PO: Ryan Adams - Self-Titled 9/9/14

[timsimmons]

Yeah, I'm not blown away by it. But I get more of a gold vibe.

[runforcover]

Cardinology is laughably boring/bad. Fuck that record. His last great record was definitely in 2005 but I love those three. Although lately I've come around to Easy Tiger a bit. Halloweenhead though... 

[dreamover]

not a fan of that cover

[mr. sincere]

Neal's boring noodling is right up there with some of the most sleep-inducing medication on the market in my opinion. I don't care if he's an excellent musician (obviously he is), I found the later era of the Cardinals to be terribly obnoxious and bland. And by the way, I listened to a ton of the shows back then and saw about five between 06 and 08. So thanks for the Deadhead "dude listen to the SBDs!" argument, but I get it. No need for assumptions that I wasn't around in 2007.

 

And by the way, I agree that Adams was largely to blame as it was a pretty bad period for his songwriting and he was definitely into the whole California vibey thing. Casal was a huge part of that switch though, and that's documented in interviews where Ryan states that Neal's songwriting was hugely influential to him at the time. That was also clear from their stage presence and Neal's prominence on some of those tours. Again, not knocking the guy as a musician, but I certainly couldn't stand the years he was in the band. Give me the 2005 Cardinals over that "chill" stuff any day.

[timsimmons]

I thought the 04-05 cardinals were marred by Ryan's stoned noodling. Clearly it was when he was at his lowest substance abuse wise, but it was also when he was the most combative with the audience. The shows were erratic. Granted the highs were astoundingly high, but the lows were pretty embarrassing and boring. I thought when Neal joined and Ryan sobered up, the band got tighter. Yeah, you can blame Neal for inspiring drivel like Trouble on Wheels or some other terrible 2007-8 song, but all the older material was so much better and tighter.

[Rev. Mike]

Huh, I actually like Halloweenhead. Easy Tiger really speaks to me as a(n attempted) recovery album. I saw two unforgettable Cardinals shows in 2007, one because it was so amazing on the summer acoustic tour, and one because Ryan had a tantrum and ended the show on the fall tour, leaving the band on stage to walk off in confusion. I actually vowed to never buy anything or go see him again after that one. 

 

Thankfully, despite being underwhelmed by Ashes and Fire, but assured that he was fully sober now, I did go see him again on his solo tour in 2011 and it was so goddamn good.

[timbrh2001]

Neal's boring noodling is right up there with some of the most sleep-inducing medication on the market in my opinion. I don't care if he's an excellent musician (obviously he is), I found the later era of the Cardinals to be terribly obnoxious and bland. And by the way, I listened to a ton of the shows back then and saw about five between 06 and 08. So thanks for the Deadhead "dude listen to the SBDs!" argument, but I get it. No need for assumptions that I wasn't around in 2007.

And by the way, I agree that Adams was largely to blame as it was a pretty bad period for his songwriting and he was definitely into the whole California vibey thing. Casal was a huge part of that switch though, and that's documented in interviews where Ryan states that Neal's songwriting was hugely influential to him at the time. That was also clear from their stage presence and Neal's prominence on some of those tours. Again, not knocking the guy as a musician, but I certainly couldn't stand the years he was in the band. Give me the 2005 Cardinals over that "chill" stuff any day.

Well then you've got totally awful taste. My apologies.

[sacredheart]

I cant stand 29, it has a few decent tracks, but far from a decent album. I thought Easy Tiger was wonderful from front to back. I also think JCN is his best, so I dig the country side of him and what Neal and Graboff brought to the group. I will say Cardinology was pretty mediocre though, and was marred in too much Mandy Moore shit.

[timbrh2001]

I thought the 04-05 cardinals were marred by Ryan's stoned noodling. Clearly it was when he was at his lowest substance abuse wise, but it was also when he was the most combative with the audience. The shows were erratic. Granted the jiggers were astoundingly high, but the lows were pretty embarrassing and boring. I thought when Neal joined and Ryan sobered up, the band got tighter. Yeah, you can blame Neal for inspiring drivel like Trouble on Wheels or some other terrible 2007-8 song, but all the older material was so much better and tighter.

You could see the band starting to form in 05' and you're right, it was inconsistent. In 06' they had a really raw rough sound that I really enjoyed. 07-08 had a ton of experimentation and newer arrangements that shed some awesome new light to some of the catalogs best staples (some of those jammed out Off Broadways, Mag. Mtns and Easy Plateaus from those tours are just ridiculously good). 07-08 was my favorite era. In 09' the songs became a bit too polished and a lot of the experimentation went away. At that point I could start to see maybe why Ryan thought that disbanding the band could be an acceptable option. Little did we know that he would basically disappear from performing ever since. Shame.

