Ryan Adams – Gold (2001) [SACD Reissue 2002] {SACD ISO + FLAC 24bit/88.2kHz}

Ryan Adams – Gold (2001) [SACD Reissue 2002] {2.0 & 5.0}
PS3 Rip | ISO | SACD DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 70:24 minutes | Scans included | 3,44 GB
or FLAC 2.0 Stereo (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans included | 1,33 GB
Alternative Country / Traditional Rock / Americana

Torrential creativity has fast-forwarded the artistic evolution of former Whiskeytown frontman Ryan Adams from country-rock boy wonder to despondent troubadour with a 1960s fixation, but it may also explain why listeners often need to wade through some pedestrian material just to find a few pearls of poetic excellence. Gold is no exception to that trend, a sometimes engaging middle-of-the-road roots-pop album that’s both overlong (70 minutes) and at times overindulgent.

One would think that being Ryan Adams would be a pretty good deal at the time of this album’s release; he had a major-label deal, critics were in love with him, he got to date Winona Ryder and Alanis Morissette, Elton John went around telling everyone he was a genius, and his record company gave him carte blanche to do whatever he wanted. But to listen to Gold, Adams’ first solo album for his big-league sponsors at Lost Highway, one senses that there are about a dozen other musicians Adams would love to be, and nearly all of them were at their peak in the early to mid-’70s. Adams’ final album with Whiskeytown, Pneumonia, made it clear that he was moving beyond the scruffy alt-country of his early work, and Gold documents his current fascination with ’70s rock. Half the fun of the album is playing “Spot the Influence”: “Answering Bell” is a dead ringer for Van Morrison (with fellow Morrison enthusiast Adam Duritz on backing vocals), “Tina Toledo’s Street Walkin’ Blues” is obviously modeled on the Rolling Stones, “Harder Now That It’s Over” sounds like Harvest-period Neil Young, “New York, New York” resembles Stephen Stills in his livelier moments (Stephen’s son, Chris Stills, plays on the album), and “Rescue Blues” and “La Cienega Just Smiled” suggest the influence of Adams’ pal Elton John. Of course, everyone has their influences, and Adams seems determined to make the most of them on Gold; it’s a far more ambitious album than his solo debut, Heartbreaker. The performances are polished, Ethan Johns’ production is at once elegant and admirably restrained, Adams is in strong voice throughout, and several of the songs are superb, especially the swaggering but lovelorn “New York, New York,” the spare and lovely “When the Stars Go Blue,” and the moody closer, “Goodnight, Hollywood Blvd.” But while Gold sounds like a major step forward for Adams in terms of technique, it lacks the heart and soul of Heartbreaker or Pneumonia; the album seems to reflect craft rather than passion, and while it’s often splendid craft, the fire that made Whiskeytown’s best work so special isn’t evident much of the time. Gold sounds like an album that could win Ryan Adams a lot of new fans (especially with listeners whose record collections go back a ways), but longtime fans may be a bit put off by the album’s richly crafted surfaces and emotionally hollow core.

Tracklist:
01. New York, New York
02. Firecracker
03. Answering Bell
04. La Cienega Just Smiled
05. The Rescue Blues
06. Somehow, Someday
07. When The Stars Go Blue
08. Nobody Girl
09. Sylvia Plath
10. Enemy Fire
11. Gonna Make You Love Me
12. Wild Flowers
13. Harder Now That It’s Over
14. Touch, Feel & Lose
15. Tina Toledo’s Street Walkin’ Blues
16. Goodnight, Hollywood Blvd.