Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger

Easy Tiger, Ryan Adams's ninth solo studio album, is a return to form in every way. He's already shown that he can bash out three albums in one year--not to mention the hilarious fake hip-hop records posted for free on his Web site--and that he can sound as much like the Grateful Dead as he wants to in his constant subsequent touring. Backed once again by the Cardinals, Adams synthesizes and refines his approach to smooth, gorgeous country-pop. "Tears of Gold" is one of the best songs he's written in ages, while "Two" is a slowly percolating, sweet little number that recalls Sean Hayes in its soulful folksiness (someone named Sheryl Crow accompanies Adams on vocals). One of the greatest treats of this languorous, twangy album is the subtle ways that genre gets played with. "I Taught Myself How to Grow Old" is the best Harvest outtake Neil Young never wrote, while the treated, synth-sounding guitar solo on the druggy, chooglin' "Halloweenhead" sounds like it comes straight out of Journey. And "The Sun Also Sets" sounds more than a little like Rufus Wainwright covering Fred McDowell's "Write Me a Few of Your Lines." It bursts with enough melodrama as to border on musical theater. But, as is clear on these songs of love and loss, Adams has always been at his best when giving into his most mellow, dramatic side.

"While prolific to the point of compulsion nothing he's done has rivaled his classic solo debut, 2000's uniformly gorgeous Heartbreaker�until now. ...great tracks include the churning, almost violent ode to self-destruction, "Halloween Head," the traditional folk ballad "Pearls On a String," and "These Girls," a spare confessional that would fit perfectly next to "Sylvia Plath" on Gold or "Call Me On Your Way Back Home" on Heartbreaker. Easy Tiger seems to prove that Adams - having for years indulged his jones for Grateful Dead-inspired jam band impersonation (and other dubious cravings) - is once again as in touch with the delicate tragedies of life and love as he's ever been."-Rolling Stone.

Goodnight Rose - mp3