RYAN ADAMS & THE CARDINALS : COLD ROSES

Disc One

  1. Magnolia Mountain
  2. Sweet Illusions
  3. Meadowlake Street
  4. When Will You Come Back Home
  5. Beautiful Sorta
  6. Now That You're Gone
  7. cherry Lane
  8. Mockingbird
  9. How Do You Keep Love Alive

Disc Two

  1. Easy Plateau
  2. Let It Ride
  3. Rosebud
  4. Cold Roses
  5. If I Am a Stranger
  6. Dance All Night
  7. Blossom
  8. Life Is Beautiful
  9. Friends
    Bonus Track :
  10. Tonight

Label : Lost Highway

Released : May 3, 2005

Review (AllMusic) : Last time we received a dispatch from Ryan Adams, the self-styled savior of rock & roll, it was in 2003, when he delivered his straight-up rock & roll record (aptly titled Rock N Roll) and his two-part mope-rock EP (later combined as one LP) Love Is Hell. Admirable records both, but not quite the sequel to Heartbreaker that fans craved. They also weren't quite as successful as all the hype surrounding their release suggested that they would be, so Adams briefly retreated from the spotlight to regroup, heading back in 2005 with a planned triptych of new albums, the first of which is the double-album Cold Roses, recorded with his new backing band the Cardinals and released at the beginning of May. Three albums in one year is overkill even for an artist predisposed to releasing his every whim, and while it's too early at this writing to judge whether he needed to release all three of the records, it's safe to say that Cold Roses is the record many fans have been waiting to hear - a full-fledged, unapologetic return to the country-rock that made his reputation when he led Whiskeytown. Not that the album is a retreat, or a crass attempt to give the people what they want, but it's an assured, comfortable collection of 18 songs that play to Adams' strengths because they capture him not trying quite so hard. He settles into a warm, burnished, countryish groove not far removed from vintage Harvest-era Neil Young at the beginning and keeps it going over the course of a double-disc set that isn't all that long. With the first disc clocking in at 39:39 and the second at 36:29, this could easily have been released as a single-disc set, but splitting it into two and packaging it as a mock-gatefold LP is classic Ryan Adams, highlighting both his flair for rock classicism and his tendency to come across slightly affected. As always, he's so obsessive about fitting into classic rock's long lineage that he can be slightly embarrassing - particularly on the intro to "Beautiful Sorta," which apes David Johansen's intro to the New York Dolls' "Looking for a Kiss" in a way that guarantees a cringe - which is also a problem when he drifts toward lazy, profanity-riddled lyrics ("this sh*t just f*cks you up" on "Cherry Lane") that undercut a generally strong set of writing. But what makes Cold Roses a success, his first genuine one since Heartbreaker, is that it is a genuine band album, with the Cardinals not only getting co-writing credits but helping Adams relax and let the music flow naturally. It's not the sound of somebody striving to save rock & roll, or even to be important, but that's precisely why this is the easiest Ryan Adams to enjoy. The coming months with their coming LPs will reveal whether this is indeed a shift in his point of view, or just a brief break from his trademark blustering braggadocio.

Review (Ryan Adams Official Website) : Cold Roses is the sixth studio album by Ryan Adams, released on May 3, 2005. The album is his first with backing band The Cardinals, and the first of three albums released in 2005. Cold Roses has sold over 159,000 copies in the United States. Although all the tracks can fit on a standard 80-minute disc, it was released as a double album with packaging and CDs designed to make it look like a vinyl LP. The album was also released in a standard 2-disc jewel case.

Review (New Musical Express) : For the last couple of years, Ryan Adams has been caught in a trap of his own making. A contrary intention to prove he was anything but the saviour alt country that his classic ’Heartbreaker’ created, he has made a succession of so-so records. His last long player, 2003’s ’Rock & Roll’, was a mess. A transparent attempt to show he knew the rock canon inside out, it was loaded with dodgy facsimiles of The Stooges, Joy Division, The Smiths and The Strokes. By trying so hard to be somebody else, he killed the assured musical vision that had him posited as a genius in the first place. Obviously shaken that Conor Oberst, his natural successor, put out two albums this year, Adams is answering with three. ’Cold Roses’, the first of the trio, is a return to form of sorts. Happily re-embracing the gusty country-rock of his former band Whiskeytown, he sounds and he writes like Ryan Adams again. In places, like the standout ’Friends’, his voice cracks and swoops and is as good as it ever was. This is his second break-up album, chockfull of steel guitar laments to a lost love with plaintive cries of ’When Will You Come Back Home’ and ’How Do You Keep Love Live’. Adams turned 30 last November and it shows. ’Cold Roses’ is more reflective and less intimate than the brash open wound of ’Heartbreaker’. It owes a big debt to Neil Young. When it really gets going, like on the brilliant ’Meadowlake Street’ and ’Life Is Beautiful’, it feels like coming home. Credit must be given to his new band The Cardinals who get a songwriting credit – amongst them the brilliantly named Cindy Cashdollar on lap steel. But it’s still not vintage Adams. The production is too breezy in places and at 19 songs, it is at least half a dozen too long. Not the classic Adams fans demand, but he’s moving his ducks into a row. With two more records to come this year, the omens are good.