Artist: Ryan Adams

Album: Easy Tiger

Record Label: Universal Music Canada

Release Date: June 26^th, 2007

4 Stars 

Reviewed By: Kindah Mardam Bey 

Ryan Adams simply sounds familiar. He’s no relation to the famous Canadian singer Bryan Adams, unless of course Bryan’s Dad took a trip down to Jacksonville, North Carolina where Ryan is from a decade or more after Bryan was born and became a milkman. Stunningly enough, Easy Tiger is Ryan Adams ninth studio album to hit the music scene, and at the youthdom of 32, compounded with a drug problem and rehab, one has to wonder how he seemed to fit so much into such a small amount of time. 

Easy Tiger is a mature and evolved collection of tracks, Ryan Adams sounds so familiar because he feels like a throwback to the Willie Nelson era of alternative country rock. His sound could have literally been plucked from the eighties country scene and dropped into this new and overly shiny century. It should be of no surprise that Adams has a Willie ring to his vocals, like in the song `Goodnight Rose` possibly because Adams was influenced by Mr. Nelson himself when producing the legends album Songbird and touring with Willie. I also found a hint of Bob Dylan vocals and although Ryan Adams may hate the thought, he did remind me at times of Eddie Rabbit. 

Many of the songs have that eighties alternative country rock sound to them, but some seem to delve into bluegrass, like `Pearls on a String` for instance, which is a thoughtfully approached track. Ryan Adams songs seem to creep up on you and slowly lure you into a calming and open state of mind. Perhaps this is why Cameron Crowe thought Adams songs would be great for Elizabethtown. Adams just seems so laid back in Easy Tiger and yet you can hear the quality and evolution of his sound. Easy Tiger is a strong album in what seems to be the ever evolutionary growth of Ryan Adams music.   

Track List:

Goodnight Rose

Two

Everybody Knows

Halloweenhead

Oh My God, Whatever, Etc.

Tears Of Gold

The Sun Also Sets

Off Broadway

Pearls On A String

Rip Off

Two Hearts

These Girls

I Taught Myself How To Grow Old