Review of Easy Tiger By Ryan Adams
Singer-songwriter Churns out yet another Introspective Record
Oct 14, 2009
Ryan Adams is right. It's all the same old sh!t again. It accurately portrays singer-songwriter Adams ninth studio solo album Easy Tiger.
With that said, the songs of Easy Tiger sound like they’ve been pulled from all of his previous records and were hastily thrown into a generic, post-modern folk blender.
OK. That was a tad harsh, but Adams works better with his band The Cardinals.
Easy Tiger Missing Something
The above quote is taken from Halloweenhead, an unusual rock song sticking out like a sore thumb on a primarily folk-country record. While it is one of the stronger tracks on the album, it is oddly placed in between the confessional acoustic songs 'Everybody Knows' and 'Oh My God, Whatever Etc'.
'Halloweenhead' sounds like an outtake from the Rock N Roll sessions, a title-tells-it-all album released back in 2003.
Adams Still Shows He Has A Few Tricks Up His Sleeve
Despite the tedious river of music that runs through the record, Adams still somehow manages to show off some of his sheer brilliant, if not arrogant, songwriting talent with songs like 'Two' and 'The Sun Also Sets'. In 'Two', he asks the listener to sympathize with him because his life is fractured and can’t seem to catch a break.
"I got a really good heart / I just can't catch a break / If I could I'd treat you like you wanted me to I promise / But I'm fractured from the fall And i wanna go home," Adams sings.
And if you put your ear up to the speaker, you’ll be able to hear the world’s smallest violin playing just for him.
Speaking of sappy music, there is also a little bit of a Love is Hell Pt. 1 (2003) atmosphere surrounding the album particularly with Oh My God, Whatever, Etc., an ecclesiastical lament about how Adams deals with the failures of life.
“If I could fold myself away like a card table / a concertina or a Murphy bed I would / but I wasn’t made that way / But i wasn't made that way so you know instead I'm open all night and the customers come to stay,” Adams sings.
The Music is too Sappy for it's Own Good
Sorry fans, but the album sounds lethargic and more poised for coffee shop background music than any of his previous albums. It is a pity really.
Diehard Adams fans may disagree, but the evidence is overwhelming. Easy Tiger doesn't have the same gusto Adams expressed on Gold or the intimacy he let us into on Love Is Hell. It might be right to assume he is running out of ideas or he is just getting tired.
Overall, the eclectic mesh of songs on Easy Tiger is more of a heartbreaker than a piece of gold. And yes, that pun is fully intended.
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