Stylus Magazine 29 Review.

[unhans]

http://www.stylusmagazine.com/review.php?ID=3754

Good shit. Worth a read.

[Deviant]

Nice!

[Factory Boy]

Yeah, thanks for that unhans.
One thing Mr Adams never does is sing like a "toolshed", so he got that right!!!
Holds promise of a truly great album? Hang on a minute, he's made several, hasn't he?
Worth a look everyone. :)

[goats head soup]

I love this review. I love it that he that he calls the 'music cognoscenti' out for acting like Ryan insulted them personally by not delivering exactly what they wanted to hear.

[Rosebud]

"But it’s on “Elizabeth, You Were Born to Play That Part,” with its simple, plaintive, dirge-like melody slowly building to a swirl of strings, guitar, and piano arpeggios with gently brushed drumming, when Adams sings, “Wherever you are / I hope you're happy now.” If you’re scoring at home, this is the ultimate revelation for the lovesick songwriter: Hard to say, hard to believe, and even harder to sing without sounding like a complete toolshed. "

It's this part that I question. It seems to imply a lovesickness in a romantic sense by likening it to other lovesick songwriters who aren't writing about losing a child. If he doesn't know what the song's about, well...that could be writing like a toolshed. ;)

Great read though and he sure is spot on about the obligatory list used by seemingly every critic.

[Cannonball]

good stuff... this part cracked me up:

Reviews of 29 could have been written months before even a single chord leaked to your favorite file-sharing service. It’s in the secret handbook:

Using any number or hyphenated combination of All Music Guide’s free-of-charge suggested adjectives, every Ryan Adams review must include:
- two (2) obligatory references to how prolific he is
- one (1) fleeting mention of how frustrating this is
- one (1) not-very-helpful suggestion on how to negotiate this problem (i.e., get this guy an editor!)
- one (1) not so subtle reference to how he’s probably on drugs that are bad for him (why else would his hair be so mussy?)

[cmigliaccio]

Rosebud, I wouldn't hold his misinterpretation against him, I don't think the actual topic of Elizabeth is very common knowledge, especially among writers who aren't obsessed with RA. Heck, I seem to recall a few posts on the .org suggesting the same meaning as that writer. If I hadn't heard the show where Ryan explained the song's meaning (has he done it elsewhere? If so, not often), I don't think I'd get it either.

[blue_eyes]

After seven solo albums its plain to see that much of the criticism he receives really has absolutely nothing to do with the actual songs—what they’re about, how well they are crafted—but whether he’s reached his so-called “potential”; whether the album is what it could and should be given his enormous talent.

i love that part..
great review.

[Rosebud]

True cm, I wasn't hangin' the guy 'cause I did think it was well written but if you're gonna write about singers sounding like a toolshed singing a line, you might want to know wtf you're talking about first~ esp since the secondary theme focused on how widely Ryan is misinterpreted.

[saintsteven]

Rosebud, I wouldn't hold his misinterpretation against him, I don't think the actual topic of Elizabeth is very common knowledge, especially among writers who aren't obsessed with RA. Heck, I seem to recall a few posts on the .org suggesting the same meaning as that writer. If I hadn't heard the show where Ryan explained the song's meaning (has he done it elsewhere? If so, not often), I don't think I'd get it either.

At which show did he give the explanation? I either haven't heard it or missed it (which is always possible).

[jmont5]

He gives the explanation during the track "16 days" (before he plays "Elizabeth...") on the North Charleston Performing Art Center Concert, 6/10/2005.

It is actually one of his more serious speeches and very good if you ask me. He goes on to say that musician’s are only trying to share something and there really isn’t anything wrong with that—referencing some of the hatred he reads in the music press towards him and other artists. As he said he is "not holding a gun, but playing a piano, and not pointing the piano at anyone"

[KiB]

so what was the rest of the Elizabeth explanation??


and good review, thanks for posting. i love that he called out the other critics. SO true.

[jmont5]

This is a paraphrase (just a few words missing, I dont feel like figuring it all out) of what he said...

The song is about an experience I didn’t really have myself. But sort of did, a friend of mine did. It is about a friend of mine that lost a child that was just about to be born, that had a name, I don’t think he has every really recovered, and I didn’t feel like exploiting it by writing something about it, and played it one drunken evening and he asked that I always play it, and I included in this record I will be releasing this December.

[KiB]

wow..... will have to listen to that again with new ears.

thanks.