shop | mailing lists
musicOMH
music: album reviews
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Cardinology (Lost Highway)
UK release date: 27 October 2008
4 stars
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Cardinology

buy this title


track listing

1. Born Into A Light
2. Go Easy
3. Fix It
4. Magick
5. Cobwebs
6. Let Us Down Easy
7. Crossed Out Name
8. Natural Ghost
9. Sink Ships
10. Evergreen
11. Like Yesterday
12. Stop
13. Memory Lane
The most prolific man in rock makes his return - we were getting worried about him. After all, it's been 16 months since his last album, Easy Tiger. Back in the drug-addled days of yore, that would have been enough time to release 3 or 4 records, and leak an unofficial bootleg onto a website.

Yet the former wild child is a man in his 30s now, and he seems to be benefiting from some stability. Cardinology follows very much in the vein of Easy Tiger, Cold Roses and Jacksonville City Nights - if slightly less sprawling and more focused than the last two albums.

Backing band the Cardinals make an official return here (they weren't credited for Easy Tiger, but were still on the record), and it's clear that they're now the perfect foil for Adams. There's no showy guitar solos, just a group of finely tuned musicians obviously having the time of their life. They give the songs here a warmth and comfort which makes the album very listenable.

Those songs are some of the strongest that Adams has written for some time. Easy Tiger gave an impression of treading water, with several songs reworked from old bootleg recordings, but on Cardinology Adams sounds like a man re-energised.

That's demonstrated on the opening salvo of songs - the easy roll of Born Into A Light with its mournful pedal string guitar is a lovely opener, but Go Easy is the first real gem. Reminiscent of Cold Roses, it's a contemplative look at a broken relationship, with Adams' voice nearly cracking on the emotional chorus of "I will always love you, so go easy on yourself".

Fix It is in a similar mould, if even better, with a glorious chorus of "it feels like losing when someone you love throws you away....I'd fix it if I could". Admittedly you could see it replacing Coldplay in an particularly poignant moment in an ITV comedy-drama, but just bask in its beauty for now.

After this blisteringly good start, Cardinology settles down into a languid country-rock groove - beautiful at times, intensely listenable and professional, but probably not breaking any new ground. Magick showcases Adams' longstanding love of U2, while Crossed Out Name is just superb: taking a familiar Adams lyrical motif of wandering round New York City on his own and creating some memorable lines ("I don't pray, I shower and say goodnight to myself") to tug at the heartstrings.

The intimate Evergreen is another highlight, although the last third of the album is dragged down a bit by too many laidback country-ish ballads. Still, the stately piano of Stop makes for a perfect closing track, presumably about addiction and recovery with lines like "I know a sickness so ancient and cross, a crucifix can never fix enough". The fragility even brings to mind Adams' finest solo album, Heartbreaker.

Widely thought to be his last album for Lost Highway, Cardinology marks the end of an era for Ryan Adams. He's spoken of moving into a Foo Fighters/Oasis direction, which would be disappointing - he's too good to just churn out stadium rock. After all, when he's on form, nobody can touch the soul as perfectly as Adams. If this does mark the end of his sometimes troubled relationship with his record label though, it's a pretty good swansong.

  share: 
Facebook | Digg | del.icio.us | more
Mercury Prize 2009 nominees
FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE SPEECH DEBELLE KASABIAN FRIENDLY FIRES
LA ROUX BAT FOR LASHES THE HORRORS GLASVEGAS
SWEET BILLY PILGRIM THE INVISIBLE LISA HANNIGAN LED BIB




out this week:
Julian Casablancas - Phrazes For The Young The Hidden Cameras - Origin: Orphan Weezer - Raditude
Luke Haines - 21st Century Man Espers - III Local Natives - Gorilla Manor
coming soon:
Martha Wainwright - Sans Fusils, Ni Souliers, a Paris Robbie Williams - Reality Killed The Video Star Mariah Carey - Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel
Will Young - The Hits Joe Goddard - Harvest Festival The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Higher Than The Stars EP
recent releases:
Cheryl Cole - Three Words McAlmont & Nyman - The Glare Miike Snow - Miike Snow
Devendra Banhart - What Will Be Will Be Kings Of Convenience - Declaration Of Dependence Wolfmother - Cosmic Egg
Portico Quartet - Isla Annie - Don't Stop Whitney Houston - I Look To You
The Antlers - Hospice BEAK> - BEAK> Atlas Sound - Logos
Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport The Flaming Lips - Embryonic Shakira - She Wolf
more album reviews
TOP ARTICLES NOW
GIG: Shirley Bassey dazzles Camden

GIG: HEALTH slay 30 minutes

MORE GIG REVIEWS: Maps, Smokey Robinson, Editors, iLiKETRAiNS, Dizzee Rascal, Doves, The Big Pink, Soap&Skin, Girls, Robbie Williams...

ALBUM: Cheryl Cole: 3 Words

FESTIVAL: In The City 2009

INTERVIEW: Miike Snow on deeply darkly danceable music and why cold is good

RELATED ARTICLES
ALBUM:
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Cardinology

ALBUM:
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Everybody Knows EP

ALBUM:
Ryan Adams - 29

ALBUM:
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Jacksonville City Nights

ALBUM:
Ryan Adams - Love Is Hell Part 2

ALBUM:
Ryan Adams - Love Is Hell Part 1

ALBUM:
Ryan Adams - Rock N Roll

ALBUM:
Ryan Adams - Gold

GIG:
Ryan Adams @ KOKO, London

GIG:
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals @ Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

GIG:
Ryan Adams @ Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool

FEATURE:
Ryan Adams

TRACK:
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Let It Ride

TRACK:
Ryan Adams - Wonderwall

TRACK:
Ryan Adams - Answering Bell

EXTERNAL LINKS
Ryan Adams



  more album reviews...



musicOMH
about us
contact
copyright
home
elsewhere
Twitter
Facebook
Last.fm
Soundcloud
MySpace
© 1999-2009 OMH