Amazon.co.uk Review: Welcome back to Ryan Adams the poet--previously missing presumed dead, or at least seriously wounded by the hand of his own gutless record label. Love Is Hell combines both previous EPs of the same name, originally released as such by Lost Highway, wary of the lack of mainstream pop Adams had delivered them (causing the slighted musician to knock up the throwaway yet still utterly indispensable Rock 'n' Roll). Here we find four songs chopped (none missed) and one added--the world-weary yet utterly romantic "Does Anybody Want To Take Me Home" from Rock 'n' Roll (potential single material, cut from the same cloth as "This House Is Not for Sale").
Love Is Hell is a desolate, artistically ambitious, yet strangely moving piece of work that visits someplace on the edge of town ("Political Scientist") and his own harsh self examination ("God, what have I been drinking?" he asks in the title track). This emotional fug sometimes clears to reveal a still beating, if bruised heart ("This House Is Not for Sale") although occasionally it can become too much (the pedestrian "My Blue Manhattan", and the aimless "Avalanche").
Aside from "Afraid Not Scared" (which smacks of Radiohead's "Subterranean Homesick Alien") the whole thing sounds like a silent motif for the quiet desperation of life, like a single maudlin violinist playing on a tube platform at midnight. That and a smoky, sublime cover of "Wonderwall" makes for a near-perfect Ryan Adams record. --Ben Johncock
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - my fave adams album
So many people cite the cover of 'wonderwall' as the highlight of this album - but personally i find it pretty boring....
Adams seems to go from style to style on each album and some critics say this is his take on the lovelorn efforts of messers Morrisey and J Buckley.
possibly this could be so - its full of jangly guitars, soaring vocals, and emotional choruses.
there are enough stand out tracks on this to make it a worthwhile purchase.
Rating: - Let the man alone
What the hell is the amazon reviewer listening to - Avalanche aimless? Absolute tosh and nonsense. Great song. The Oasis cover? Redundant. Always skip past it. The rest? absolute bloody genius. Record companies? God bless the internet.
Rating: - really, really good
buy it, if only for the last 60 seconds of "English Girls Approximately", which is utterly lovely.
The man has a rare talent, let's hope his label don't stifle it again
Rating: - A beautiful album
My first taste of Ryan Adams' music was through the Cold Roses double album and while I could appreciate many of the tracks there was nothing that made me want to explore further. I stumbled across Love is Hell in a charity shop and intrigued by the cover version of Wonderwall decided to give it a go. I'm glad I did. There isn't a weak track here and the music and lyrics are extremely powerful creating one of the most moving albums I have heard. It is a very dark album though certainly not depressing. ... Read More
Rating: - start here
this is the place to start if you are interested in ryan adams.
most of his stuff takes a while to work its magic, but this is pretty immediate.
its also probably his best album.
start here and you are in for a real treat.
for all fans of great music.
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