Ryan Adams’s Rock N Roll Is Now 10 Years Old, And It’s Gotten Better

10 years ago this month Ryan Adams released Rock N Roll, a creative left turn album that found Adams trading country songwriting for rock guitars. It was initially considered a commercial failure and, even worse, a bland disappointment for fans (though “So Alive” proved to be a decent radio hit). But 10 years later, Ryan Adams’s own classic-rock album has aged well enough for many fans, including myself, to revisit it and admit that, “ok, this is actually pretty good.”

Looking back on Adams’s career, it makes sense for him to record Rock N Roll. Adams was always more than just a Gram Parsons for a new generation. He had roots in metal and punk music, and his previous band Whiskeytown was considered alternative country simply because of Adams’s songwriting rooted in classic rock and punk. But in 2003, the world was expecting another Gold or Heartbreaker. His previous release Demolition, though now generally well received, was the first Ryan Adams record that wasn’t universally praised by critics and fans, and they all were hoping that Adams would get back in line and release another classic album. Unfortunately for them, Rock N Roll was the exact opposite of what they wanted, and the album got panned even more. But now, after 10 years, many people are coming back to this record with a new sense of love.

There is no country on this record, and the closest we get is the beautiful piano ballad that is the title track. Everything else on Rock N Roll is full of electric guitars and Adams spitting out the most straight forward rock lyrics he has ever written. The songs are sloppy and loose, which makes sense considering that the album was supposedly written and recorded in just two weeks.

Rock N Roll embodies both the good and bad effects of an artists in the early 2000s trying to recapture the classic-rock feel of 70s rock. Nearly ever song is about drug use or about people using drugs, or about using drugs to get over girls (that covers the whole Sex, Drugs, and Rock N Roll checklist). Even the song titles hint at where the  inspirations are coming from (“1974”, “Wish You Were Here”, “Note To self: Don’t Die”, “The Drugs Not Working”). The hooks are undeniably catchy as hell, and Adams knows that he can write a blistering rock song in his sleep. The bad part is that sometimes it sounds like Adams is writing these songs in his sleep. Throughout the album, there seems to be a lack sincerity from an artist who became famous for writing one of the most sincere albums of the past decades, and an artist being insensitive to his fans is a hard pill for some to swallow.

But all the sloppiness and cockiness of Rock N Roll has evolved from annoying to charming. “Wish You Were Here” and “Burning Photographs” are some of Adams’s best songs, and “Rock N Roll” could have been on Heartbreaker. Rock N Roll, if recorded today in 2013, would sound like a more honest (and more fun) rock record, much more than it was in 2003. It’s not the best Ryan Adams record you’ll ever hear, but I’d be damn if you don’t find yourself turning up the volume on “So Alive” and “Do Miss America”.

Classics In The Making: The Perks of Being a Wallflower Movie Soundtrack

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a popular coming-of-age novel written by Stephen Chbosky in 1999 and is slowly reaching Catcher in the Rye status as an essential tale of the highs and lows of high school. I didn’t read the book, but I did see the 2012 movie adaption starring Emma Watson (which was actually written and directed by Chbosky).

The movie was great, and I – as probably most of us would quietly admit – felt a strong connection with Charlie, a quiet kid who was nice and meant well and liked The Smiths (ok maybe not that) and hated high school and fell in love and had that one teacher you actually liked and all that  jazz. I’ve been told that Chbosky changed a lot of the book’s story for the sake of making the movie more “watchable”, so everything I’m talking about concerns the movie plot.

But the best thing about the movie wasn’t the movie itself — it was the music.

“Over many years, I have collected songs…Some of the songs are popular. Some of them are not known by a whole lot of people. But they are all great in their own way. And since these songs have meant a lot to me, I just wanted you have them as a soundtrack for whatever you need them to be for your life.”  — Chbosky in the album’s linear notes

For a movie dealing with the awkwardness that is our teenage years, the music had to reflect that isolated part of our lives, and Chbosky nailed it with his selection of tunes.

Here’s the album:

1) The Samples – “Could It Be Another Change?”

2) Dexys Midnight Runners – “Come On Eileen”

3) Galaxie 500 – “Tugboat”

4) New Order – “Temptation”

5) The Innocence Mission – “Evensong”

6) The Smiths – “Asleep”

7) Cracker – “Low”

8) Sonic Youth – “Teen Age Riot”

9) XTC – “Dear God”

10) Cocteau Twins – “Pearly-Dewdrops’ Drops”

11) David Bowie – “Heroes”

 

The movie also includes the following:

Simon & Garfunkel – “Scarborough Fair/Canticle”

Procol Harum – “A Whiter Shade Of Pale”

Nick Drake – “Time Of No Reply”

Misfits – “Where Eagles Dare”

Ride – “Vapor Trail”

Suzanne Vega – “Gypsy”

The Moody Blues – “Nights In White Satin”

Smashing Pumpkins – “Daydream”

Fleetwood Mac – “Landslide”

 

To save you some time, frustration and money, check out this awesome Spotify playlist for all these songs from the movie.