[sunkilmoonfan]

Preorder up on Amazon UK as well: http://amzn.to/TOmCV8

 

Really looking forward to this record - have heard both the new single and B-side, and it sounds great so far.

[spilled milk]

I thought the 04-05 cardinals were marred by Ryan's stoned noodling. Clearly it was when he was at his lowest substance abuse wise, but it was also when he was the most combative with the audience. The shows were erratic. Granted the jiggers were astoundingly high, but the lows were pretty embarrassing and boring. I thought when Neal joined and Ryan sobered up, the band got tighter. Yeah, you can blame Neal for inspiring drivel like Trouble on Wheels or some other terrible 2007-8 song, but all the older material was so much better and tighter.

The worst was when they'd noodle for like 20 minutes on Easy Plateau or something and then play some bullshit Neal song like Freeway to the Canyon...

[timbrh2001]

The worst was when they'd noodle for like 20 minutes on Easy Plateau or something and then play some bullshit Neal song like Freeway to the Canyon...

I get that some don't appreciate how tough it is to listen and contribute with band mates while improvising during a song. "Noodling" isn't for everyone. Though don't blame Neal for that. Ryan has been a big fan of jambands like The Dead and Phish long before Neal joined the band. Neal just happens to be good enough of a musician to help Ryan achieve his jamband desires.

[Rev. Mike]

And Ryan was playing with Phil Lesh in 2005, jamming on dead songs and some of his own. But a lot of the dead heads hated his jamming contributions there as well. 

[jonnywreck]

I'm glad someone decided to properly term "stoned noodling" as "jamming." 

 

"Noodling" is pictured below.

 

 

My two cents - If you didn't enjoy his output with The Cardinals, I'd assume you didn't smoke enough weed before the show. 

[mr. sincere]

Once again, just because somebody doesn't like that noodly stuff, doesn't mean they don't get it or don't appreciate the musicianship that goes into it. It just means they don't like it. I think Trey is an incredible musician, maybe one of the best of our time. Cannot stand a single song the man has ever written. But I have awful taste in your cool guy opinion, so it doesn't matter what I think.

 

And about Ryan being into that stuff back then, I actually didn't mind the jammy stuff in 2005, even though it's definitely not my thing. I thought it was pretty good at the shows and Ryan ripped some awesome guitar work for those Cold Roses and JCN songs. I found it interesting to watch. Neal, not so much. The songwriting was nowhere up to the level it was in 2005 after he joined the band. And I know that's mostly on Ryan (which he obviously realized when he fired the Cardinals) but once again, if you go back to what was said at the time, Ryan used to talk endlessly about Neal's influence on his songwriting. And if you compare the Cardinology era stuff with some of the crap on Neal's records and what Ryan used to let him play at the shows, it's quite obvious that was the case.

 

Sorry you can't deal with somebody's opinion that Neal's boring as fuck, but it would be cool if you could grow up with your responses.

[timbrh2001]

Once again, just because somebody doesn't like that noodly stuff, doesn't mean they don't get it or don't appreciate the musicianship that goes into it. It just means they don't like it. I think Trey is an incredible musician, maybe one of the best of our time. Cannot stand a single song the man has ever written. But I have awful taste in your cool guy opinion, so it doesn't matter what I think.

And about Ryan being into that stuff back then, I actually didn't mind the jammy stuff in 2005, even though it's definitely not my thing. I thought it was pretty good at the shows and Ryan ripped some awesome guitar work for those Cold Roses and JCN songs. I found it interesting to watch. Neal, not so much. The songwriting was nowhere up to the level it was in 2005 after he joined the band. And I know that's mostly on Ryan (which he obviously realized when he fired the Cardinals) but once again, if you go back to what was said at the time, Ryan used to talk endlessly about Neal's influence on his songwriting. And if you compare the Cardinology era stuff with some of the crap on Neal's records and what Ryan used to let him play at the shows, it's quite obvious that was the case.

Sorry you can't deal with somebody's opinion that Neal's boring as fuck, but it would be cool if you could grow up with your responses.

Tl ; dr

Fortunately your taste sucks so I know I didn't miss anything of substance.

