Buy Now
| Buy on |
|
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
Sep 10, 2014Every tune serves the moment, like a series of self-contained filmic miniatures whose character sketches, though brief, are utterly memorable, with those sketches’ accompanying sonics just as resonant.
-
Entertainment WeeklySep 9, 2014Adams finds moments of quiet beauty and rabble-rousing rock. [12 Sep 2014, p.62]
-
Sep 4, 2014Ryan Adams as an album might not be uplifting but it sure is outstanding, reaffirming the singular talent of its namesake.
-
MagnetSep 18, 2014Ryan Adams (the album) carries all the classic hallmarks of Ryan Adams (the musician), tightly condensed into an essential collection of polished Americana. [No. 113, p.52]
-
Sep 11, 2014This is a record created entirely on his own terms, and in doing so he has also produced one of the finest records of his remarkable career.
-
Sep 10, 2014While Ryan Adams doesn’t take as many chances as some of the other records that Adams has made in the past decade, it’s also as cohesive and consistent an album as any he has ever made.
-
Sep 10, 2014Though the overall sound of Ryan Adams may be a mask, hiding lyrics that are every bit as heartbroken, confused, lost, and struggling as ever.
-
Classic Rock MagazineDec 18, 2014It's built to be savoured, not rushed. [Sep 2014, p.94]
-
Nov 7, 2014Ryan Adams, is up there with his best work because while it doesn’t have a lot of sweat on it, it’s a record that feels clearly considered enough, and carefully produced to maximize Adams’s strengths.
-
Sep 15, 2014Repeated listens unmask 'Ryan Adams' as a great record, and a sleek departure from 2011's 'Ashes & Fire.'
-
MojoSep 12, 2014There's a crystalline gorgeousness in the production, too, that takes it out of homage territory and into a rarefied league that most recently recalls The War On Drugs. [Oct 2014, p.88]
-
Sep 11, 2014These songs puncture the gloss, so they make the greatest first impression, but that glimmer remains the reason to get lost within Ryan Adams: his blend of song and studio craft turns this eponymous album into the equivalent of a substantive, new millennial version of the Eagles' Long Run.
-
Sep 9, 2014Like much of his best work, it’s a slow-burner of an album: at first listen, it sounds a pretty decent radio-friendly record, but it’s only on repeated plays that the full emotional scale which Adams is displaying becomes clear.
-
Sep 9, 2014If it doesn’t haunt like the hallowed highs of 29 or Love Is Hell this still excellent record finds Adams’ mojo and mercury on the rise again.
-
Sep 8, 2014As with all of his records, it's better to view Ryan Adams in the context of his career, rather than on its own, which makes this a very strong contender in a surprisingly dense field.
-
Sep 8, 2014Far from losing control, Adams sounds like he’s in total command.
-
Sep 4, 2014This self-titled album is a reflection of Adams’ continued growth as a songwriter, and is completely relatable to anyone who has managed to survive in a marriage--creative or otherwise--long past the honeymoon phase.
-
Q MagazineSep 3, 2014Adams is such a contrary character you daren't use the phrase "career comeback," but that's what this is. [Oct 2014, p.101]
-
Sep 3, 2014The inevitable Heartbreakers comparisons in the new music offer a striking contrast to Petty’s lyrical point of view. While Petty “Won’t Back Down,” Adams’ theme sounds more like a “Breakdown.” If that seems needy and depressing, it’s tempered by Adams’ passion and rock-hard power. He captures the kind of pain that excites.
-
Sep 9, 2014Ryan Adams strikes the best balance between them [country and rock] that he’s found yet.
-
Sep 5, 2014What makes Ryan Adams so stunning is both its substance and restraint. [Sep/Oct 2014, p.73]
-
Oct 21, 2014A dark and perilous experience, one just hopes there’s light at the end of Adams’ tunnel.
-
Sep 18, 2014This is not his best record. It's about sixth or seventh. But it's still a triumph of sorts--a curious, meandering journey that needs to be made a good few times.
-
Sep 9, 2014Adams rewires heartland rock, with major-chord, Reagan-era guitars, muscle-shirt drums and a thousand-yard stare.
-
Sep 9, 2014Adams occasionally steps into a puddle of shallow adult-contemporary tripe that even his incisive personality and increasingly tamed voice cannot save. Those basic imitations of past great Adams tunes are few and far between on Ryan Adams, particularly when weighed against some of his other recent albums.
-
Sep 8, 2014The real joy of Adams’ back catalogue is that both his vocal mannerisms and skill as a guitarist have allowed him to take a versatile approach to his songwriting; both are evident on Ryan Adams, but the one aspect that does suffer is his lyricism.
-
UncutSep 3, 2014Ryan Adams is very much Ryan Adams being Ryan Adams. [Oct 2014, p.68]
-
Sep 3, 2014Where past ventures could tend to exude a mannered self-consciousness, Adams acquits himself here with an easy and infectious sincerity.
-
Sep 9, 2014The handsome melodic hooks and sturdy roots-music grooves, some of which are downright Tom Petty-ish, provide a hard-won equilibrium in songs about searching for relief from unspecified ailments.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 33 out of 39
-
Mixed: 3 out of 39
-
Negative: 3 out of 39
-
Sep 10, 2014
-
Sep 13, 2014
-
Sep 10, 2014