Customer Reviews

Jacksonville City Nights

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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.

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!

Ryan Adams breaks my heart. His songs, especially his singing, touch me somewhere deep inside. I don't really know why. It's just like the lyrics in "A Kiss Before I Go," where he sings, "I can't explain what I don't know." Well, I can't explain what I don't know either. I am old enough to be his mother, I haven't hung out in bars for years, and excessive drinking is part of a very distant past. Yeah, I've had a broken heart, but not every time I paired up with someone. I'm not from the south either, so I don't really know that kind of life. Still, I feel like I know this world Ryan lives in. His lyrics make it painfully clear what it's like. This is the second cd he has put out with his band The Cardinals. Together they have crossed over to the other side. This is not alt-country, folks. This is pure country, the kind that Hank Williams and Johnny Cash made in the '50's. Brushed drums, pedal steel, upright bass, cello, piano, and violins weave in and out of the electric and acoustic guitars. The vocals are the primary focus on all the songs, especially on "Peaceful Valley," which he sings in a falsetto, straining to hit the high notes. There are a few recording flaws-there ALWAYS are a few in Mr. Adams' releases. Maybe that's why I like his cd's so much-he'd rather go with 95% of what he wanted the sound to be, than pro-tool the music until it strips all the life out of it. At any rate, I can't tell you my favorite song on this cd, because I pick a new one each time I listen to it. That, my friends, is the hallmark of a really great record. You are going to have to buy this if you want to hear it-Ryan Adams and The Cardinals are too country for rock radio, and not cookie-cutter enough for country radio. That's a shame, because this is the best country record in the last 5 years, maybe even the last ten years. Highly recommended!

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.

The Country Music Awards don't invite fellows like Ryan Adams to appear. His music is at once old-school hillbilly and sonic experiments. Delicate and abusive. Hard to easily catagorize in the Best Buy bins..

I recently had the priviledge of seeing Mr Ryan open for Willie Nelson at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. The two are more than labelmates, they are musical soul-mates in that "official" Nashville never embraced them....and niether gives two spits. They make their own way and make great music.

If you like your country poppy and contrived go get Big and Rich and steer far away from this gem

I have been a fan since, like many people, I was exposed to Ryan Adams through his video of "New York, New York." I've been hooked ever since, but seldom have I been as floored over his work as I've been over "Jacksonville City Nights."

There's no great way to review this CD. I recently handed it to a friend and told her, "I know you're not really into country music, but listen to this several times -- I know you'll think it's brilliant."

I liked "Cold Roses," but it came and went from my CD player rather quickly. "Jacksonville City Nights" simply hasn't left since I bought it. I love every track, from the rollicking "A Kiss Before I Go," to the devastation of "Dear John" (which I see in previous reviews that some people have issues with; but to me, the vocals are brilliant, deftly suggesting the unfathomable distance between two lovers who are no longer together... it's as if two different songs are being sung simultaneously, and it's heartwrenching and gorgeous).

I think there are only a handful of musical geniouses around today - and of those, few have a strong enough personality &/or relationship with their label to do exactly as they please, refusing to pander to the "industry" or to water-down/homogenize lyrics or music. Adams, thanfully, is one of those voices who demands to be heard. The best part of being a "fan" is that you can experience him in every incarnation. His output is prolific and experimental, and for a listener, the journey is intense, remarkable, rewarding, & fun.

"Jacksonville City Nights" is all about difficulty: in life, in love, in death. Adams has reached an artistic high here through his depiction of a reality that is "withering," but beautifully so.

If you absolutely can not stand Country, you can stop reading now and go purchase something else. This is the most Country album that Ryan Adams has ever made. Yes - even more so than the Whiskeytown albums. He even takes an old Whiskeytown track, My Heart Is Broken, and re-records it with The Cardinals making it even MORE Country than before. Honkey-Tonk to the bone, this brilliant album sounds like it was recorded back in the 50's.

The only reason I am not giving this a full 5 Star review is that I am personally not that big of a Country fan. I could have done with a little less Honkey-Tonk, and a little more Rock in these tunes. As far a Country album goes, it is great!

The standout tracks are easily A Kiss Before I Go, The End, Hard Way To Fall, the first single - The Hardest Part, and the heart-breaking September. I could have done without the Norah Jones duet - Dear John - about a marriage gone wrong. Her voice just doesn't blend well with Ryan's on the track.