[timbrh2001]

And Ryan was playing with Phil Lesh in 2005, jamming on dead songs and some of his own. But a lot of the dead heads hated his jamming contributions there as well.

Neal's been given an opportunity to play with Phil and Bobby from The Dead as well as Chris Robinson too. Probably as a result of his connections with Ryan. It's too bad he's such a shitty musician, probably tortured those Dead tunes...

[jonnywreck]

Once again, just because somebody doesn't like that noodly stuff, doesn't mean they don't get it or don't appreciate the musicianship that goes into it. It just means they don't like it. I think Trey is an incredible musician, maybe one of the best of our time. Cannot stand a single song the man has ever written. But I have awful taste in your cool guy opinion, so it doesn't matter what I think.

 

And about Ryan being into that stuff back then, I actually didn't mind the jammy stuff in 2005, even though it's definitely not my thing. I thought it was pretty good at the shows and Ryan ripped some awesome guitar work for those Cold Roses and JCN songs. I found it interesting to watch. Neal, not so much. The songwriting was nowhere up to the level it was in 2005 after he joined the band. And I know that's mostly on Ryan (which he obviously realized when he fired the Cardinals) but once again, if you go back to what was said at the time, Ryan used to talk endlessly about Neal's influence on his songwriting. And if you compare the Cardinology era stuff with some of the crap on Neal's records and what Ryan used to let him play at the shows, it's quite obvious that was the case.

 

Sorry you can't deal with somebody's opinion that Neal's boring as fuck, but it would be cool if you could grow up with your responses.

 

 

My opinion is that your responses are poorly worded and churlish. Mainly because I didn't say anything about your opinions, only your lack of education in the subject you chose to expound upon.

[timbrh2001]

My opinion is that your responses are poorly worded and churlish. Mainly because I didn't say anything about your opinions, only your lack of education in the subject you chose to expound upon.

Pretty sure that was in response to me. Nobody likes to read that they have garbage cans for ears.

[jonnywreck]

Pretty sure that was in response to me. Nobody likes to read that they have garbage cans for ears.

 

Ah, okay. It can be pretty tough to read whose response is in reference to whose. It didn't seem like you were even trashing him before he went apeshit, so who knows? Either way, Ryan Adams rules, his new song rules, and I can't wait for the new shit.

[timbrh2001]

Ah, okay. It can be pretty tough to read whose response is in reference to whose. It didn't seem like you were even trashing him before he went apeshit, so who knows? Either way, Ryan Adams rules, his new song rules, and I can't wait for the new shit.

I dunno. People don't like to be told people have a sub par ear for music. I can see why offense was taken, haha.

[sacredheart]

I dunno. People don't like to be told people have a sub par ear for music. I can see why offense was taken, haha.

 

 

Jesus Christ you are annoying. Your taste in music is no better or worse than anyone elses. Shut the fuck up already.

[timsimmons]

I should clarify my noodling comment. It wasn't so much all jamming is noodling, I think guitarists like Trey or who ever are incredibly talent. Even Ryan can play in his own right. I just feel that his improvisational playing wasn't very good while he was under the influence of his speedballs or any of that shit. His playing greatly improved when he sobered up the summer of 06. I felt that the very pre-cardinal (but cardinal) shows in 04 and the real card shows in 05, were sloppy and Ryan's jamming meandering.

[spilled milk]

I should clarify my noodling comment. It wasn't so much all jamming is noodling, I think guitarists like Trey or who ever are incredibly talent. Even Ryan can play in his own right. I just feel that his improvisational playing wasn't very good while he was under the influence of his speedballs or any of that shit. His playing greatly improved when he sobered up the summer of 06. I felt that the very pre-cardinal (but cardinal) shows in 04 and the real card shows in 05, were sloppy and Ryan's jamming meandering.

yeah, those shows were just unfocused and sloppy more than anything  but so were a lot of the shows when he was playing with The RA Killers, so it's unfair to blame Neal or Spacewolf (RIP) for that.

 

you can wholly blame Neal for writing turds like Freeway to the Canyon though...

[apirk]

Neal's been given an opportunity to play with Phil and Bobby from The Dead as well as Chris Robinson too. Probably as a result of his connections with Ryan. It's too bad he's such a shitty musician, probably tortured those Dead tunes...

Neal was going to be the Crowes lead guitarist when they came back after they broke up/hiatus and then Ford signed back up at the last moment.

Neal is and awesome guitarist but j can see where some people might not like all the jamming but RA is going to do what he is going to do so no reason to blame Casal.