It’s Valentine’s Day, and Ryan Adams is celebrating the occasion with a new love song appropriately called ‘Baby, I Love You’. Adams’ press release describes the tune as “a song to one’s baby, whom they love—a unique twist on Ryan Adams’ classic recipe, with key ingredient ‘sad’ replaced by ‘happy’”.
On top of the new song, the singer-songwriter has also announced a huge show at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on June 14th, Early last year, Adams released his latest album Prisoner. The Prisoner singer has been embroiled in a long-term feud with The Strokes, which saw Adams once again took to Twitter last July, writing: “Abert Hammond is a more horrible songwriter than his dad. If that’s possible. It rains in Sthtrn CA & washes out the dirt As you were RA x”
He swiftly followed that up with a dig at Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas, tweeting “Julian Casablancas: who got you strung out on lasagna tho?”
Adams continued: “I should have got them addicted to writing better songs. Too bad The Killers did it for them”.
The spat came after it was claimed by The Strokes that Adams was in some way responsible for Albert Hammond Jr.’s past heroin addiction.
The comments came in a new book by Lizzy Goodman calledMeet Me in the Bathroom: Rebirth and Rock and Roll in New York City, 2001–2011, which details the rise of 2000s NYC indie bands such as The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, LCD Soundsystem, Interpol and Vampire Weekend.
Ryan Adams drew from some potentially surprising sources while dreaming up the musical landscape for his next solo LP. The new record, released in November, has evolved beyond Adams’ initial description of an album inspired by the “sonic geography” of classic releases from Bruce Springsteen and the Smiths. In its place stands a set of songs whose recordings absorbed the strains of different artists on Adams’ iPod playlist.
“When I run, I listen to [an iPod] Nano that I have. I put all the AC/DC records on from back to front, or I’ll listen to the best of stuff from the ’80s: Springsteen, or [Bruce] Hornsby, and I’ll listen to what is going on there. I was listening to AC/DC’s Fly on the Wall,” he recalled, “and that’s when I realized what I had to do for the record.”
But if AC/DC inspired a new direction for the album, fans probably shouldn’t expect to hear that band’s stomping, monolithic crunch. In fact, it sounds like there’s a lot more going on in terms of production — including more intricate guitar arrangements inspired by ELO and Bachman-Turner Overdrive. “I was like, ‘Wow! I understand the multicolored guitar tone moments now. You can layer stuff. I really just learned a lot.””
Fueled by the maddening depression that comes from divorce, Ryan Adams did what he does best: He wrote about it. For 12 tracks, the shaggy singer-songwriter wrestles with his worst demons, reeking of pathos and abandon.
Not since Heartbreaker has Ryan Adams sounded this earnest. Every track beams with the kind of fragility you’d want from a denim lothario like Adams, but instead of wallowing in grief, these songs attempt to resolve it. They do.
To help him achieve all this, Adams turned to Grammy-winning producer Don Was, who he referred to in the interview as “Gandalf” and credited with helping him winnow down the “quite literally 80″ songs he had written for the record. Adams described the end result as an album that asks some “cool, big questions” without getting unwieldy.
“I think the challenge for me — the Everest peak, for me — is to tell this story in 11 songs, to tell this part of my life in 11 songs,” he added. “How do I make a real distinct record where anybody listens to it and says, ‘That’s the truth from beginning to end.’ So it’s like exercise. It sucks in the beginning. But then you get into it.”
Essential Tracks: “Doomsday”, “Anything I Say to You”, “To Be Without You”, and “Outbound Train”
Ryan Adams is preparing a limited-edition version of his upcoming latest album, “Prisoner”, which will come with a host of special, seriously unusual extras. Pre-orders for the “Prisoner: End of the World” box are available now for Adams’ Mystery Box email list subscribers (and here on Jan. 25 for the general public), with both in line to receive a digital copy of the album when it drops on February. 17th
So, what do you get for your $150? For starters you’ll unpack 12 7-inch records — one for each of the dozen songs on Prisoner backed with 17 previously unreleased B-sides and all pressed on different colored vinyl and with their own unique cover art. But wait, there’s more! Prisoner is Ryan Adams‘ first album of new material since 2014’s self-titled set and the follow-up to 2015’s cover of Taylor Swift’s 1989 album.
