"Ryan Adams - Gold"

Ryan Adams wants desperately to be a classic rocker. He wants to be in the panthenon of rock gods alongside Tom Petty, The Boss, Van the Man, Elton John (one of his biggest supporters), and Dylan. Trouble is, he's not a classic rocker. He's a good roots rocker, perhaps, but he's not achieved classic rock status yet. On Gold, though, he makes a pretty solid bid for that status, only barely missing.

One of the most distracting things about Adams's music is playing "spot the influence." He wears his inspirations on his sleeve, and sometimes lets the songs slip from exceptional stylistic exercises into homage, where the form is greater than the substance. This makes for extremely listenable if not exceptionally substantial music.

Musically, Adams is a great songsmith, crafting excellent hooks and melodies with a deftness that most contemporary musicians would envy. He synthesizes various styles very well, so that a banjo-infused roots rock tune like "Answering Bells" fits right alongside the gospel blues of "The Rescue Blues." Adams borrows from everyone from the Rolling Stones to Elton John to Van Morrison, and most of the time it works really well. There aren't any dud songs on the album, though at 70 minutes it runs a little long.

Lyrically, Adams falls just shy of his heroes. You can tell he's striving to be Dylan and Van Morrison, and while his words flow and create excellent images, they lack the depth that would make them classic. Adams's vocal delivery is strong throughout, though sometimes the words run together in a torrent to fit them all in the phrase (think again of Dylan or Van). His voice is smooth for the former alt-country bad boy that he's supposed to be, and his vocals have a warmth and assurance that carries the songs well.

The biggest problem with the album is that most of it seems affected. The words, the music, the vocals...everything seems very calculated, very well-crafted, but not heartfelt. And ultimately, that's why the album is not a masterpiece--its very core is an affectation, albeit a very deft and compelling one.

That being said, Gold is still a great listen and contains many excellent songs. The opener, "New York, New York," has a wonderful rhythm to it, a bouncing and infectious beat that you can't help but tap your toes to. "Firecracker" is a mid-tempo rocker that begs the question, "won't you have a one-night stand with me?" and manages to sound less crass than that. "Answering Bell" is a tune that could fit on any Van Morrison early '70s album, and features Adam Duritz of Counting Crows and Benmont Tench of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers providing excellent backing vocals and Hammond B3 organ, respectively. "Tina Toledo's Street Walkin' Blues" is an upbeat, raucous blues song with excellent slide guitar work by producer Ethan Johns.

All told, Gold is a great album that falls just short of perfection. What would have made it perfect was if Adams had managed to make these songs his own instead of homages to his heroes.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Ryan Adams, "Answering Bells"