Easy Tiger, I'm bored. It's not a bad album, but none of the songs are really standing out to me. It feels like background music. The choruses to many of the songs repeat quite a bit, and the verses aren't as strong lyrically as I'd hoped. This was one of my most-awaited albums of the year, and for the most part I'm disappointed. I think the songwriting on Heartbreaker and even Gold was much better, and while I didn't think Demolition or Rock N Roll were as strong, both of them had some great songs. I'm up to Two Hearts and haven't found a song I'd call great yet.

I like it more on repeated listenings but I agree with you that there's nothing truly great here. Enjoyable, but not great. Not his best songwriting for sure. Can't say I'm disappointed since I didn't have the same expectations others seemed to.

[joyfulgirl]

Originally posted by cdisantis83
After reading these reviews, I am really on the fence about purchasing this. I really enjoyed Love Is Hell; is anyone able to tell me how it compares to that album?

Easy Tiger is more country/country rock. In general I prefer his countryish stuff since I just think that's what he does best but in this case I like Love is Hell a lot better than Easy Tiger.

[BVS]

Originally posted by cdisantis83
I really enjoyed Love Is Hell; is anyone able to tell me how it compares to that album?

LIH is probably my fave, but Easy Tiger is more like a combo of Jacksonville and Cold Roses...

[Bonochick]

From Billboard:

Singer/songwriter Ryan Adams scores his highest position ever on The Billboard 200 this week with "Easy Tiger," which debuted at No. 7 with 61,000. The Lost Highway set trumps the artist's prior high-water mark of No. 26 with 2005's "Cold Roses".