Zack: I didn’t really know what to expect out of Ryan Adams. The only thing I really knew about him was that he played in Whiskeytown. And I only knew that because of friend of mine had told me that his band was heavily influenced by Whiskeytown (although I later learned that the extent of the influence was pretty much that Whiskeytown played songs about loving whiskey and his band liked to listen to said songs while drinking whiskey.) So I went into this album with very low expectations. Those expectations were exceeded by the first song, then shattered throughout. Gold is a really good album. It contains an overarching country feel but skips out on the tacky twang in favor of a more modernized sound. I can’t emphasize enough how much I appreciated that. Gold is considered a staple of alternative country. Now sometimes I feel like people just assign the title “alternative” to anything that doesn’t quite fit the stereotypical sound of a genre, but calling Gold an alternative country album totally makes sense. Alternative music is a blending of several genres all together to create a varied and diverse sound. Gold has plenty of that. While country may be the main influence, some songs bear a striking resemblance to rock, punk, folk, blues, and even a little jazz. Now that’s pretty alternative. Overall, Ryan Adams reminded me of a more Southern version of Devendra Banhart, while I expected him to just be a younger Garth Brooks. That took me completely by surprise, but it was the best possible surprise I could get.
Favorite Tracks: Nobody Girl; New York, New York; Harder Now That It’s Over
Emily: The other night, I went out with some friends for some late-night noms at a bar near us. Once we got there, though, we were nearly ready to run out the door. Why, you ask? Three words: Country. Karaoke. Night. Our readers well know that I’m not exactly a fan of country music, and neither are my friends. We endured nearly an hour of two white-haired guys poorly rendering a bunch of twangy, yee-haw country songs, including one song called Honky Tonk Ba-donka-donk. Seriously. With that in mind, I wasn’t exactly excited to be listening to more country music. However, I was pleasantly surprised by Ryan Adams. As an alt-country artist, his sound is a lot less twang and a lot more blues and roots, with a bit of rock thrown in for good measure. The most country thing about him is actually what I find the most appealing about country music – the storytelling. Songs like Nobody Girl and Sylvia Plath are full of detail and emotion that tell great stories, a more modern interpretation of a traditional country trope. And luckily for me, there were no honky tonk ba-donka-donks to be found.
Favorite Tracks: La Cienega Just Smiled; Nobody Girl; When the Stars Go Blue
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