Ryan Adams & The Cardinals – Cold Roses

Putting out three albums in one year is simply amazing. I admit, I was pretty skeptical about the quality of songs when I heard his intentons of getting 3 albums to the streets this year. I was drawn to Whiskeytown, and have pretty much liked all of Ryan’s work, so I was very happy to have all this new material. Cold Roses grabbed me immediately, and is clearly in the lead of amount of times I’ve played it, and yes I am taking into consideration that it’s been out the longest. I also really like Jacksonville City Nights, and if this list was a Top 50 list, I’m sure that it would make it on there.

It basically comes down to the fact that there are so many songs on Cold Roses that I absolutely love, and not nearly as many on Jacksonville City Nights. I’ve been unimpressed thus far with what I’ve heard of 29, but I really haven’t given it a good deal of attention.

I was upset that Ryan was unable to play with the Dead at the Vegoose festival, because I think he really adds a great touch to their tunes. If you can’t hear/see the Grateful Dead connection with this album you need to check out the Dead’s “American Beauty” album, because it’s there and it’s obvious, and I’m fine with that.

What the critics say:

Coke Machine Glow – 77%
Tiny Mix Tapes – 3/5
Metacritic.com – 67/100
Pitchfork – [7.2]

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You can see the rest of my 2005 favorites (so far) by clicking here.