The set also comes with a 2-D playset featuring action figures of Adams and his band, complete with working lights and sound, amps, arcade games, cats and guitar pedal boards. Upping the ante, 12 randomly selected copies of the box will also include a one-of-a-kind solo acoustic 7-inch singles of a Prisoner track recorded at Electric Lady Studios’ legendary Voice-O-Graph. According to a release announcing the set, there will only be one production run of the box, with only one per customer.
If anyone became worried about Ryan Adams and his broken heart following his acrimonios divorce from Mandy Moore, they won’t find much peace after listening to the new album “Prisoner”. From the opening track and lead single, “Do You Still Love Me?,”Adams sets the stage for an album full of heartbreak and confusion, frustration and uncertainty and plenty of questions, with the first being, quite simply, “Do you still love me?”
Though he may never get a clear answer to that question and others, Prisoneris far from a hopeless album. Sure, on a song like “Shiver and Shake,” he sings the heart jerking lyrics, “I miss you so much, I shiver and I shake / I’ve been waiting here like a dog at the door / You used to throw me scraps / You don’t do it anymore,” but then on “Doomsday” he stands up and admits, “My love, we can do better than this / My love, how can you complicate a kiss.” Somehow, in the midst of such significantly personal and affecting lyrics, Adams manages to display a type of confidence one can only find after picking up the remains of a destroyed heart and shaking it off.
Beyond the heartache, though, Prisoneris soaked in reverb and chorus, radiating the best of the ’80s at nearly every turn. Fans and critics alike are quick to point out the undeniable comparisons of Adams’ vocals and the record’s production quality to the likes of Petty or Springsteen, and nowhere is that more obvious than on “HauntedHouse” and “We Disappear.” When either track starts, close your eyes and you’ll swear you’re listening to a never-before-heard Springsteen outtake.
This ’80s-drenched sound shouldn’t come as much of a shock to fans of Adams; from a production perspective, Prisoner will soon be viewed as a companion piece and ultimately, a fulfillment, to his 2014 album “Ryan Adams”. In fact, as far as Adams is concerned, he’s finally perfected the sound for which he’s long been looking .
Throughout the new disc, Adams is at his best and his most brutally honest. Though he may not always find answers to the questions he asks, he manages to dust off his heart, toss it on his sleeve, and continue playing the part of a prisoner in love. Whether fans are drawn to Prisonerbecause of the pristine sound or the wide-open, unobstructed look inside the singer’s heart—or both—they’ll be greeted with a quintessential Ryan Adams record from start to finish.
Ryan Adams delivered a haunting, solo acoustic version of Radiohead’s “Karma Police” during a Saturday session spot on BBC Radio 2. The singer-songwriter stayed true to the epic OK Computer ballad, even creatively crooning the eerie, descending vocal melody from the song’s bridge. Ryan Adams also commented on how AC/DC, ELO Inspired songs for his upcoming Album
“I was listening to AC/DC’s ‘Fly on the Wall,’ and that’s when I realized what I had to do for the record,” singer-songwriter said in new interview
“I woke up this morning and I was jetlagged, and I had a full day of press,” he told the BBC. “But I wanted to do a couple of covers. And I know plenty, but I wanted to do something new that I hadn’t done before. So I went, what are two or three songs I could try to learn before I have to go to my first thing. And this was one. I don’t know if I’ve learned it in a great, new and interesting way, but I also thought it’s fitting, because there’s a pretty awful person who just got elected in the United States. So I don’t know why, but that song popped into my head this morning.” Adams also performed a solo version of “Doomsday,” the anthemic folk-rock single from his upcoming 16th LP, “Prisoner”, due out February 17th.
