A LITTLE ROCK, A LITTLE ROLL, A LOT OF MAINSTREAM

By: B

Rock N Roll is Ryan Adams' attempt at rock n roll. Rocking harder is usually something to be commended, but not when innovation gets thrown by the wayside. While trying to make a harder sound, Adams has forgotten what makes him great: an excellent voice crooning over serene alt-country tunes.

Recorded in just two weeks, Rock N Roll is a tribute to the rockers of yesteryear. The Replacements and Rolling Stones are all over this album, along with a rip-off of the Stone Roses (“Burning Photographs”). The tracks flow from sub-par to enjoyable, but never climbing to the peaks he had visited in Heartbreaker and Gold.

Rock N Roll begins with “This Is It,” an apparent tribute to the Replacements. While anything involving a shout-out to the garage gods should be a good thing, “This Is It” is doesn't do them justice. Simple and small, it's more rip-off than tribute. Same goes for "Burning Photographs," track seven. The echoing guitars are straight from the Stone Roses, except the Roses did it better. In 1989. However, at least he's sampling from the right bands.

Adams peaks in the fourth and fifth tracks, “Wish You Were Here” and “So Alive.” His voice finally comes alive, showing off his wonderful range. Besides these two tracks, the rest of the album is uneventful.

The main problem with Rock N Roll is Adams' voice. On all his other work, Whiskeytown and solo, the vocals displayed by Adams were his biggest asset. Armed with an incredible range, Adams can beautify the most average of tunes. On Rock N Roll, Adams abandons his clean sound and uses a raspier voice. He can't quite pull it off, and the effort to do so denies the listener of his greatest tool as a musician.

The guitar work is great, showing that Adams can play any type of music he wants, but with careless one-liners and go-nowhere tracks, the album as a whole just doesn't hit you like his others. “1974” and “Boys” are good, but not great.

There were tracks on his earlier work that made me want to cry, from “Come Pick Me Up” to “When the Stars Go Blue.” This time around, Adams doesn't make the listener care enough to get emotionally invested. With lyrics like ‘Note to self, don't cry for anyone' and ‘I'm as lonely as monkeys taught to destroy,' it's just more difficult to get on board.

In his early stuff, Adams' lyrics were jaded and mysterious. In Rock N Roll, they're just tired and simple. Adams has always seemed a bit messed up, but before he had shown self-awareness and perspective. The subject matter, though often depressing, still took an uplifting tone. In Rock N Roll Adams is floating in Act 1, fucked up and seeing no way to change.

Despite the all-too-average singing, Rock N Roll is still solid. There is a pleasant absence of crap; every track is enjoyable in some way. In the same breath, Adams could have at least tried to break some ground with this release. With Gold, Adams was close to making a classic album. With the same mood and a little more discipline, Rock N Roll could have been it. However, instead of trying to make his own sound he ended up copying others. “Pretty good” should never be an accurate description of Adams' work. Love it or hate it, there should be no middle ground. Unfortunately, there is no other choice on Rock N Roll.

Ryan Adams still may be a musical genius, just don't listen to this album for verification. Refer to his past work and file this under enjoyable but forgettable.

POP RATING: 6.8

CRITICAL RATING: 5.5

B'S RATING: 5.8

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