The production is perfect for the type of album Ryan was trying to make - an Old School Country album. Nothing sounds over-produced, the band sounds full of life & liquor, and Ryan's Country howl is in full effect and pitch perfect throughout the album. See The End and My Heart Is Broken for examples of his brilliant vocal work. Lyrically, Ryan is again head-and-shoulders above his contemporaries. The End (a middle-finger to Jacksonville, his hometown), Hard Way To Fall (an ode to a lover, lost), and September (a love song to a lover who passed away) are all as strong lyrically as anything Ryan has ever written.

All in all, the album sounds like something you'll want to break out when sitting around and having a couple of lazy drinks. While this isn't my favorite Ryan Adams album - it is probably the one most suited for drinking to.

From a long time fan's perspective, this album (along with "Cold Roses," also from 2005) is one of his best works. If you're not familiar with his work, this record has more of a gritty, authentic country feel to it than some of his other more pop, punk, rock or folk-influenced albums. We all know how prolific Adams is, and I'd be inclined to agree that not every single song is quite up to the level of the best ones; and had its best tracks been combined with the best tracks from "Cold Roses" we'd have the album of the decade! But I appreciate Ryan Adams' artistic vision, I think he is a brilliant songwriter and I'm glad he does exactly what he wants, when he wants! He's not making these records to please fans and get great reviews from "Spin" or whatever. When I look back at a lot of my favorite artists I can see that independence as a common thread... anyway, this is great music. If you are afraid of country music, don't worry, this isn't like the pop crap out there on the charts. It brings back memories of listening to Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, George Strait, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Emmylou Harris with my mom when I was a child. Back when country music wasn't cheesy and had feeling to it that wasn't contrived. I guess that's more or less what "alt country" means to me these days... good country! So, if you aren't into country, I promise you there IS good stuff out there. But it would be selling this album short to just stick it with that categorization, because at the end of the day, it's just rockin' music that you'll want to play with the windows down. I know that the Cardinals' lineup has changed a few times, but they are a great band, the lineup I saw last year, which I think minus Cindy Cashdollar was the same as played on the album, was really in sync with each other. They came out with a simple stage set and really rocked some vintage instruments. I love this incarnation of Ryan Adams, as much as the Dead-inspired "Cold Roses" sets (and there is plenty of overlap.) The first few songs are, in my opinion the best: "A Kiss Before I Go," which I think was actually an older tune resurrected, "The End," and "The Hardest Part" are my favorites. Another classic is "My Heart is Broken." Those four are some of my all time favorite Adams tunes and make the album worth it right there. This record has a magic to it... it embodies the mysterious, mischievous, part new york, part north carolina punk country spirit that is Ryan Adams. I can't wait to see what he comes up with next!

For me to rate this album 5 stars is saying something because I'm not a huge country fan. Like many other reviewers, it took a few listens for this album to grow on me, but at this point it gets a regular rotation in my playlist.

It's funny to read other reviews that bash his prolific nature with comments such as "rather than putting out 3 good albums, why not put out 1 amazing album?" That's a fair question I suppose, but as a huge fan of Ryan Adams I'll take anything he's willing to give us. Besides, in today's era musicians are too sheltered and afraid to make mistakes. Everything is so overproduced these days. Look back to the early years of Elton John - he put out 4 amazing albums that are some of the best rock-n-roll has ever seen, and he did it in the span of two years! Ryan is a throwback artist, worthy of comparison to the all-time greats. Is it just me, or can anyone else picture him on stage (blending in just fine, not missing a beat) with The Band?

As for the heavy influence of Country on this album, I think the reason he's taken this route is that he's simply telling quirky stories with each song that don't necessarily rely on repetitive choruses. What better medium to do that than in a country song with simple cords and pedal steel wailing in the background?

One last comment - for those purists out there who might complain his voice isn't "clean" enough, I think you're right. His voice is rough around the edges and crackles in and out of tune on occassion, but who cares? He still comes across as being honest and heartfelt, and to me that's his most endearing quality.

Rock on.

ebhp

When I first got this albulm, I didn't like it at all. It's definitely more old style country than Ryan's old stuff. But after listening to it more, I could see the genius in it. Same amazing lyrics and vocals, and now I can't get enough! Give me more classic country Ryan!!!