re: Ryan Adams full cover of Taylor Swift's 1989 in the style of The Smiths

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I would also add the Whiskeytown Strangers Almanac record. I've read he is not a big fan of his Whiskeytown work, but I love it.

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I've only just recently started to check out some of Caitlin Cary's other work. I got the album she made with Thad Cockrell, 'Begonias.' At first I thought half of it was great and the other half kind of "meh", but after a few more spins, I find it pretty fricking fantastic. There's only one track on it I don't care for, and I think it's number 2.

Yea, I love 'Demolition.' Even "Tennessee Sucks", which a lot of people seem to hate.

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Related--Any one have any recommendations for one or two Ryan Adams albums for someone who is just trying to get into his music?

He keeps popping up on my pandora streams, but I'd like a complete record.

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I think his two most immediately catchy and accessible albums are Heartbreaker and Gold. The songs also cover the gamut from sad lovesick blues to rockers.

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1.) Love is Hell (though it's probably his darkest record)

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Darker than 29? Nightbirds was a very eerie song. That said, so was Political Scientist.

not really hearing The Smiths on this.
sounds like another Ryan Adam's album, which is fine with me. I really like it.

I'm listening on spotify now

I like shake it off, out of the woods, style, bad blood so far

Its actually pretty good. Although I prefer Josh Tillman's version better

Father John Misty's reinterpretation of the classic Ryan Adams album "1989"

All You Had to Do Was Stay
Blank Space
Out of the Wood

It's an interesting artistic experiment I went through and listened to each album side by side, going through track by track, first Swift then Adams. The most interesting thing is how Adams can completely repurpose a song without changing a single lyric.

Swift's album is completely aspirational. It's a party album, and it's definitely designed, for lack of a better word, for "Winners". It's an album about how awesome she is and how people who criticize her or don't pay her enough attention are missing out on her awesomeness. She says its in the style of 1989 pop, but it's not. It's as 2014 as an album can be, right down to the overblown production and synth tracking on every song.

Adams, instead, strips the songs down a bit. The same lyrics in his voice are empty boasts, hiding the lonlieness and pain underneath. The same lyrics now sound melancholy, and while I wouldn't call the production spartan, it does sound closer to 1989 pop, or more accurately, singer-songwriter. This sounds a lot like Tunnel of Love era Bruce.

The best example of this is Shake It Off. In Swift's hands, it's the popular girl party anthem, and she's shaking the haters off. But when Adams sings it, it sounds more like he's obsessed with his critics and their words sting him and drag him into depression, despite what he says. He's giving way too much power to his critics, and he's definitely not shaking them off, despite what he says. It's a great line reading, completely inverting the meaning of the song, and its probably his best cover.

Going track by track, I scored it 7-6 to Adams on "who had the better version". When its that close, I think I'll give the nod to the original record for being "better". That said, they are tonal opposites. Swift's music is meant to be played at parties, Adams' is to be played on your headphones while you're alone in your bedroom. Swift is the pop star you want to be, Adams is the emotional mess and working stiff you actually are.

I think it's great.


Will grab it on vinyl too when it's available.