I bought this at Criminal in ATL today after a fine brunch at Front Page News...The first disc is good; very mellow; nice soundtrack for the drive back home. Haven't heard the 2nd disc yet. The Talladega race is on and I've also got yard work to do. Maybe tonight.

I'm giving this my first listen right now, and I like what I hear through almost all of the first half, despite my disappointment that "Mockingbird" wasn't the Mock…YEAH!…ing…YEAH!…bird…YEAH! version from the 70s.

it sounds kinda, i dunno, middle-aged? at least, moreso than any of his other albums.

not that being older is, yknow, bad.

c'mon ryan. add new york to your tour dates. poughkeepsie is a tease and you know it.

album comes out internationally today, in US tomorrow.

if this isn't released until tmrw, how did I buy it yesterday? Record shops selling advanced promo copies? Shocking!

looking forward to this much. love "let it ride", tho it's really a simply-kempt song.

looks like it'll be $13.99 at best buy tomorrow, plus i have the remainder of a gift card to use. try to go at lunch hour. gonna stave off the temptation to listen to the stream.

you bought it yesterday because, obviously, you're tone 40.

So, is this bad? Can you rank it among his other stuff? If it's middle-aged sounding like the new Ben Folds is, I'd rather stay away. If it's middle-aged sounding like the new eels, it's probably worth buying.

I guess I'd like to see him come back as Heartbreaker is one of my favorite records of all time. His only other redeeming solo work is the bonus disc in Gold.

I think this guy really needs a band to serve as a de facto editorial board for him as he will have flashes of brilliance, and then stick "Do Miss America" on a record.

My wife is totally apeshit for him and has his records in her car all the time, as a result I know more about him than I ever needed to.

the closest i can say is its a mix of pneumonia and love is hell. i'm not sure yet where it ranks. thus far, not my favorite, but far from my least fave.

I think it is ok...just too overproduced. I need to listen more but I would say it is his 2nd worst album.

1. Heartbreaker
2. Demolition
3. Gold
4. Love is Hell
5. This one
6. Rock N' Roll

i agree with the poster above. i think the new ryan adams cd is fair. however, i am really digging this album -> lucero - that much further west

That Much Father West is awesome. Somebody else on this board is a big fan of it too. Can't remember who. Maybe El Guapo?

I'm liking the new Adams more with each listen, but I can't help but think it might've been better as a killer 11-12 track single album.

I think its competent and it is ok as background noise, it just doesn't have much emotion behind it, at least to my ears...kind of sounds like an atrist going through the motions.

See, I think this is a fair review of all of his solo work except Heartbreaker. Decent songwriting, plenty of hooks but nothing special. He is a master of attention grabbing by freaking out when others point this out. Releasing 4 records in one year doesn't do you any favors in trying to get people to take you more seriously.

I've always thought Heartbreaker was wildly overrated; too much filler (it is, the indie choice though so it must be his best). Gold is probably his best but I'll take Rock N Roll over a lot of the mellow stuff (and Heartbreaker for that matter);

I think there have been great moments on all of his releases, it is just that the filler has been overtaking the good songs recently. Even on a very mediocre album like Rock N' Roll, there are a couple really good songs like So Alive.

All you really need to make a great album these days is 4 to 5 great songs. He has been falling short of that.

This could be the first time we have all three ever agreed on anything.

yeah i think it was el guapo. i like it too.

okay, wait......is this some weird bizaro world?

i've been a fan of ryan adams for along time.....but a growing concensus that rock and roll is not only a good record, but one of his best?

whaa?

Yeah, I bought Heartbreaker the day it came out...and was quite dissapointed. (It grew on me a bit, but overall, what's the big fucking deal?)

I bought Rock and Roll the day it came out, and thought (and think) it rocks.

I haven't heard this'n yet, but will probably pick it up tomorrow, after I go to Tom "Two Week" Bender's office.

Put me in there as well - although it's kind of a I-guess-this-turd-doesn't-stink-as-bad-as-that-turd sort of thing for me. There's a ton of guys I'd rather listen to that traffic in the same genre as Adams. Scott Miller, fer instance, has two albums (Thus Always To Tyrants and Upside/Downside) that I much prefer over Gold.


I think Haq had it on his '03 Shmoo poll. Good stuff.

I have a Lucero album, an older one, that I like ok. I keep meaning to pick this one up.

Scottycash - not everyone likes Rock N'Roll - trust me.

oh, i know not everyone likes it....

im kinda torn when it comes to rocknroll

i think the back story made me like the album more than i would have.....

basically: losthighway (his label) shit on 'love is hell' and refused to release it.....

so he went back into the studio and ripped out rock and roll quicker than shit.....and the songs are either named after or responsed to names of popular rock and roll songs/albums......he ripped it out quicker than poop....

the lable wanted to release it, but he negotiated that they release 'love is hell' at the same time (at first it was 2 e.p.'s).....

i t hink of 'rock and roll' as a back handed fuck you to the record label