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August 24, 2007 > Arts & Entertainment > Adams’ Easy Tiger delivers mediocre variety

Adams’ Easy Tiger delivers mediocre variety

By Nikki Metzgar | Thresher staff

“Kevin Costner dot com WHAT THE FUCK! 2003” is a strange hip-hop lyric Ryan Adams spews on one of his many Internet-only releases. Performances like these are what characterize him, less as an artist and more as his self-mythologized media entity. Still, Adams the musician is difficult to pin down as well, ranging from an alt-country banjo plunker to a sad young lover beating his acoustic guitar throughout his extended and varied discography.

Easy Tiger, his ninth official album, uses all of those personas without really giving the listener reason to believe in any of them, resulting in a less-than-spectacular mix with few emotional hits.

Adams’ jaded-by-romance mask is one of his best, epitomized by songs like “Come Pick Me Up” off his first album Heartbreaker (2000). On Easy Tiger he dons that role for the songs “Two,” “Off Broadway,” “The Sun Also Sets” and “These Girls.” In “The Sun,” Adams croons that “We are only one shove from the nest, there it is, we are only one argument from deaf,” driving a knife straight through the heart of anyone who has seen a relationship painfully reach its end.

“These Girls” is an enjoyable tune about the girls that break a guy’s heart. But it elicits from the listener a “You go girl!” instead of the “Aw, poor Ryan” that was mostly likely intended. Although “Two” sounds sincere — the best thing about Adams is, after all, his raw emotion — it retains the flaw of using the first of several sloppy number-related gimmicks found on the album. “It takes two when it used to take one,” “Two hearts, one of them will break. Three words is all it takes.”

There is no question Adams can write a powerful and relatable song, especially for people who have been trampled on by love. However, verses like these give the impression that Adams might have just gotten lazy this time around.

In a different vein, “Goodnight Rose” opens the album with some of Adams’ upbeat alt-country vigor. Adams’ backup band, The Cardinals, do well here, making this song reminiscent of their collaboration on the single “New York, New York” from Gold (2001) except without the oomph of actual meaning. Between the “rose” that quivers in “I Taught Myself How to Grow Old” and the “Rose” that may here be the equivalent of “sweetheart,” it appears as though the musician has run out of metaphors.

Luckily, at least, the lyrics develop into profundity by the final song. “I Taught Myself How to Grow Old” features melancholy harmonica and out-of-breath vocals. Adams addresses the trite but true topic of how pain improves character.

Besides the sappy attempts at romance, it is “Halloween Head” and “Oh My God, Whatever, Etc.” where Adams’ personality finally shows through. “Oh My God” takes an ironic jab at his tendency to lament and moan while showcasing the velvety beauty of his singing voice. It’s unclear what a “halloween head” actually is, but when Adams cries “What the fuck’s wrong with me?” the answering image is of a pumpkin for a face. The songs “Tears of Gold” and “Pearls on a String” also appeal to fans of the Ryan Adams brand of twang.

Easy Tiger is content to be middle-of-the-road and plain vanilla. There are several possible explanations for this. After a battle that lasted years, Adams recently quit taking drugs and has conceded to more guidance from his record label. These are both good things, and the album is a turn for the better. But if one of his next songs grieved the loss of Interesting Ryan Adams, his fans might be able to relate to that, too.

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