Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A New Fan, January 17, 2004
By A Customer
I don't listen to a great deal of popular contemporary music. I first saw Ryan Adams on David Letterman a few nights ago, and my wife and I looked at him, then at each other, then laughed out loud. His goofy clothing, ruffled appearance, oversized glasses, and mournful attitude exuded cliche. But then he started singing.About halfway through his song ("So Alive," as it turns out) I thought, "Wait a minute. This guy's good. He's really, really good." So I read a few Amazon.com reviews, hoping to find a good Ryan Adams "starter" CD. I didn't know the name of the song he sang on Letterman, but thought it might have come from his newest album, which this seemed to be. I ended up buying GOLD and LOVE IS HELL, Part II. I love them both, and have Rock and Roll on order. This album is much mellower than the rockin' GOLD. This album reminds me of The Smiths (who I also enjoy). I look forward to buying more of his CD's.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It Moves Me, June 3, 2004
Sometimes sad songs feel so right. They bring you down and bring you up. The melancholia probes your emotions like a taser, causing you to wince at the slightest lilt or change in tone. A single note can break your heart and one lonely word can bring you to tears. When you're in this disposition of augmented sensitivity, and your feelings have been broken and battered, I'm sure the thought that Ryan Adams brilliantly exposes often sticks out in your mind like a fluorescent billboard: "Love Is Hell". The songs on this incredible ep all attest to the pain and suffering that are often brought about by the debilitation of heartbreak. The gambit of crestfallen piano tinkles that begin My Blue Manhattan forebode the entrancing despair that later follows on the album. This opening number, to me, is the ideal song for drunkenly sobbing in an empty bar-room at 4 in the morning. It's tired, lonesome, despressed and exactly what you need. Following this inebriated wallowing is my favorite song on Love Is Hell, Please Do Not Let Me Go. I won't write much about it, because too many feelings overwhelm me when listening to it. It's just so sad and so beautiful, a song that makes you wonder how the hell a person can pinpoint seemingly inexplicable emotions in a breathtaking ballad of desolation. The third song, City Rain, City Lights, starts out in a more uplifting manner, but ends in an astounding crescendo of despair, "I am going to push them away, fall into the leaves of the winter trees, drowning slowly, lonely, my city rain." The next number, I See Monsters, calls Elliot Smith (r.i.p.) to mind with its eerie, paranoid folk aura. Conjuring the sheer terror of true love, this song is both startling and strangely enchanting. English Girls Approximately follows in the most positive and cheery manner of any of the previous songs. It's a bit long and rambling, but still a very solid tune. Thank You Louise brings the mood back down again in describing the sorrowful life of Mary Louise and the passing away of one of her children. Concluding the sadness of Love Is Hell is Hotel Chelsea Nights, one of the most brilliant and beautiful album codas I've heard in a long, long time. The anthemic chant "Strung out like some christmas lights, out there in the chelsea nights" will stay with you for months. In a word, this ep is absolutely stunning from start to finish. I especially recommend it for those who are down, but I'm sure that anyone can appreciate the heart and soul that Ryan and Adams put into this fantastic recording.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
This is the Ryan Adams fans expect, February 1, 2004
After what some would consider a disappointing release of full-length CD Rock 'n' Roll, Ryan Adams redeems himself with the Love is Hell EP's. In Love is Hell part 2, songs like "City Rain, City Streets" feature beautiful guitar work and gut-wrenching lyrics. The melancholy "Hotel Chelsea Nights" is another great one and could easily find its place among Adams' best.For as prolific a songwriter, it's amazing that Adams is able to consistently produce good music. And this album is yet another example.
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is one of Ryan Adams' 
