Cold Roses

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Ryan Adams has had a bumpy ride since going solo, so it’s a rather bold move for the American singer/songwriter to release a double album. But, on the whole, it’s a move that works. iCold Roses/i is admirably consistent, an impressive feat over 19 songs. At his best, as on Disc One’s "Sweet Illusions" and Disc Two’s "Life is Beautiful", Adams invokes the spirit of Jeff Buckley in both sound and spirit, resulting in the album’s two strongest tracks. Elsewhere, it’s pretty much business as usual for Adams--a mellow and melancholy blend of country and low-key rock, sure to please fans of iGold/i more than people hoping for a harking back to his days with Whiskeytown. It’s only on "Beautiful Sorta" that Adams really puts a foot wrong, with its chorus ready made as a too-obvious singalong for barefoot American college girls. Though its overall relaxed pace won’t appeal to everyone, fans who first discovered Adams with iGold/i will find that iCold Roses/i has much to offer. i--Robert Burrow/i

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-12-29 rating:
Too good to overlook
Not being a massive RA fan (I bought Gold and thought it was fabulous, heard Rock n Roll and thought it wasn't),I've been a bit skeptical about his reputation. He struck me as a thinking person's Pete Doherty - but with more talent. I went to see him on the recent Cardinals tour and was left a bit confused by a set which veered between the sublime, beautiful and dull. A pal subsequently persuaded me to buy Cold Roses and its is a lovely album. Chokka with really well written, sung and played songs. Perhaps its alt.country, its not rock - but more importantly its just very good music. Mellow, melancholy and soulful in equal measures. Sparse yet striking arrangements making it perfect for a late night listen. It all fits together well making for an album that you can get into and stay with for the whole journey. br / br /It seems like RA is something of an enigma, often flattering to deceive. His talent (and output) is prodigous and variable but on this release he's got his finger firmly on the quality control button. Recommended.

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review by: Ianham date: 2008-06-29 rating:
Be Grateful it's Ryan
Someone asked why is this CD is brokes comparison with the Grateful Dead. br /The answer is ridiculously simple - some of the songs sit comfortably alongside the best the Dead had to offer. Go ask Phil Lesh (Dead bassist) - he regularly includes Magnolia Mountain, Let it Ride cold roses in his " Friends" shows. br / br /What these (and the rest of the CD)share with the Dead is that they are rock solid tunes. That means that you can play them in most anyway and they sound not less than good, generally stand out and sometimes extraordinary. They can be short or long and can stand a wayward approach - with Ryan this is a distinct advantage. br / br /The CD is fab not because it is a pastiche but because it genuinely harnesses the vibe of the Dead (at their very best) and provides songs that are in the spirit but not subserviant to the likes of Franklin's Tower or Deal. Ryan is no Jerry Garcia on the guitar (although with Neil Casal he can lay down some spiralling riffs)but he can bring a quality of voice that the the great man had difficulty in maintaining (esp in his latter years). br / br /All that said, you buy this CD for Ryan Adams - his tunes his playing ( that of the Cardinals) . Certainly, it is more of a band record and perhaps Neil Casal should be allowed to share some of the spotlight. That niggle apart this is a fine fine record and should make more folk sit up and wash out their ears. br / br /However great this CD is - and in my opinion it is more a 6/5 standard - it positively pales when compared with Ryan's live shows where the songs can breath. But that is a different story.... br / br /I commend this CD to the house.

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review by: bookworm cdworm date: 2008-06-02 rating:
Cold Roses is hot
To be honest, I think you could listen to any Ryan Adams album and not be disappointed, but Cold Roses stands out for me because it's a double album, and they are usually criticised for being too long or containing too much filler or whatever. I know some Ryan fans feel that way about it, but I appreciate any Ryan material we get, and Cold Roses is actually of a consistently high standard. Over the course of two CDs, he manages to journey through a wide range of moods, lyrics and music. However you feel, there's probably a track here to suit. br / br /I find that the first CD flows better, as you have the genius of Magnolia Mountain with its wonderfully slow-paced delivery, right through to How Do You Keep Love Alive, an aching ballad with, in my opinion, some of Ryan's best vocals ever. In between, Beautiful Sorta is rollicking country-rock fun, perfect for listening to on a summer's day with the car windows down and the stereo on loud. Meadowlake Street is lovely, evokes Whiskeytown I think which is never a bad thing. br / br /The second disc is worth it simply for Let It Ride, one of Ryan's all-time great songs. "Tennessee's a brother to my sister Carolina, where they're gonna bury me" is such a fantastic lyric and a prime example of Ryan's talent. My other favourites here are Easy Plateau and If I Am A Stranger, which was recently re-done on Ryan's Everybody Knows EP - both versions are great, this one being more uptempo but no less thoughtful. br / br /Really, all in all this album is excellent. If you have never heard Ryan before and want to know where to start, I would still recommend Gold (for the catchy-singalong aspect) or Heartbreaker (more where Ryan's roots lie), but you wouldn't go wrong if you picked Cold Roses. There's a taste of everything for even the most discerning alt-country palate!

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review by: dynamitekid156 date: 2007-12-01 rating:
Middling.
Announcing that he was going to release three albums in one year in 2005, Ryan Adams opened his trilogy with this double album, Cold Roses. Of the three albums, this is the worst - probably a wise move to open with it, but probably a wiser move to either cut it down or not release it at all. br / br /If you take the bonus tracks out of the equation, this album is only a minute or two longer than 2001's Gold and without doubt would fit comfortably on one disc - but it's the aesthetic that Adams wants, the arrogance, the gesture, the look of releasing a double album like so many of his heroes. One of those heroes was Neil Young, who is clearly not only an influence on Adams' super-prolific nature but also on this album. The songs end up sounding like the work of a cover band or a pastiche artist, so close to they veer to Young's electric work. br / br /There aren't really highs or lows on Cold Roses. The album is so defiantly average throughout that the better songs scarcely stand out at all, for the most part. The title rack, 'Let It Ride' and a handful of others are all perfectly passable tracks which take off into the stratosphere live, but here are simply decent. br / br /Only a couple of songs really go any way towards brilliance. Opener 'Magnolia Mountain' may be the closest he gets to Young on this album but it also its finest song, a spiralling, soaring piece of melodic rock that builds and builds across its six minutes. Almost as good is the lovely 'Meadowlake Street,' one of the most restrained songs on the album, the drums don't even come in for several minutes, Adams relying on a tightly plucked acoustic and his lovely falsetto to hold it together until the eventual climax. It closes with a totally out-of-place synthesiser, showing how much it doesn't belong on an album this mediocre. br / br /Luckily from here, Adams's 2005 only got better. But when you consider the great songs on each album, you start to wonder what kind of a truly stunning single album he could have made with the best tunes from each. In the meantime, Cold Roses is only just above Demolition on the Ryan Adams buyers' guide.


review by: date: 2007-10-23 rating:
Cold Roses: Great, but lacking something
Cold Roses is a very easy album to listen to, it is a great one to buy if you are just getting into Ryan Adams. br /For this album, Ryan is joined by The Cardinals, his backing band and they prove very useful throughout the album, adding feeling and emotion to each track, in particular: "Sweet Illusions". br /Altogether, Cold Roses is a good album to have in your collection, but while listening to it, you will feel as though it is lacking some special quality. br / br /9/10 (Great songs, but not his best)

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