A review for a CD that I haven't listened to...
I will stop reviewing things soon, I promise. I just needed to get a few things off my chest about this album.
Anyway, the CD in question is the 2003 release Rock N Roll by Ryan Adams, (yeah, Ryan, NOT Bryan. We'll get to the name later). You may remember Mr. Adams because he released a song about NYC when it was a very commercially smart time to do so, ie. right after 9/11. (It was actually a pretty forgettable little tune, if you want to know my opinion.) I hardly remember this particular album making much of an impression when it was released, but it certainly made an impression on me when I stumbled upon it in a musty corner of the library (although, to be fair, all the corners at the ERC are musty; not just the ones with his albums). The reason I was so intrigued by the songs is because almost all of the titles sound like the titles of songs that already exist! Sometimes embarrassingly so. Some examples:
This Is It
sounds like...
Is This It? by The Strokes. Plus Betty Davis had a song called This Is It.
1974
sounds like...
1979 by The Smashing Pumpkins.
Wish You Were Here
is already the name of at least two successful songs, one by Incubus and one by that little known band PINK goddamn FLOYD. (This is a cover of neither song.) Plus Fleetwood Mac have a song of the same name.
So Alive
sounds like...
a million songs. Not least the lame arse one by POD. (But also Pearl Jam, Oasis, etc.)
Rock N Roll
sounds like...
Well, has any pop band NOT written a song with 'Rock N Roll' in the title? I mean, apart from Rock N' Roll by Motorhead, and Rock and Roll by Gary Glitter (thanks Anon!), there's also: I Love Rock N' Roll (Joan Jett and the Blackhearts), Rock 'n' Roll Star (Oasis), Kill Rock N' Roll (System Of A Down), Whatever Happened To My Rock N Roll (BRMC), Rock N Roll High School and Do You Remember Rock N Roll Radio? (The Ramones), blah blah blah.
She's Lost Total Control
sounds like...
Here's one of the embarrassingly specific ones. It's almost exactly like She's Lost Control, which is the iconic song by iconic band Joy Division. SHEESH.
Boys
sounds like...
a million other songs, including Kym Wilde's Boys. Most importantly, though; Britney has a song of the same name. Shouldn't that be enough to advise against writing another one?
The Drugs Not Working
sounds like...
The Drugs Don't Work by The Verve. Another embarrassingly similar one.
When I look at the list I can't help but wonder if this was a weird kind of concept album. I mean, maybe he decided to deliberately do this. Perhaps because his fuckin' name sounds almost exactly the same as another successful artist (ie. Bryan Adams) he decided that the song titles had to follow suit.
So, without having listened to this album, I will now give it a rating. The rating is based on cover art, CD title, song titles, general aura of hackney-ness.
Rock N Roll, by Ryan Adams receives:
1/2 star out of a possible 5.
Any Ryan fans wanna take me up on this? Leave me a comment.
P.S.
The fact the he thinks he's so fuckin' indie because Parker Posey was exec. producer also annoys me. (NB. She's credited in the liner notes as exe"cute"tive producer *vomits*)
Anyway, the CD in question is the 2003 release Rock N Roll by Ryan Adams, (yeah, Ryan, NOT Bryan. We'll get to the name later). You may remember Mr. Adams because he released a song about NYC when it was a very commercially smart time to do so, ie. right after 9/11. (It was actually a pretty forgettable little tune, if you want to know my opinion.) I hardly remember this particular album making much of an impression when it was released, but it certainly made an impression on me when I stumbled upon it in a musty corner of the library (although, to be fair, all the corners at the ERC are musty; not just the ones with his albums). The reason I was so intrigued by the songs is because almost all of the titles sound like the titles of songs that already exist! Sometimes embarrassingly so. Some examples:
This Is It
sounds like...
Is This It? by The Strokes. Plus Betty Davis had a song called This Is It.
1974
sounds like...
1979 by The Smashing Pumpkins.
Wish You Were Here
is already the name of at least two successful songs, one by Incubus and one by that little known band PINK goddamn FLOYD. (This is a cover of neither song.) Plus Fleetwood Mac have a song of the same name.
So Alive
sounds like...
a million songs. Not least the lame arse one by POD. (But also Pearl Jam, Oasis, etc.)
Rock N Roll
sounds like...
Well, has any pop band NOT written a song with 'Rock N Roll' in the title? I mean, apart from Rock N' Roll by Motorhead, and Rock and Roll by Gary Glitter (thanks Anon!), there's also: I Love Rock N' Roll (Joan Jett and the Blackhearts), Rock 'n' Roll Star (Oasis), Kill Rock N' Roll (System Of A Down), Whatever Happened To My Rock N Roll (BRMC), Rock N Roll High School and Do You Remember Rock N Roll Radio? (The Ramones), blah blah blah.
