Heartbreaker
by Ryan Adams

From paladisiac TOP 100 COMMENTER 12/12/2011 14:02 | #32734 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

A breathtakingly heart-wrenching album, which starts off on the lighter side of heartbreak with the upbeat downer "to be young (is to be sad)". This is an "alt-country" album of unrequited love and love lost. It's both full in the firm grip of love and being choked by it. The highlights of love's anguish come on "oh my sweet carolina", "come pick me up" and . On "oh my sweet carolina", with backing vocals from emmylou harris, ryan is a lost stray in the big city without his love singing "I was trying to find me something / But I wasn't sure just what / Man I ended up with pockets full of dust ". In "come pick me up", ryan is love sick and love vexed, unfurling his venom in the chorus: "Come pick me up / Take me out / F*ck me up / Steal my records / Screw all my friends / They're all full of shit / With a smile on your face / And then do it again / I wish you would ". Or on "don't ask for the water", where a woman caused him to "hate this old place / And what it represents / And I hate who I was / And who I ended up since / But if you learned how to swim in case you'd drowned / Don't ask her for the water / Cause she'll swallow you down ". "shakedown on 9th street" is like a well-placed joke in the dearth of a heart-wrenching drama, a welcome respite about a dust-up over a woman. But that and "to be young (to be sad)" are really the only foot-stompers. This offering is truly for the heartbroken and the weight will fill you up the most when you're feeling your worst. heartbreaker's less about the words to describe love's impact than the feeling, like the quiet-yet-heavy piano in closer "sweet lil gal (23rd/1st)" as he sings a sentiment at the heart of the album -- "when you're lonely, she makes you feel nice".

One of the first great albums of the millennium. Full of stunning songs, Ryan Adams gives us a record that has shades of Dylan's, blood on the tracks, and Springsteen's, tunnel of love, in dealing with love, heartache, loneliness, bitterness, and regret. The album starts of deceptively with an argument about a Morrissey album, and then roars into the frantic, to be young. My winding wheel, is where the record really starts to show it's true colours, and some excellent tracks follow. Amy, oh,my sweet Carolina(featuring Emmylou Harris), the Fleetwood Mac sounding, bartering lines, and the vitriolic, come pick me up. It's an excellent album, and in truth Adams has never come any where near it since.

From HoldenM TOP 100 COMMENTER 06/10/2017 21:57 | #192337 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

One things that happens with many artists for me is that I have to listen to a lot of artists before I'm ready for a certain sound--the most significant being Modest Mouse. I wasn't ready for Ryan Adams for a long time. But finally, after his last two releases, I've come around to one of the most prolific songwriters of the last twenty-five years.

Heartbreaker is a beautiful record with a sense of presence. It's why we start with a conversation about "Suedehead" that lets us know we're in a studio. It's a sense of closeness that instantly gives a layer of humanity to Adams and his band. It's something that contextualizes and deepens the emotional intensity of these songs. Some songwriters have an intelligence and understanding of the world that gives them something interesting or new to say. Adams doesn't really have that. Instead, Adams has an honesty and understanding of his feelings that borders on courageous at times. He doubles down on sincerity, so even if these ideas are broad, they feel real and timeless.

Heartbreaker is one gripping track after another, each brimming with authenticity, each filled with some sort of life. Most artists have something to say about heartbreak. Almost none compare to Adams, who makes a breakup as compelling and involving as can be.

From Mercury TOP 100 COMMENTER 12/27/2012 17:26 | #59086 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

As the title suggests, this record is a heartbreaker. The songwriting is sharp and vivid and impressive and the vocals nicely convey the songs. The musicianship is very solid southern Americana, country and blues.

The whole atmosphere of this album after the initial quasi-anthemic blast of the opener is emotionally stirring. Throughout the record it feels like Adams is grappling with questions, trying to find some rhyme and reason for love and living. The lyrics are as honest as anything. They don't back away from the sadness and heartbreak and ruggedness of life.

This is minor key tour de force. If you are in the mood for a great modern singer-songwriter album, you can't go wrong here.

"Yeah and the sun it tries to warn me.
'Boy those wings are made of wax.'
While the things I do to kill me,
They just tell me to relax"

From Mr. Shankly TOP 100 COMMENTER 07/01/2009 00:40 | #4998 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Ryan Adams gets more press about his primadonna behavior, but he's also a very talented (if overly prolific) songwriter (currently, one of America's best) and here's the proof. This is such an underappreciated gem.