Customer Reviews

May Day

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There are so few artists that I can say that change my outlook on music once I have heard their sounds..However, Matthew Ryan is definitely one of them. I bought "East Autumn Grin" first and just devoured it (an absolutely incredible follow-up to this cd). But then I couldn't get enough of his songs, so I bought "May Day" and was not the least bit disappointed. From start to finish, this cd brings out the raspy, throaty, but passionate voice that invokes an atmosphere of calm fire. And the lyrics, are entirely meaningful...For example, the song "Chrome", my absolute favorite on the cd, is filled with pain and loss and hope at the same time. This song may be one of the most beautiful songs ever written. Other songs that stand out include "Irrelevant", "The Dead Girl", "Dam", and "Watch your step". But the cd is not filled with holes, no no, this cd is beautiful from start to finish! Play it on a cool cloudy day, play it at night by the fire, on a long road trip..This cd has become one of my favorites and will begin to look for him live in New England....An artist whose songs have changed my whole musical outlook!

Last christmas I was driving through Nashville and the radio station WKDF played the song 'Irrelevant' I was blown away. I tried my best to catch all the words, and drove the rest of the hour drive home trying to hum the tune. Finally I arrived home, called the radio station and asked about the song . The next day I tracked this album down in Clarksville, Tenn. Very few songs ever grab me as quickly or as completely as this: When Doves Cry, Dancing In The Dark, Creep, Bitter Sweet Symphony, and I've only called a radio station for information about one other song, U2's With or Without You. This song is just amazing, the way it sort of lumbers along on a dark groove, the emotion tracing the breakup and the words "Before I came irrelevant" summing up the feeling we have all had after being dumped. Does the rest of the album live up to the standard of this song? Not quite. Don't misunderstand, there are other songs just as moving, 'The Dead Girl' being the first to come to mind, and the album starts with a great double shot of rock and roll 'Guilty' and 'Watch Your Step' but for all their wonderful wordplay and smoky voices, nothing else matches the mood or brilliance of the song I heard that winter night. Now I know that a lot of the magic I felt from 'Irrelevant' that night stems from the mood I was in when I heard it, the way the groove fit the drive home, the snow falling in front of the headlights, the feeling of being back home for the holidays, but all that aside, when this CD is taken as a whole, from the full out rockers like Railroaded to the spare solo numbers, 'Irrelevant' is the song that shows the range of this mans talent in one neat package. Matthew's voice feels well worn, but sounds perfect with the mood and lyrics of this album. From Dylan to Petty to Robbie Robertson, it's easy to hear influences, in fact, there are times when the guitars are cranked and the organ swirls from underneath to the top of the mix that you think back to Dylan and the Band, or when his voice finally creeps out of your speakers, prehaps the Wallflowers comes to mind, but you never get the feeling that this guy isn't the real thing. He's no copycat artist, he believes what he writes about and his playing gets it across to all of us. This album and artist deserves more attention, here's hoping he gets it. Until his next release, take a chance on May Day. I know at least one song will stick with you. These days, that's more than can be said about a lot of artist.

Matthew Ryan's debut album, May Day, is perhaps one of the most beautifuly written albums that I have ever heard. With lyrics that touch the heart and invoke emotions and impulses that go into parts of the human heart that we would sometimes rather ignore. The contemplation of murder, the dealing with irrelevence, the getting up and going after all has been declared bad. . .Mr. Ryan touches on it all, and he does so in a way that grabs your attention and brings you to singing along with him. Clearly, he is one of the best song crafters of this generation. One of the few albums that I would declare a must have in an album collection.

Cranky, nicotine-and-whisky rock, with guitars stacked to the rafters. Too bad songwriting doesn't count anymore...this guy would be a zillionaire. Some parallels: X, Paul Westerberg, Tom Petty at his loudest, Kevin Salem. A damn fine record.

Looking for something refreshing to listen to, I chanced upon this 1997 album in Towers Record in Singapore. I've never heard of Matthew Ryan. Looking at the cover and the song titles, I kind of guessed that this is no album by an ex-boy band member. The album blew me away. I could hear shades of Waits, Springsteen, perhaps Steve Earle. I could not stop raving about the album. I would put this album on a par with the best work by these great singer-songwriters. Best tracks: Irrelevant, Chrome. Not a dud track on the whole CD.

If you consider yourself to be someone who enjoys anything that passes for music in these dark teen pop days, you must own this album. By far the best thing I've heard in a good many years - even superior to Ryan Adam's "Heartbreaker" (Although it's close...).

I just love it. Check out his other 2 albums as well, the are great, too.

Don't bother with the comparisons being made between Matthew Ryan and Dylan, Springsteen, Waits, et al. Don't be bothered by them, either, even though they are the inevitable inarticulations of praise that follow from a rare original debut such as this one. Ryan writes so very well, and his arrangements and playing are so subtle, layered, and apt, you listen with no self-consciousness. This record is solid and substantial and remarkably even throughout. Ryan makes you stop stock still, sensing you are hearing something so _______ new (don't fill in the blank, there isn't an adjective, or any dozen, that will suffice!) you have to take account of it fully. I've listened to "Mayday" possibly 200 times all the way through by now, and it hasn't lost any of its first luster and freshness. I don't ever expect it to, in the way (here I go, with the irresistable impulse to compare: I am quite the hypocrite, aren't I? At least I am consoled that I believe Ryan would approve, smile. . .) that "Blonde on Blonde" has all of the lovely edge it had in 1967. As long as he doesn't do the 60's rock icon self-immolation gig, Matthew Ryan will be with us, and we will be loving him for it, a long time yet.

I first heard this CD in a listening station at the local indie shop. I was sold from the first few chords of Guilty and each song thereafter continued to offer up refreshing, exhilerating and insightful songs that were a breath of fresh air in the downtrodden world of teen-pop hell. From the tongue in cheek "Disappointed" to the mesmerizing "Irrelevent", this album does not contain a single clunker! His lyrics are not only wonderful to listen too, but also wonderful to READ! I anxiously await more from Mr. Ryan - he is for real.

This music is made by an artist who has lived life , full of its inherent ups and downs, and who isn't afraid to write songs about it. A refreshing change from the fluff of top 40 radio. Bravo!

I've seen Ryan live in Portland ME and it's the only thing that tops this album. I bought May Day shortly after seeing Matthew Ryan in Feb 1998 and one year later all of the songs still carry the same gritty, smoke filled bite they did then. An excellent buy, and an excellent show if you ever have the chance.