RE: Whiskeytown

Strangers Almanac got me through a very difficult time in my life. Glad to hear it's not being forgotten. Still the strongest, most consistent work Adams has ever put out.

Pneumonia, released after the band broke up, is a pretty solid effort. It steers away from the country in a more poppy, Brian Wilson-type direction, but it has three of Adams' best songs, the morose "Jacksonville Skyline" (the way his voice breaks in the last refrain kills me every time), the pensive slow burn and thrusting climax of "Sit and Listen to the Rain," and the rousing, cheerful "Bar Lights." The seeds of Adams' excesses are planted here, though, so of course it's too long by half.

Faithless Street, their major label debut (rereleased on a major label, actually), is a looser, less assured, but still satisfying precursor to Stranger's Almanac. It contains a few of SA's tracks in virtual demo state; these and the tracks in general serve up an invigorating rawness that throbs throughout the record. "Here's to the Rest of the World" is Adams' version of the Replacements' "Here Comes a Regular." Do not overlook the power anthem track 16, "Revenge."

Rural Free Delivery can be safely avoided, though it does have its moments. The old-timey porch-fiddle cover of Black Flag's "Nervous Breakdown" has to be heard to be believed (a much warmer rendition than Adams' take on it for the BF tribute benefit CD). "Pawn Shop Ain't no place for a Wedding Ring" has its charms as well.

Those are the full-length albums. Individual tracks to look out for (most of which can be found on the the Strangers Almanac reissue) are "Whither, I'm a Flower" from the *gasp* Hope Floats soundtrack and the live cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams," which, thanks to Jake's thread, I am now remembering to download.

Oh, and the unreleased track "Today," for my money, is the single best rocker Adams ever wrote. It's floating about the internet somewhere. Or you can PM me your address, and I can send you a Whiskeytown/Adams mix that includes it.

ETA: An amendment: After thorough Amazon track sampling, Pneumonia is much stronger than I remembered. It's just the tracks that don't hit, mostly the experimental "Paper Moon," "Mirror, Mirror," and "What the Devil Wanted" are interminable and make the record seem longer than it is.

Aforementioned Fleetwood Mac cover.

Wow nice to see this topic. I got to Whiskeytown through Wilco and then Uncle Tupelo and theyre great. Strangers Almanac is a consistent album in my rotation and I really like Faithless Street.

Much better than some of Ryans solo work except Heartbreaker which is great and parts of Love Is Hell.


By the way if you like Whiskeytown please pick up Still Feel Gone by Uncle Tupelo. Great album.

Don't forget my all-time favorite Whiskeytown track, the unreleased The Battle And The War, which found it's way onto my mix CD for the recent CHUD exchange:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJtiUot2lI0

Truly a great one. It was also included on a free mini CD with Caitlin Cary's first solo album.

Have your Whiskeytown fun, but let's not dismiss Ryan's solo albums, most of which are great, a few of which are brilliant. (Seriously, have you guys listened to Jacksonville City Nights or Easy Tiger? Astonishing work.)

Yeah, I cannot stand Jacksonville City Nights. Does not resonate with me at all. In fact, it actively grates. What I've heard of Easy Tiger is okay, but I haven't rushed out to buy it.

The only Ryan Adams album I truly don't enjoy is 29, which is much too maudlin, formless and with little in the way of melody. I like Rock N Roll but can understand why others don't. Everything else should be celebrated.

I'd love Adam's solo work a lot more if the man's solo discography had half as many albums. He's got more than a few two-album years in there where he may have been better served just releasing one sans filler.

I've always loved Rock N Roll's dead-on perfect Paul Westerberg impressions, though I've never been quite sure what the point of that was.

And in case anyone is unaware, Adams' latest 2-disk set drops next week, with some previously unreleased stuff.

III/IV with the Cardinals. And it's all unreleased stuff. I believe it was recorded after JCN but before Easy Tiger.

This. He's just too prolific. Even when he was with Whiskeytown, some of the best stuff remains as outtakes and B-sides ("Battle," "Today," etc.) while the albums are littered with some clunkers. Strangers Almanac being the exception.