To Charlie, these songs were sources of comfort and reminders, for better or worse, of life in high school. For any rock and indie loyalist, these songs form a fantastic mixtape of nostalgic songs written before many of us were born.

And there lies the beauty of this soundtrack — it manages to make you miss high school, or at least remember it more fondly. Music has that strange power to make us remember a past memory or emotion, and this soundtrack nails the high school feeling. It reminds you of a great John Hughes soundtrack for a movie he might of made if he were making movies today (and wasn’t so charming as he was cheesy).

Ok, maybe you didn’t grow up loving Smashing Pumpkins or Fleetwood Mac or maybe you were actually popular in high school, why care? Because this is still a killer mixtape of great songs. The bulk of these songs are plucked from the nostalgic late 80s and early 90s but go as far back as the 60s. From classic rock to goth to new wave, the best selections from various genres are represented here for your enjoyment. Because of this album, I’ve started listening to more Nick Drake, Ride, and Suzanne Vega — there’s a new artist waiting for you within this soundtrack.

I’m trying very hard to stay away from a Garden State comparison, though that soundtrack (and maybe movie) is the closest thing my generation has to something that speaks true to our times (even if we mistake clinical depression for modern fears of our early 20s). But if that soundtrack is for our post college years, then The Perks of Being a Wallflower soundtrack should be for our high school years. Because even if you didn’t go to high school in the 90s, these songs speak universally for those four years that everyone remembers.

And if nothing else, maybe you’ll start listening to The Smiths?

Classics In The Making: The Strokes – Is This It

You wish you were as cool as this band.

Ten years ago today (in the UK), The Strokes released their debut album Is This It, an album that many consider to be one of the best rock albums of the past decade.  The album brought back the Rock N Roll sound bands like Television and The Stooges perfected in the seventies and brought it into the new millennium.  For a little bit of time, it seemed that the cool minimalist Rock N Roll Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground helped create was finally in the mainstream and here to stay.  While the fad did not last, this album has aged well and still sounds as cool as it did a decade ago.

When this album was released in the summer of 2001, guitar-rock was at a low point.  MTV was filled with all pop and rap, and all the great grunge bands of the 90s had either broken up or faded away into obscurity.  Stained was the most popular rock band on the radio…it was that bad.  But then here comes this five-piece band of the coolest looking dudes from uptown New York City who worshipped the Velvet Underground and Tom Petty and played fast guitar rock music, all while not giving a fuck.  Is This It was warmly welcomed among critics and fans, and that alone had established the band’s place in history – not necessary because they were talented, but because they were exactly what we needed.

Is This It is very simple: eleven three-minute songs, all fast, all revolving around the guitars, no extra sounds from the studio, minimal effects, and all raw.  No serious life questioned asked here, just songs about partying, girls, and more partying.  Julian Casablancas sounds sleazy but collected – a guy who knows how cool he is.  The band is tight and clam, but they can be ferocious when they need to be (props to Fabrizio Moretti for the excellent drumming).

Even though The Strokes aren’t an indie band, this album became one of the most important albums for a new generation of indie kids.  This band opened the doors for new bands like The Killers and Kings Of Leon to become successful (Kings Of Leon first got attention only because they sounded like a southern version of The Strokes).  Many new bands adopted The Strokes’s look and sound, and soon guitar rock was brought into a new golden age (The Strokes weren’t the only ones blowing up around this time, so were The White Stripes and The Hives).  This album, along with Arcade Fire’s Funeral and Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, helped defined indie music in the 2000s.

Does the album cover not look familiar?  The picture you see above is the original album cover that was released in the UK.  The album cover was changed for the US to seem more “appealing”.  Another thing happened between the UK and the US release of this album – 9/11.  The original album contains “New York City Cops”, and in respects for the city the song was dropped and replaced with “When It Started”.  Understandable, however it’s a shame because it’s the band’s best song, and it sums up the coolness of this band.  Click here to see the song live and you’ll know what I mean.

For how much I love this album, I will say that it is a bit overrated.  This is not the most creative album ever made (the band will tell you that themselves).  The hype surrounding these guys was crazy back in 2001 – they were being called the greatest rock n roll band since The Rolling Stones.  These guys are not the Stones, and Is This It has nothing on Exile On Main Street.  It took me many listens to understand what Casablancas was actually singing about, and there wasn’t much to find.  Many times I have listened to this album and thought, “Is this it?”

But to love this album is to understand what the band was all about.  The who-gives-a-shit attitude was a nice change of pace in 2001 when music fans desperately needed a rock band to love – they sure were not going to find it in Radiohead and Kid A.  Its quality might be put into question, but its impact won’t be.  When we look back on music another decade from now, we’ll probably still be talking about The Strokes and their debut album.

Classics In The Making: Kanye West – 808s and Heartbreak

Blood on the Auto-tuned Tracks?

