Zaikesman-I know very well where you are coming from.
I allude to that in my original post.
There is not an awful lot of originality per se in his work (when was the last time anybody did anything original in their work for that matter?)but the quality is there in abundance and indeed the songwriting is of a quality and quantity that beats the likes of Alex Chilton. Chilton's standing in my book is way overrated,I like Westerberg a lot but neither would win prizes for originality.
Adams comes from the same chain of songwriting/rock and roll but imho he has more scope and more versatility than they did-the 5 full records he has produced since 2000 are a pretty eclectic bunch.
Try to hear So Alive from Rock and Roll,La Cienga from Gold,Political Scientist from Love Is Hell,Dear Chicago from Demolition and To Be Young from Heartbreaker and tell me most of the names you mentioned could fit that range (Costello would be the exception).
Better still try to catch him live he was/is the equal of both Westerberg and Costello both of whom I've seen live and enjoyed greatly (although Costello stunk once).
I think part of the problem is us- we are so aware of the influences indeed the history of music that we automatically make the connections-Adams work is good enough to survive that if you listen ENOUGH because the quality and the spirit of his music comes through,it is music with roots and I believe it to come from a pretty honest guy with a good heart whatever his flaws and yes he is human.
I've been following muisic for 25 years and longer and I've seen plenty of hyped acts who to varying degrees struggled to live up to their labels.
I stand by every word Ryan Adams does have "it" and in abundance.
I allude to that in my original post.
There is not an awful lot of originality per se in his work (when was the last time anybody did anything original in their work for that matter?)but the quality is there in abundance and indeed the songwriting is of a quality and quantity that beats the likes of Alex Chilton. Chilton's standing in my book is way overrated,I like Westerberg a lot but neither would win prizes for originality.
Adams comes from the same chain of songwriting/rock and roll but imho he has more scope and more versatility than they did-the 5 full records he has produced since 2000 are a pretty eclectic bunch.
Try to hear So Alive from Rock and Roll,La Cienga from Gold,Political Scientist from Love Is Hell,Dear Chicago from Demolition and To Be Young from Heartbreaker and tell me most of the names you mentioned could fit that range (Costello would be the exception).
Better still try to catch him live he was/is the equal of both Westerberg and Costello both of whom I've seen live and enjoyed greatly (although Costello stunk once).
I think part of the problem is us- we are so aware of the influences indeed the history of music that we automatically make the connections-Adams work is good enough to survive that if you listen ENOUGH because the quality and the spirit of his music comes through,it is music with roots and I believe it to come from a pretty honest guy with a good heart whatever his flaws and yes he is human.
I've been following muisic for 25 years and longer and I've seen plenty of hyped acts who to varying degrees struggled to live up to their labels.
I stand by every word Ryan Adams does have "it" and in abundance.