- Critic score
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- By date
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Oct 17, 2011Underneath the almost soporifically smooth old-soul and country polish, Adams's ear for a delicate melody and feel for the shadowy nuances of emotion give this latest chapter beautiful depth.
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Oct 11, 2011Embedded in a world of crashing, pounding pop music, Adams' solo rawness brings with it sweet release.
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Oct 12, 2011"I Love You But I Don't Know What to Say" is a perfect finale to a near perfect album by a performer who seems, at least for the time being, to have learned to focus his wide-open talents on one narrow vein of material, and in the process has struck pure gold.
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Oct 4, 2011Ashes & Fire is as close as it gets to the brilliance of his first post-Whiskeytown offering, Heartbreaker.
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Oct 5, 2011It's all so gentle that it's nearly sleepy, but in a nice way.
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Oct 17, 2011Ashes & Fire, is pretty damn good.
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Oct 12, 2011Though the sultry Southern flavor his fans love him for is still very much present, Adams remains an artist who refuses to put out the same record twice-and considering his pace, that is certainly something special.
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Q MagazineNov 8, 2011Here, at last again, is the Ryan Adams of Heartbreaker - creating a uniformly strong collection of songs, singular in mood, each articulated by a voice that, whilst more lived in, remains a lovely instrument. [Nov. 2011, p. 137]
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Oct 21, 2011A softer collection of songs, harnessing more sincerity than his last two general-release LPs (as opposed to Orion, which was online-only), Easy Tiger and Cardinology.
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UncutOct 18, 2011Ashes & Fire is an understated gem. [Nov 2011, p.96]
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Oct 11, 2011Following an uncharacteristic hiatus, singer-songwriter Ryan Adams returns with this lovely, low-key effort.
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Oct 10, 2011I Love You But I Don't Know What To Say perfectly concludes a haunting album that truly reveals Adams' bruised soul.
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Oct 10, 2011Nostalgia aside: this is an album worth celebrating now.
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Oct 7, 2011It may put people off who were more attracted to Adams' more tortured side, but Ashes & Fire makes for a compelling reboot for a man who could, once more, become a contender.
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Oct 7, 2011The recordings have the warmth and pop of a vinyl record, creating a perfect environment for Adams to honor his influences.
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Oct 6, 2011Ashes & Fire burns with purpose.
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Oct 5, 2011Ashes & Fires remains compelling throughout thanks to its peaks and valleys.
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Oct 5, 2011This is an album that delivers more and more with every listen, showcasing an artist maturing with grace and poise.
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Oct 14, 2011Ryan Adams has delivered the goods right now and he appears to be more focused and in a better creative space than he has at any other point in his career.
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Oct 17, 2011Ashes is everything Ryan Adams records usually aren't: uniform in sound and mood, emotionally centered, and straight-arrow consistent, sometimes to its detriment.
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Oct 14, 2011The melodies remain fuzzily in focus, so Ashes & Fire winds up as ever-shifting mood music, sustaining an appealingly lazy haze residing somewhere south of melancholy.
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Oct 11, 2011The hush on this mellow set may be due in part to Adams' recent hearing problems. Either way, it proves he doesn't need noise to blow you away.
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Oct 10, 2011For an album heavily predicated on Adams' historically hit-or-miss songwriting, Ashes & Fire is surprisingly steady.
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Oct 10, 2011While it may, at times, sound a little too familiar--A&F is almost good enough to banish the memory of the dozen or so albums--influenced by grams not Parsons--since.
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Oct 3, 2011He's purely elegant throughout.
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Oct 11, 2011Adams evokes the goodwill of his masterpiece as a singer, anyway, even if the songwriting doesn't come close.
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Oct 17, 2011Ashes & Fire might mark the first time he could ever been described as simply dull.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 21 out of 22
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Mixed: 1 out of 22
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Negative: 0 out of 22
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Jan 22, 2012
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Jan 4, 2012
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Nov 18, 2011