I’m not much of a fan of rap music.  All the rap I hear on the radio isn’t really my cup of tea and I haven’t heard enough good rap albums to become a fan of the genre.  However, with that being said, I know that there are quality rap albums out there, and I know there are plenty of talented rappers out there proving to me that rap can be meaningful.  One of those rappers is Kanye West.  Though me liking his music does not give me much credibility for calling myself a rap fan – he is very mainstream and I have very few people to compare him to – I would say that he has truly deserved his place among the best rappers of all time.  A lot of people would say that last year’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is his best album – it sure was one of the best albums of 2010.  However, I would actually argue that his album before, 2008’s 808s and Heartbreak, is the album that truly shows this man’s talent.

Now here’s the thing about this album you need to know: most of the album has Kanye singing, not rapping, with an auto-tuned voice.  The production is also very minimal, not the grandiose production we are usually expecting from Kanye West.  Though auto-tune and robotics are the themes here – I’m tempted to give a Kid A comparison but I feel like that is inappropriate – the songs here are more human and personal than most of popular music today, or even by West’s standards.  Of course 2008 was a hard year for him.  His mother died and he broke off his engagement to his fiancee, making West a lonely man when he was considered to be the king of the music world.  It also didn’t help that West’s personality made him to be an arrogant ass – watch the episode of South Park making fun of him and you’ll know what I mean.  So what does Kanye do with all this going on his life?  He takes a step back and makes something that nobody expected, or wanted, him to make – an album not meant for MTV but for the bedroom, not to be blasted through your car speakers with your friends but through your headphones alone.  This isn’t ringtone rap, this is bedroom Pop music.

What’s most impressive about this album is how clear West is in his aim and storytelling.  From the very first lines of the album’s second song “Welcome to Heartbreak” (“Say You Will” is the first track but it feels more like an intro) you know that this ain’t going to be an easy ride, “My friend showed me pictures of his kids / And all I could show him were pictures of my cribs / Said his daughter got a brand new report card / And all I got was a brand new sports car.”  “Heartless” clearly shows Kanye’s anger and bitterness toward the woman who wronged him.  “Amazing” has Kanye confessing his fears and vulnerability, something that you would of never heard on his previous albums, “I’m exhausted barely breathing / holding on to what I believe in.”  “Street Lights” could very well be my favorite Kanye West song, and go figure it’s the one with Kanye West not rapping.  Instead of talking about women, drugs, and being one of the biggest names in modern music, he is talking about trying to find his place in the world and trying to change who he is, “Do I still have time to grow? / Things ain’t always set in stone.”

This brings up the main reason why I love this album so much – this isn’t really a rap album.  This isn’t an album about how many girls Kanye can get, how much money he has, or how cool he is.  These are songs about love lost, isolation, fear, and loneliness.  This is more of a Pop album, both musically and lyrically, and that was probably Kanye’s intention.  This album isn’t perfect either, every song after “Street Lights” is forgettable and Kanye’s lyrics, though still pretty darn good, has much left to be desired.  But oddly enough, I like this album more because it is flawed. It gives Kanye more creditability as an artist for being able to take a step back and create something as artistic and different as this album.  Also try to think of any other mainstream rapper out there who would dare to make an album like this and be able to pull it off.

This is dark and serious – dare I said it – art, and it will be interesting to see where this album goes in the future.  It could very well be rap music’s closest thing to Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks, an album of so much baggage and personal depth confessed by a musical genius who before was a mystery to his audience but was made more human and real by a robotic voice.  Never before has someone sounded so human behind a machine’s voice.  Even if you’re not a fan of rap music, and I know there’s plenty of you out there, I highly recommend this album for you to see the possibilities of pop music and where it might be going soon.

Classics In The Making: Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago

Soundtrack to the cold grey winter.

Wintertime in Indiana – or anywhere in the midwest – just plain sucks.  The snow is nice during Christmas and it’s nice to have snow to bring in the new year, but soon the snow turns from white to grey and we all start to notice how bitter the cold is.  It is days like this where you don’t want to be outside, but rather hiding in your house, with no sun to make the day – or your attitude – any brighter.  There is a particular album that I listen to when the day is like this, when all I want to do is escape from the cold and get lost in my music, and that album is For Emma, Forever Ago by Justin Vernon aka Bon Iver.

This album appeals to the isolationist in all of us, for it was written by one.  After breakups with his band and girlfriend, Vernon retrieved to his father’s cabin in Wisconsin during the winter months to clear his head, and what came out was this collection of beautiful songs.  The songs are lush but minimal, with only acoustic guitars and bits of soft drums to accompany Vernon’s layered falsetto voice (it’s hard to figure out what he’s saying most of the time, but it sure does sound pretty).  Tracks like “Skinny Love”, “Blindsided”, and “Re: Stacks” are the standouts, all of which can be taken away from the album and still hold its gentle disposition.

The most incredible thing about this album is how clear we can see ourselves in the Wisconsin hills, surrounded by nothing but the snow and our thoughts.  This album takes you to where Vernon was, that dark place we all go to from time to time.  So enjoy the music, and enjoy your time alone with yourself.