Rock N Roll

Ryan Adams | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 4, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Lost Highway
• ASIN: B0000DZ3D1
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  DVD Audio  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (197 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #51,323 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Review

B+ Review!...punk like the Replacements in attitude and energy….Guitars mixed way up. Vocals screamed. But hooks are everywhere." -- Spin, December 2003

Five Star Review! Ryan Adams has thrown off the trappings of underachievement and grabbed for the crown. -- Blender, November 2003

Four Star Review! Rock-N-Roll is exactly what he says it is. Dance with confidence. -- Rolling Stone, November 13, 2003

features his best singing and guitar work ever; it’s the album he-and-we always knew he could make’ -- Vanity Fair, November 2003

Product Description

14 tracks. Scuffs on disc will not affect play - graded just FAIR.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 40 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars An Able Ape July 4, 2004

By James F. Colobus

Format:Audio CD

At this point, Ryan Adams must be wondering what it's going to take to establish himself as a mainstream artist. He's dated several movie stars (Winona Ryder and Parker Posey), written a song inextricably linked with a major event in our nation's history ("New York, New York"), and released an album of relentlessly accessible rock songs (Rock N Roll). Still, Adams remains relatively ignored except by music critics and his cult of devoted followers. Since I have no intention of scrutinizing his dalliances with waifish actresses or offering social commentary on post-9/11 America, I'll focus on the third topic - Adams' recent rock album, Rock N Roll.

For an album that contains myriad potential radio hits, Rock N Roll sold rather poorly. Familiar, catchy hooks from the 1970s and 80s lurk within almost every song and perhaps therein lies the problem. By so ably aping his predecessors, Adams fails to establish his own voice as a rock musician. At times, Rock N Roll practically becomes Adams singing karaoke. "So Alive" is a great lost U2 song and Adams does a fine job singing it. Nevertheless, it's a guaranteed number one single with Bono hitting those high notes instead of Adams. "Anybody Wanna Take Me Home" is straight out of the Smiths' songbook, but Adams is less suited to providing vocals here - the song practically begs for Adams to concentrate on his guitar-playing and let Morrissey take over on lead vocals. "Shallow" is a not unpleasant hybrid of T Rex's "Bang a Gong" and the Hollies' "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress", but doesn't exactly scream originality. Most of the songs are good, but few can be considered great. Not surprisingly, the great ones are the songs that don't obviously recall another artist - "Luminol", "Note to Self: Don't Die", "Wish You Were Here".

With his tendency towards the prolific and fondness for media coverage, Adams may yet attain the mainstream popularity he desires. As far as I can tell, he has two options. On the one hand, he could make a concerted effort to follow his more original musical instincts. The other option would be to start dressing stylishly while continuing to churn out mostly derivative tunes. The latter approach worked like a charm for another band, that is only half as good as Adams is, but of which Adams is inexplicably fond. The next time Adams decrees "This Is It", I want him to be telling the truth.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't buy this if you don't enjoy good fun rock and roll. That's all that this album has. February 13, 2006

By Storylover TOP 50 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

I love Ryan Adams. Sometimes. I love Heartbreaker. I love much of Gold. I utterly love "Love is Hell", and refuse to listen to it except as a complete album. I was resistant to getting this album, however, because of the negative press that it seemed to be garnering.

Well, the press can be pretty stupid sometimes.

This is not a difficult listen. This is not a symphony, an opera, a John Cage composition. This is exactly what it was labelled to be: Rock and Roll. Ryan has put together a collection of rollicking, hard rocking, fun music. Much has been made of the tips of the hat that he makes to other bands. Good for him. Music builds on itself, and right now people, many folks don't even understand that they are standing on the shoulders of the proverbial giants. Ryan does. He name checks, riff checks, voice checks all the music he loves--check out "So Alive" for his brilliant love letter to Morrissey. People who are unable to give in to the joy, the abandon, the wild passion for real rock and roll that suffuses this album like the joy of breaking out of school on a snow day, a beach day, heck, any day...well, that is a shame. Don't come to this album to heal your hurts. Don't come to this album to find the next great advance a-la radiohead. Come for a good time, and you will get it in spades. Bravo, Mr. Adams, keep em coming. Just as fast as you can put them out, we'll listen to them. Granted, we may make some of them into mix tapes...but hey, keep 'em comin.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Not the usual Ryan Adams CD, but damn good stuff. January 6, 2004

By David L. Smith

Format:Audio CD

After hearing all the hoopla surrounding this album and it's conception, I had mixed emotions when I popped this one into my CD player. I figured because Love is hell was essentially shelved for not being "accessable" in the record company's view, that this CD would be largely a rushed attempt to satisfy the drooling record execs. This may be the case, but to my surprise, it's a very good CD. The alt-country is all but gone, replaced by upbeat rock songs. But, this is not a bad thing, because the integrity in the music remains, and the songwriting is brilliant, as always. This album actually contains some of Ryan's best songs, and it definetly has a 80's modern rock feel to it. As a long fan of Morrissey, The Church, The Cult, etc, etc, I find it highly entertaining. Definetly one of the best of the year.