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Ryan Adams
As I write this, I wonder if the ‘demolition’ Ryan Adams speaks of is relevant to his own career. I say that because I’m writing a review for this album some time after its release, after seeing Adams perform a live acoustic show in New York. At that show, I watched horrified as Adams threw an embarrassing hissy fit at an audience member who yelled out a request for “Summer of ‘69”, a song by Canadian rocker Bryan Adams. If this were an isolated incident, I might have been able to look past it, but since then, there have been press reports of Adams doing the same thing to another hapless ‘fan’ in Tennessee. Seeing this display of anger for myself, I found that I was much more embarrassed for Adams than for the fan, and to be honest, it made me think that Adams might have grown a bit too precious for his own good. As such, my opinion of this record is altered by the nasty, petulant personality whom I now see as its creator.
Another factor is what I perceive to be the misnomer of a title. By ‘Demolition’, one would expect this disk to contain unfinished, ‘rough’ versions or song fragments, but that is absolutely not the case. Each song sounds as finished as anything he had released on either of his two previous solo albums, so I am now suspicious that Adams might be deliberately toying with the truth. It seems possible, if not likely, that he intends to impress a gullible public into thinking that he spits out songs like this so fast, that he hardly has time to apply any real effort. Look, demos or not, this disk is no cheaper than any other I might have purchased, so the only way to judge this disk is to place it on a level playing field with any other CD, instead of allowing some type of ‘curve’ for its allegedly offhanded structure.
Is it good? Yes, at times it is quite good, but it can also be terribly boring. Adams has left me with the distinct impression that he thinks of his songs as precious little jewels to be worshipped by adoring fans. The fact is that he is an adequate songwriter who occasionally hits on something quite good. Of particular note is the end-of summer anthem which opens the collection (“Nuclear”), which contains the memorable line, “When I saw her, the Yankees lost to the Braves.” There are other spots that might strike your fancy, but the space between the good songs is quite large. I’d say three of the thirteen bear repeated listening. That’s a pretty low batting average, enough to place any self-proclaimed slugger on the bench, or maybe even back to the minor leagues. Add on a bad attitude, and it seems all too obvious that Adams will be headed back to triple A.
Grade: 
 
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