Follow The Lights

When the four of us talked about starting this blog we had the idea of giving our opinions about movies and music. Well so far that hasn't happened, until now. I am offering up my first CD review.

I have been a big fan of Ryan Adams for a while now. I always enjoyed his music but didn't really get into until I started listening to Whiskeytown, which he was the lead singer of. I really became a fan with his mix of rock and country influences. After Whiskeytown, Ryan Adams made 5 albums each with different influences and styles. When he joined up with The Cardinals on the album Cold Roses he really went back to the music that he had with Whiskeytown.

His most recent effort with The Cardinals, Follow The Lights, is an EP with only seven songs. Three of them are new while the other three are live studio versions of other previously released songs and one cover. They are seven great songs. The overall feel of the album is very mellow with just good easy music. "My Love For You Is Real" has already become one of my favorite songs that he has ever done, great guitar work and the two minutes at the end of just music with no singing is a perfect finish to the song. On "Follow The Lights", Ryan Adams and The Cardinals redo their song "If I am a Stranger" by stripping it down, playing it much simpler and slower. It gives the song an almost eerie feel. This version brings a whole new meaning to the lyrics. The one cover on the EP is a very interesting. Ryan Adams has already done a cover of Oasis, "Wonderwall". Noel Gallagher once said, "I never got my head round this song until I went to see and hear Ryan Adams play, and he did an amazing cover of it." This time around Ryan Adams does a cover of Alice in Chains, "Down In A Hole". I am pretty sceptical of people doing covers of bands that have such a unique sound as they did. I was quite surprised though with how it was done. Ryan Adams avoided the pitfall of trying to imitate Layne Stanley's voice, which is a great thing, as no one will ever sound like him again. This cover sounds in between the way Alice In Chains played it on their album and how they played it for their MTV unplugged show. A very cool cover. I wonder what Layne Stanley would have thought of this version. I have only talked about 3 of the songs but the other 4 are also very good. This truly is a great CD.

For this CD review I will use the scale of snow conditions as it is the beginning of the ski season here in Steamboat.

No snow...Bare Spots...Groomer Day...Champagne Powder

I give this CD...Champagne Powder

The Stefan