I'm looking for a new artist to explore, and I'm considering Ryan Adams. For some reason I have an impression that he's sort of a teanie bopper, but what I read makes him sound like a serious artist. My favorite contemporary artists are Wilco and Chuck Prophet, and I know he has toured a bit with CP. What do folks who know his music think?

Thanks.

I like his music and I routinely dislike everything that came out after about 1990.

He's definitely worth a listen. I'd rate him as one of the best of his generation, for sure.

There's a lot to like in Adams' discography. The only real knock against him is the sheer number of albums & songs he's released in a relatively short period of time, so quality control is sometimes an issue. You can't really go wrong with his first two solo albums, "Heartbreaker" and "Gold." They present a pretty well-rounded picture of what he can do, especially his alt-country, singer-songwriter side. He branched out into other genres on later albums and many of them are just as good, but I think these two are the perfect entry point. And don't overlook the albums he did as the main songwriter in the band Whiskeytown.

Hope this is helpful. I'm sure others will have completely differing opinions, but that's one of the joys of his diverse catalog.

OK.......

whiskeytown, his first band, is just excellent alt-country-rock. i suggest you get as much of their stuff that you can find. their last album "pneumonia" is fantastic.

adams solo, for me has been hit and miss. the first few:

Heartbreaker (2000) - a little slow but wonderful lyrics
Gold (2001) - excellent - there is a bonus version out there.
Demolition (2002) - meh
Rock N Roll (2003) - double meh
Love Is Hell (2004) - there are 2 love is hell EP's, that got got combined into one album ( i think)
Cold Roses (2005) - really good one

next:

Jacksonville City Nights (2005) - country tinged
29 (2005) - also country tinged
Easy Tiger (2007) - an slight return to rock
Cardinology (2008) - outstanding album (2 CD's)
Orion (2010) - meh
III/IV (2010) - decent
Ashes & Fire (2011) - decent
Ryan Adams (2014) - OK
1989 (2015) - meh
Prisoner (2017) -haven't heard it yet

my personal opinion is that he got very big very fast and just tried to get as much out there as he could as fast as he could and being so prolific hurt him a bit....over-saturation i would call it.

all in all it is an interesting trip, i'm also pretty sure that everything he did is on spotify, so you can give it all a listen before you buy.

enjoy

Abso-fucking-lutely. Robbie Patterson introduced me to him and I've got most of his albums. He's one of the few artists both my wife and I like, with a wide variety of styles. A random sampling of favorites --

From Renny's list, here are my favorites in bold. I think Gold or Cold Roses is the one I'd start out with, personally.

Just don't confuse him with Bryan Adams. He really doesn't like that.

(Although he's developed more of a sense of humor about it recently.)

Yet he's quite comfortable with comparisons to American patriots John Adams, John Quincy Adams and Amy Adams.

i could never understand why he never played 'summer of '69' when someone would yell bryan adams at his shows. would have been great.

He's very talented, but releases way too much material.

The new album is very 80s-Rock influenced and should be fun.

I saw him and the Cardinals in 2008 and they were great and he was wearing a Dio shirt and mentioned on stage how much he loved Ronnie's voice and music.

I used to think of Bryan Adams whenever I'd see one of Ryan's albums.

If you don't want to be confused with Bryan Adams, don't have a name that sounds like his.

Thanks so much guys! I guess it's time to dive in!

One of the upsides of an artist as prolific as Adams is a lot of product... used product. If you're not too picky about imports, bonus tracks, et al, you can probably assemble 3/4 of Renny's list at no more than 5 bucks a pop.

He will be on Fallon tomorrow night.

Check him out.

I would, the 5 or 6 titles that I have I do really enjoy. Especially the Cardinology (2008) - outstanding album (2 CD's).

Rick A.

Listening to his new album 'Prisoner' on Spotify right now, and it's got a very 80's, Athens/Chapel Hill, jangly college rock sound to it that I'm really digging (the lead single "Do You Still Love Me?" doesn't seem very representative).

that sums him up pretty much spot on.

every album (almost) is like that, they tend to bounce around a lot.

He's on Corden tonight.

Will he be on Codeine tomorrow night?

He's touring and will be in NYC soon. I saw him open for someone at the Garden a few years ago but can't remember who. Maybe The Who?

Well, we saw him open for the Rolling Stones at MSG.

That's it!

He plays The Beacon May 3rd.