The songwriter recently announced the album’s limited-edition “End of the World” box set containing 17 previously unreleased B-sides, seven-inch vinyl for each of the 12 songs and a 2-D action play set with assorted action figures.
On Monday, Adams released a video for power-ballad “Do You Still Love Me?.” The clip blends onstage footage with shots of Adams and his production team in the studio.
Singer-songwriter told BBC Radio 2 his performance was inspired by “pretty awful person” Donald Trump
Ryan Adams begins his latest song “Doomsday” with a pledge: “I could wait 1,000 years my love, I’d wait for you,” he sings. “I could stand in just one place my love and never move.”
“I was listening to AC/DC’s ‘Fly on the Wall,’ and that’s when I realized what I had to do for the record,” singer-songwriter said in new interview
The track on RyanAdams’ next album, “Prisoner”, blends these earnest, lovelorn sentiments with elements from both folk and Eighties heartland rock. The track kicks off with sturdy strumming and a descending melodic line played on a harmonica; a lead guitar quickly doubles the harmonica riff. The beat is where the Eighties come in: the clipped, echoey drums evoke the popular production style from that decade. Adams suggested that his latest tracks were inspired by groups like AC/DC, Bruce Springsteen and ELO.
Prisoner arrives via Pax Am/Blue Note, and Blue Note boss Don Was helped produce the record. “I didn’t know if I knew what I was doing,” said Adams. “So when you”re in a situation like that, you gotta get Gandalf – you gotta call Don Was!” Was served a similar wizard role for the Rolling Stones, Bonnie Raitt, Ringo Starr and Bob Dylan, among others. He won a producer of the year Grammy in 1994.
How the heck are Ryan Adams‘ songs this consistently good? The singer-songwriter is readying his sixteenth (!) studio album, Prisoner, due out on February 17th via Blue Note and his own label Pax/Am, and while we are already thrilled to hear the next dynamic song after its lead-off track “Do You Still Love Me?,” the latest from the album is pure balladeer perfection. The contemplative acoustic number “To Be Without You” surfaced today, and it’s another remarkably strong single in Adams’ vast catalog of strong singles.
Whatever the decision Ryan Adams made to take his news songs and new band to only two public concerts, one in Sydney and the other in Tokyo, for the fans of his music, in those two locales consider themselves blessed. The new band may have been christened The Nuts on Instagram over the last two days, but whatever they end up being called, they truly ignited the sold out Enmore Theatre on Tuesday night.
The buzz of anticipation is always present when Ryan Adams comes to town and tonight was no exception. After doing a surprise invite only gig for a few hundred the previous night at The Factory, tonight was the first paid public performance by this new collective. The crowd was wondering what the band would deliver from Adam’s catalogue and the band were eager to get out in front of a crowd and get some feedback and to show off their licks.
‘Magnolia Mountain’, the song he recorded with The Cardinals, was the starting point tonight.
New material was peppered all the way through, with the bold, damaged songs boasting titles such as ‘Doomsday’ and ‘Prisoner’. Oddly enough, in some ways the tunes most closely resembled numbers from his underrated and oft-ignored heavy metal record, Orion, but in terms of lyrical content they seemed cut from the same tear-and-spit-stained cloth of Cold Roses. But as ‘Gimme Something Good’ rear-ended into ‘Kim’, with the audience following every power-popped chord, such concerns faded away. Maybe we’ve always been too academic about Adams; too concerned about defining something that does not need to be defined.
As he played the audience up and out with ‘When The Stars Go Blue’, it seemed redundant to confuse personality with art, or try to make cerebral sense out of the music . A gag about the thematic similarity between his songs led to an improvised number about his love of toast and Joy Division bootlegs, and songs like ‘Magnolia Mountain’ were transformed into long, riff-heavy numbers that teetered thrillingly on the edge of collapse
With Ben Alleman on keys, long term producer and bassist Charle Stavish, Nate Lotz on drum and BennyYurco (from Grace Potter and The Nocturnals) joining in on lead guitars, this was a rock and roll show. The lyrical content of the new songs are raw emotions. As Adams said, “these songs are so raw, that if you were to eat them you would get worms”. Raw they may be, but they do rock and roll and not wither in melancholia.
