Ryan Adams’ infamous cult classic album “Blackhole” will be released on classic black vinyl and CD for the very first time. The album’s contents and final tracklisting have been widely speculated since its conception in the early 00’s. After nearly two decades of anticipation, Adams is now ready to unveil the official release of “Blackhole”. Featuring “Catherine”, heard only in live performances, alongside previously unheard material, “Blackhole” captures the raw, unfiltered emotion that defines Adam’s songwriting. The shelved album, first demoed in 2006, became heavily bootlegged, with fans circulating low-quality recordings and snippets from live performances, fuelling a demand for the album’s official release. This long-awaited, full-length album not only satisfies years of fan speculation, but also reclaims a crucial moment in Ryan Adam’s history.
With “Blackhole” finally set for release, here’s a look back at the album’s journey—its storied production, evolving versions, and near two-decade wait that made it one of Ryan’s most anticipated records. Adams began recording “Blackhole” over Christmas, intending it as an epic rock album. He described it as “a real serious effort to make a rock record, really epic and big.”
Initial demos for the album were completed. Reflecting on this period later, Adams called “Blackhole “the last record I made in the last days of the drugs.”
“Blackhole” was reportedly intended to be part of a 2006 trilogy alongside War and Peace and songs recorded for The Cardinals’ planned third album, “Star Wars”, but was ultimately rejected by Lost Highway. In an interview, Adams described “Blackhole” as an album that captured a particularly intense and transformative period in his life, saying, “You listen to it and think, ‘My God, this guy is gonna die.'”
Adams released ‘Disco Queen’ and ‘Tomorrowland’ as part of a digital singles series via his label Pax-Am. He remarked, “These songs are a taste of something from a different place—tracks that never quite found a home on an album, but still felt like they should be heard.” After years of work, Adams revisited the “Blackhole” tracks with producer Jamie Candiloro, “opening up the tracks” to create a new version of the album. He described the album as “Love Is Hell Part 3,” noting, “It took 4 years to make it… lots of shimmery guitar love on this.”
Adams returned to Blackhole at his Pax-Am studio, recording new material and reworking existing tracks. He revealed, “I think I’m finally ready, maybe, to release the “Blackhole” record… There’s been actually two versions of it which is pretty interesting.” He described the album further by saying, “Rescuing Blackhole was like rescuing my past. It’s like Love is Hell’s sister. In every way. In the most profound way.”
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