Album Reviews
View
Like their alt-country peers Uncle Tupelo,
Whiskeytown were a short-lived outfit that made primo tunes via two core
talents: the sweetly ragged yearning of perpetual train wreck Ryan Adams
and the poignant fiddle and harmonies of foil Caitlin Cary. Released in
1997, when Adams was twenty-two, Almanac was Whiskeytown's major-label
debut, and although the group was in upheaval, the record is remarkably
polished, coloring Gram Parsons-style country rock with R.E.M.'s vocal
drama ("Not Home Anymore") and the Replacements' beer-breath blues
("Yesterday's News"). The album is a minor classic, and this reissue
proves Adams was ridiculously prolific even then. The bonus disc of
unearthed Nineties sessions would itself make a strong album, unplugging
many Almanac songs alongside other originals and covers, including
Adams' plaintive reading of Johnny Cash's "I Still Miss Someone" and a
surprisingly affectionate take on Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams," anticipating
a time when the Dixie Chicks and Little Big Town would make the Mac a
touchstone of modern country. As he is now, Adams was then both ahead of
and behind his time.
Share
Email
AIM
Del.icio.us
DiggThis
Fark It!
Advertisement
News and Reviews
Advertisement
Review 1 of 1
td1fan writes:
Even before the "add-ons" this is one of my 10 favorite albums of all-time, and I'm an OLD guy! Ryan Adams evolved, devolved re-evolved(real word?) but this is clearly some of his best work. Excuse me while I break my own heart tonight...does it get much better than THAT? I don't think it does.
Mar 21, 2008 11:48:48
Previous Next
Advertisement
More CD Reviews
-
Bob Dylan
Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8 -
Oasis
Dig Out Your Soul -
Rise Against
Appeal to Reason -
Pretenders
Break Up The Concrete -
The Streets
Everything is Borrowed -
The Clash
Live at Shea Stadium -
James Taylor
Covers -
T.I.
Paper Trail -
Ben Folds
Way To Normal -
The Nightwatchman
The Fabled City
©RealNetworks, Inc. All rights reserved.
©Copyright 2008 Rolling Stone
- Portions of Album Content Provided by All Music Guide © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC.
Get RS Mobile
RSS
