Jacksonville City Nights

Ryan Adams

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 27, 2005)
• Original Release Date: September 27, 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Lost Highway
• ASIN: B000AOF9RU
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (69 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #28,675 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Arguably the most eclectically prolific artist since Prince, Ryan Adams continues his chameleon revivalism with his most straightforward country music to date. Having evoked the inspiration of bands ranging from T. Rex to the Grateful Dead on previous solo releases, the former Whiskeytown frontman here channels the likes of Faron Young on "My Heart Is Broken," while framing the shot-and-a-beer opener, "A Kiss Before I Go," with honky-tonk piano and pedal steel. "Seems like I'm always movin'," he sings amid the rockabilly kick of "Trains," as the album finds his restless muse ranging from a dreamy duet with Norah Jones on "Dear John" to naked vulnerability reminiscent of John Lennon on "Silver Bullets." Only Adams would cut a track titled "The End" and sequence it second on the CD, or a song called "Peaceful Valley" and inject it with so much emotion. --Don McLeese

Recommended Ryan Adams Discography

Heartbreaker	Gold	Love Is Hell
Whiskeytown, Pneumonia	Whiskeytown, Stranger's Almanac	Whiskeytown, Faithless Street

Product Description
UK version features 2 bonus tracks, 'Always On My Mind' & 'Jeane'. Ryan & the Cardinals return again in 2005 with another studio album, Jacksonville City Nights. 16 tracks in total. Lost Highway. 2005. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Adams Delivers Another Quality Record, October 19, 2005

By	Rudy Palma "The Writing Fiend" (NJ) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

With his latest release "Jacksonville City Nights," the speedy follow-up to last spring's outstanding double album "Cold Roses," ever-prolific singer/songwriter Ryan Adams, backed by the Cardinals, has gone all out and crafted his first full-fledged country album. However, listeners need not prepare themselves for a drunken stupor after journeying through its 14 tracks. Sure, this is pure country, but Adams is talented enough to bend the genre just enough to still outrightly adhere to its foundations yet still satisfy his primarily alt-country/southern rock fanbase.

The disc opens with the splendid "A Kiss Before I Go," a bittersweet glimpse through a man's eyes at his present surroundings, which happens to include plenty of booze, while the singer/songwriter takes a long, hard look at his hometown of Jacksonville, SC on "The End." Chock full of thoughtful pianos, twangy guitars and slow-burning violins, both tracks were tailor-made for jukeboxes in bars out west, thus beginning the album perfectly.

Although he sings haphazardly about feelings of anxiety and being unable to cope with its effects, the raucous "Trains" is a rhythmic delight and the most easily accessible song on the collection, while lead single "The Hardest Part," waxes on the coming of age in the face of true love amidst delightfully discordant production and is a particularly excellent addition to Adams' catalogue.

Elsewhere, the wrenching ordeal of "Silver Bullets" is appropriately followed by "Peaceful Valley" a sincere yet tongue-in-cheek appeal to God to "take me home to the peaceful valley." Most wrenching of all, however, is "September," the story of a young woman who smiles before committing suicide. "My Heart Is Broken," a bittersweetly performed ode to an ended romance, could easily echo the viewpoint of her boyfriend, regretfully mourning his contribution to her demise.

Other standouts include "Dear John," a profoundly sad collaboration with Norah Jones, the intense "Don't Fail Me Now" and "Hard Way to Fall," which reveals that Adams truly has a knack for writing sentimental tunes that don't leave sap on your fingers.

"How she flips from the back to the front/Reading magazines/Oh my God, I miss those things/And it's a hard way to fall/And this ain't the easy way down/And it's a hard thing to love anyone, anyhow."

Overall, "Jacksonville City Nights" is an excellent addition to Adams' catalogue that proves yet again his uncanny talent to spring from genre to genre in his career with great ease and still create an abundance of top-notch quality music that has the power to enlighten as well as entertain. His next record is penciled in for a December release.

27 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Country Classic, September 29, 2005

By	R. Sousa "usarj" (Tewksbury, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Adams delivers a classic country masterpiece that makes that pop country nonsense that comes out of Nashville sound sillier than ever. The opening cut, "A Kiss Before I Go" immediately requires a few presses of the repeat button and off you go from there. Like a previous reviewer, I'm lukewarm on "Dear John" with Norah Jones because at first listen it doesn't seem to be totally fluid, but the more I hear it the more I think it would have fit better as the last cut on the CD. And with the exception of "Peacful Valley" which is probably a B side compared to the rest of the album, every cut is distinct and first rate. Again Ryan channels some of country's past greats while creating a path all his own. If you don't like country, then maybe this isn't for you, but if you like it at all, this is as good as country gets!

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars let him burn out hard and bright..., January 30, 2006

By	J. Allen "Sphrouwmphlamglictit" (Nashville, TN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I used to be a critic of Adams for releasing so many cd's. Then he played my hometown of Knoxville... for 4 hours... til he got kicked off stage by the theater managers.
It was then that I understood why he sang 'everybody wants to go forever, I just want to burn out hard and bright'. He doesn't care what some jaded music critic is scribbling up about him in a dusty loft apartment somewhere, this is his life.
Yeah, this cd's not that great nor that accessible, but at least he put it out. It's a great listen. The lyrics contain some great imagery of heartache in the dirty south, much like Merle Haggard. It's twangy, rich country. The kind that makes you want to butter up some cornbread with a shot of whiskey.
The big, open-room atmosphere of the recording makes this cd perfect for putting on loop and painting to.
I just think we should all stop creating reasons to not like music. If you don't like a song, hit the Skip> button, don't rail on someone for 'releasing too many songs'. Yeah, absense makes the heart grow fonder, but should Ryan be like Tool and release a cd every 7 years? I'd be heartbroken.