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15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Cardinology, October 28, 2008
Cardinology is my introduction to the world of Ryan Adams, and I have to say, I'm rather pleased with it. It's obvious that Adams is a man who reveres the classics, as sounds of classic country, Elton John, and especially Neil Young are very prevalent in the music, working into a seamless blend which results in something greater than the sum of its parts. The music runs through the typical gamut of moods for a modern indie rock musician, hitting all the high points of ballads, slow rockers, barn burners, and country folk mashups. Adams has a distinctively Neil Young-ish voice, which I suppose can either be a great asset or a terrible burden depending upon the listener. Personally, I dig his voice, which lends itself easily to the variety of styles seen on this record.
The individual songs are solid, but just like with the albums various styles, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. While no individual song really stuck out to me as an instantly appealing, needs-to-be-on-infinite-repeat kind of track, there were none I really disliked. I think fans of Adams will no doubt enjoy this record, and as I've seen, it may not be a bad place for newcomers to start.
7.5/10
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18 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable and solid effort, October 29, 2008
"RYAN ADAMS IS THE SONGWRITING GENIOUS (sic) OF OUR MILLENIUM" proclaims one ecstatic reviewer on this page, while others on the opposite side of the spectrum urge the reader to go buy Cold Roses instead. Obviously this disc is divisive among the various camps of Ryan Adams fans, and that's surprising to me given how straightforward and pleasing this music sounds. But then, I am a relative newcomer to the world of Ryan Adams and the Cardinals so perhaps there's more to this than I'd think.
A bit of background. I have all the Whiskeytown material (or at least I think I do, I bought the 3 CDs available at the time) plus a copy of Heartbreaker, but after that I got off the train. Ryan's output became confusing and difficult to follow (stylistic jumps, overlong albums and a plethora of new material of dubious quality) and the music media often cast him as a whiny, narcissistic baby which is always a turnoff (quite frankly I usually don't care about such things but some of the stories did have an impact on whether I wanted to give my money to this guy). But recent positive reviews of Easy Tiger and reports that Adam has cleaned up his act and decided to focus on his music with more seriousness of purpose got me interested. This album is where I got back on the train and I'm happy I did so.
Adams is apparently one of those guys who has absorbed a lot of influences over the years. I'm not sure how old he is but I think he's probably at least about a half-decade younger than myself, which means he grew up in the era of alternative rock. However it's also clear that he's spent some time with classic rock as well - possibly the Grateful Dead and/or the Eagles - as well as the classic country stuff that formed the backbone of the Whiskeytown sound. Thus the album sounds both modern (the production is rich, not unlike a U2 record) and classic, which to me is appealing. Songs like "Cobwebs" reflect more of the 80s alt-rock influence, while "Go Easy" falls into more of the classic rock camp. The closing track "Stop" is beautiful and shows that Adams has learned something from whatever rehab he's been in. Somehow it all gels, the various threads coming together to create a song cycle that is appealing and sounds of a piece.
Now to finish where I started, this may be the closest thing we have to the "classic rock of the new milleneum," but I wouldn't call this a work of genius. It's just a good, solid album that I know I'll still enjoy years down the road, and that's enough to make me happy. It's also enough to make me want to check out Cold Roses and see what I've been missing. Score one for Adams - good job, mate.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Cardinology, February 17, 2009
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals-Cardinology
Too bad they will more than likely never play together again as Ryan Adams has officially broken up The Cardinals and right after they released their strongest album to date Cardinology. The classic rock meets Gram Parsons influenced Lp is ages ahead and behind anything the band had released in the past.
Tracks like love sick 'Go Easy' and the rocking 'Magick' paired with the delicate 'Natural Ghost' make for one hell of an album full of ups and downs. While some of the album suffers from sounding the exact same as a whole Cardinology succeeds at doing everything it sets out to do: be the best Whiskeytown album not recorded by Whiskeytown.
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