Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger

Ryan Adams
Easy Tiger
Lost Highway
Grade: A-

One of the more amazing elements of Ryan Adams is that in his ridiculous productivity – seems about three records a year – he still keeps the song quality at a supreme level. Along with his four-piece backing band The Cardinals, Adams offers thirteen songs of terrific Americana rock on Easy Tiger; clearly one of his best records in the past couple of years. Furthering channeling Neil Young into a melody-drenched rock machine, songs such as “Two,” “Halloweenhead,” “The Sun Also Sets,” and the string-soaked acoustic-focused closer “I Taught Myself How to Grow Old” are a new batch of alt-country classics from Adams. The first three mentioned above in particular will carry Easy Tiger onto the radio and causes folks to buy the record. It is true that Adams slightly annoys when his vocals merge too closely to Young, but even in those moments the songs underneath are always solid if not breathtaking (witness: the soft acoustic “Off Broadway”). For those who want more country than simply alt-country, Adams includes the banjo-picking “Pearls on a String.” Many worry that releasing so much music would cause a diluted product, but instead such excessive songwriting has served to craft Adams into one of America’s best artists.