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Easy Tiger
by Ryan Adams

Ryan Adams reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 76 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
8.6 out of 10
based on 29 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 51 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

Well off his 3-disc-a-year pace, Adams celebrates just his first release of 2007 with the 13-song 'Tiger.' Sheryl Crow guests, and The Cardinals once again provide the backing.

LABEL: Lost Highway
RELEASE DATE: 26 June 2007
DISCS: 1 disc
GENRE(S): Indie, Rock

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

91
Entertainment Weekly
Easy Tiger keeps it simple: beguiling melodies, an ace band, and Adams' elastic tenor.
Read Full Review
82
Filter
Our hero of Whiskeytown has returned. [#25, p.89]
80
Uncut
The real triumph of Easy Tiger is less rooted in the sound, more in the attitude. [Jul 2007, p.114]
80
The New York Times
It is focused — read: not insanely self-indulgent — in a way that recalls albums of his like “Heartbreaker” and “Gold."
Read Full Review
80
Observer Music Monthly
Easy Tiger is his most rounded creation.
Read Full Review
80
Spin
Easy Tiger plays like a tightly focused best-of compilation from Adams' past six or seven efforts. [Jul 2007, p.96]
80
Amazon.com
A return to form in every way.
Read Full Review
80
Slant Magazine
What Easy Tiger lacks in craft or measure, it makes up for in raw inspiration, which makes it all the more addictive.
Read Full Review
80
Sputnikmusic
Easy Tiger is at least Adams' best release since Love is Hell and it may even be the long awaited successor to Heartbreaker.
Read Full Review
80
Village Voice
The lived-in songs and careful presentation of Easy Tiger make for one of the strongest records of his second career as a solo artist.
Read Full Review
80
Hartford Courant
It's the most focused and cohesive album Adams has released in years.
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80
NOW Magazine
The Sheryl Crow duet works where his Norah Jones collabo didn't; I Taught Myself How To Grow Old is classic tortured Adams, and Pearls On A String is a rewarding reflection of the time he spent hanging out with Willie Nelson.
Read Full Review
80
Dot Music
Carrying the minimum amount of filler and fat, this judiciously pruned collection conclusively proves that this is one tiger still capable of burning brightly.
Read Full Review
79
Lost At Sea
Easy Tiger is his most consistent effort since Gold and his without doubt his most assured ever.
Read Full Review
70
PopMatters
Easy Tiger is brisk and bright, and damned if Adams doesn’t sound comfortable just being Ryan Adams for a minute.
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70
Tiny Mix Tapes
Easy Tiger’s not his best, but it’s got focus and a lot of heart.
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70
Billboard
This "Tiger" is fairly tame, but that's OK. [30 Jun 2007]
70
Rolling Stone
This is a strangely atypical Adams record, just because it's his first typical one.
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70
Alternative Press
Adams often finds himself revisiting his past glories on Easy Tiger. [Jul 2007, p.178]
70
All Music Guide
Easy Tiger delivers what it promises: the most Ryan Adamsy Ryan Adams record since his first.
70
Drowned In Sound
Despite its occasional charms, Easy Tiger feels like an uneven piece of work.
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70
New York Magazine
Like The OC, Easy Tiger manages to be pleasurable without ever being interesting.
Read Full Review
70
Boston Globe
Gone is the petulant enfant terrible, and with it a certain sparkle and swagger that made a record like "Gold" careen from the speakers.
Read Full Review
67
Stylus Magazine
Easy Tiger sounds like the kind of album Adams could churn out every 18 months for the rest of his life.
Read Full Review
62
Pitchfork
More consistent-- if more predictable and less spectacular-- than pretty much any other record in his exhaustive catalog.
Read Full Review
60
New Musical Express
His many personas have made for an oddly characterless record.
Read Full Review
60
The Guardian
You find yourself pleading for some of that wild profligacy he has been criticised for on past records.
Read Full Review
60
Prefix Magazine
The album is a tightrope walker, constantly straddling the line between sincerity and unapologetic rocking.
Read Full Review
55
cokemachineglow
Tiger plays like a huge pastiche of past releases.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now! The average user rating for this album is 8.6 (out of 10) based on 51 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Chris F. gave it a7:
Love the guy but this one's going to collect some dust. I've listened a good 10X and there's nothing jumping out at me. Suffers in comparison to his back catalogue.

Scott Y. gave it an8:
Not quite as good as Cold Roses but still worth buying.

J R gave it a10:
"Easy Tiger" is an exceptional album; Ryan Adams has reached a new level as an artist. Every song on the album is brilliantly crafted, every emotional note expressed musically or lyrically is pitch perfect. As great as so much of his prior work has been, much of it seems affected, as if he wanted to prove the breadth of his musical range and the inexhaustibility of his lyrical imagination. On this album, he does what great musical artists do - he recedes behind songs that transport the listener to a different place. The critics have not been so kind, but read their reviews - they have all written the same review, and it is the same review they have written for all of his previous records. One might make the same criticism of these critics that they make of Adams - they seem to believe that their every thought, however poorly informed, is worthy of speaking, writing, and sharing with the world.

Irah K. gave it a9:
Reminiscent of his earlier music on "Demolition" Very enjoyable!

Wade T. gave it a7:
Easy Tiger sees Ryan Adams at his most comfortable and confident. Gone are the wild streaks attempting artistic glory and instead Adams on Easy Tiger is content simply to release a bunch of good alt-country. The problem is that the record lacks any cohesion or underlying purpose therefore suffers from the very simplicity that Adams appears to be going fo. As a result the collection doesn't offer up thing as spine tingling as his Wonderwall cover on Love is Hell or Meadowlake Street on Cold Roses. Everything on Easy Tiger is nice, too nice to be great.

joe m gave it a10:
best CD in awhile. Nice going Ryan!

Matt D. gave it an8:
Mellow but not predictable, this is one of Adams's most consistently pleasing CDs. It's like he unleashed his inner country star, Ryan Adams style.

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