Love Is Hell

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Editorial reviews

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. ILove Is Hell/I 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 IRock 'n' Roll/I). 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 IRock 'n' Roll/I (potential single material, cut from the same cloth as "This House Is Not for Sale").p ILove Is Hell/I 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").p 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. --IBen Johncock/I

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2009-03-24 rating:
Quality Control Variable
I'm never sure about about Ryan Adams. br / br /Firstly, his tortured troubadour soul. Really? I'm certainly not convinced! br / br /Secondly, while his output of songs is prestigious, subsequent to Heartbreaker, someone needed to tell to leave a few of them on the cutting room floor. This is especially true on "Love is Hell". Following the excellent first 5 tracks, things become decidedly hit and miss. br / br /There's no doubting however that Adams is a fine songwriter and possesses a wonderful voice. Chord progressions are a highly personal thing but Adams' just does it for me. His aching vocal coupled with his melancholic chords just strikes a chord with me! (Sorry). br / br /As a stand alone record I would give "Love is Hell" 3.5 out of 5. With a bit of editing it could have been closer to 4.5. br / br /

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review by: dan date: 2008-12-28 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.... br / br /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. br / br /possibly this could be so - its full of jangly guitars, soaring vocals, and emotional choruses. br / br /there are enough stand out tracks on this to make it a worthwhile purchase. br / br /"Anybody wanna take me home", "Avalanche", "World war 24" and the title track - are where adams pulls together gentle tunes emotional vocals and the typical lovelost troubador lyrics to their best effect. br / br /love really must be hell if you beleive what he has to say - but it never soudned so good. br /

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review by: gak101 date: 2008-10-30 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.

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review by: secretsam999 date: 2008-06-25 rating:
really, really good
buy it, if only for the last 60 seconds of "English Girls Approximately", which is utterly lovely. br / br /The man has a rare talent, let's hope his label don't stifle it again


review by: date: 2008-04-04 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. Thanks to Love is Hell I have now acquired much of Adams' back catalogue. This album is for me the greatest piece of work which Adams' has so far achieved. Heartbreaker is also highly recommended.

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