She's Lost Total Control
sounds like...
Here's one of the embarrassingly specific ones. It's almost exactly like She's Lost Control, which is the iconic song by iconic band Joy Division. SHEESH.
Boys
sounds like...
a million other songs, including Kym Wilde's Boys. Most importantly, though; Britney has a song of the same name. Shouldn't that be enough to advise against writing another one?
The Drugs Not Working
sounds like...
The Drugs Don't Work by The Verve. Another embarrassingly similar one.
When I look at the list I can't help but wonder if this was a weird kind of concept album. I mean, maybe he decided to deliberately do this. Perhaps because his fuckin' name sounds almost exactly the same as another successful artist (ie. Bryan Adams) he decided that the song titles had to follow suit.
So, without having listened to this album, I will now give it a rating. The rating is based on cover art, CD title, song titles, general aura of hackney-ness.
Rock N Roll, by Ryan Adams receives:
1/2 star out of a possible 5.
Any Ryan fans wanna take me up on this? Leave me a comment.
P.S.
The fact the he thinks he's so fuckin' indie because Parker Posey was exec. producer also annoys me. (NB. She's credited in the liner notes as exe"cute"tive producer *vomits*)
posted by divinetrash at 10:58 PM
19 Comments:
At his concerts, Ryan Adams apparently gets really upset if people call out "Play Summer of 69!"
Funny stuff indeed, and its not even opposite day. I especially enjoyed the part where Ryan released his NYC song on 9/11, fucking hilarious, he is such a loser. Although do you remember when we found that cute photo shoot of him in Rollingstone 4 years ago? It was conflicting for me and still is.
A friend went to see his concert last time he was out here. Apparently Herr Adams came on stage announcing he'd spent the afternoon doing coke and had a small 10 minute breakdown: this before even playing a note. The band all looked very embarassed for him.
Shit Daniel, that's what I was going to say.
Now my comment sucks, thanks alot.
Tim and Jon: great anecdotes. I think that seeing them take place live would be worth the price of admission.
Svet: I don't remember the Rolling Stone thing. It obviously was a very painful and confronting time for you.
Dan and Ben: the Verve rip off is very, very good. Particularly as the expression in the sentence 'The Drugs Not Working' is really awkward. It seems as though in order for it to be as close as possible to 'The Drugs Don't Work' Ryan had to settle for a title that is really jarring grammatically.
That said 'She's Lost Total Control' is my favourite.
also "Rock and Roll" by Gary Glitter, which manages to be less embarrassing than Ryan Adams' "Rock N Roll", despite having a singer charged with possessing chil pornography.
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Anonymous, you crack me up.
thank you...
i know my stuff when it comes to aging, average british rock songs.
Ah, that Gaz. What a creep.
Who are you Anonymous? Why do you choose to be anonymous?
I choose to remain anonymous to avoid retribution for my extended knowledge of gary glitter... (and given the opportunity cliff richard)...
Gaz AND the Cliffster? You are one cool dude/tte. Come by anytime, Anonymous. I will try to think of a reason to write about Cliff again.
It's going to be tough, though.
Don't worry, Cliff will find a way.
I shudder to admit this, but my uncle (an evangelist of the Benny Hinn variety) is apparently responsible for Sir Cliff's Christian re-birth.
WOW. That's pretty whacked out. That is such a good party story. Why weren't you flashing that baby at Ben's 21st?
And for the record, there is a Betty Davis song called 'This Is It', AND, Kym Wilde also had a song called 'Boys'. Can't believe that Betty and Kym slipped my mind! How lame of me!
For much the same reason I didn't let on another of my uncles played guitar for Spandau Ballet - vague embarassment.
Jon: are you being serious?! If so, that's really quite cool, y'know. I mean, I'm more of a Durannie than a Spand, but still...
I updated the post with the names of the other artists this comment thread has brought up (Gaz et al.), just to make my case more unified and even stronger! Down with Ryan!
Yeah, it's true. He played on some of their tours, I think. And yeah, it's kind of cool...now. It took a long time for the Spand to regain some credibility, albeit of the post-modern ironic variety. Same goes for Cliff - although possibly he's not there even now.
Nah, I don't think that Cliff is ironically appreciated (yet). (That said I like a bit of Cliff every now and then!) I try not to get too ironical in my enjoyment of things, (which may be hard to believe given that kind of crap that I like), because it smacks of Generation-X in a most displeasing way.
I'm not afraid to admit that I love bad pop music!
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