‘Dirty Rain”, from Ashes and Fire, was delivered with a punch and ‘Do You Still Love Me?’ from the new album Prisoner churned with powerful chords and aching lyrics. With 7 of the 21 songs being brand new to the audience, there was a chance of there being some disappointment in not hearing old favourites. Adams jokingly advised the crowd “not to be scared” of the new songs, but there was no fear at all, as the crowd truly engaged with the new numbers and the new band.
Prisoner appears to be an album of songs that don’t linger long on the jam, but come out with six strings on fire. Alleman played some beautiful keyboard solos through the set, and Yurco and Adams connected perfectly in guitar synchronicity. Even when the amplifiers lost power for a bit and the band waited patiently, Adams was so keen to get going and hoped they would fix them soon because he stated ‘we just want to rock”.
One thing that always pleases us about Ryan Adams is his penchant for jamming off into the sunset. A fairly rote song like Peaceful Valley became a bulging ten-minute opus that allowed his band to flex their muscles and find each other in the maelstrom. It was one of many instances that the group let fly. They work exceptionally well together, and the results were spectacular passages of slick riffing and tumbling minor scale conversations.
‘Kim’, ‘Gimme Something Good’ and ‘I just Might’ were a trio of songs off his eponymous 2014 record that fit into the attitude of the set list tonight. There was to be no acoustic guitars and harmonica, this was a rock concert simple and beautiful. ‘Cold Roses’ bookended the set with some more meandering gorgeous guitar jams and truly a magical moment on the night.
The band seemed like they wanted to play for hours more but they closed it down by getting to a couple of classics.
‘Shakedown On 9th Street’ from Heartbreaker had the room vibrating one more time with everyone joining in on the chorus. For the fans who wanted something from Gold, they were left wanting more, after a splendid closing version of ‘When the Stars Go Blue’.
Ryan Adams And The Nuts truly demonstrated a pulsating delivery of the new songs from Prisoner and this will truly be one of his best records based on the first instalment of them done live. I do believe this band will morph into something very special once the tour proper kicks off next year his fans hope they come back to show us what they have achieved a year from now. You know what else? Ryan Adams is funny as shit.
Ryan Adams finally has annouced his new album will be released on February. 17th, 2017 titled Prisoner. It’s his first project since last year’s 1989, a song-for-song cover of Taylor Swifts record of the same name, and first album of new, original material since his self-titled effort of 2014.
He made the announcement on social media, posting a picture of the cover art and giving the release date. He added that the first single, “Do You Still Love Me?” will be out tomorrow (December. 7th).
Adams spoke about the record back in September, noting that he had written around 80 songs for it and that its sound was inspired by listening to classic rock on his iPod while running. “I was listening to bands like AC/DC”, he said, “and that’s when I realized what I had to do for the record.” However, the guitar sounds were inspired by Electric Light Orchestra and Bachman Turner Overdrive, adding that he finally understood what those bands were doing musically. “I was like, ‘Wow! I understand the multicolored guitar tone moments now. You can layer stuff. I really just learned a lot.’”
The track listing is below, Ryan Adams recently debuted the new songs at an invite-only show in Sydney. Theyalso found a clip of him performing “Do You Still Love Me” earlier today in Sydney, which was posted by a fan on Instagram.
Ryan Adams, ‘Prisoner,’ Track Listing
1. “Do You Still Love Me?”
2. “Prisoner”
3. “Doomsday”
4. “Haunted House”
5. “Shiver And Shake”
6. “To Be Without You”
7. “Anything I Say To You Now”
8. “Breakdown”
9. “Outbound Train”
10. “Broken Anyway”
11. “Tightrope”
12. “We Disappear”
![Prisoner [Explicit]](https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61Hc1i%2BURkL._SS500.jpg)
The Fat Angel Sings 