RYAN ADAMS & THE CARDINALS "Cold Roses" on Lost Highway

Ryan Adams new CD "Cold Roses" with his band the Cardinals is reviewed in the Washington Post by Geoffrey Himes and Neil Young's influence prevails again:

"Since he broke up the acclaimed North Carolina alt-country band Whiskeytown in 2000, Ryan Adams has released six solo albums, all of which were interesting and none of which lived up to the great things predicted for the handsome, talented singer. Now he has returned to the comradeship of a working band, forming Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, and giving his four bandmates co-writing credits for the 18 songs on the new two-CD set, "Cold Roses." The results suggest what Whiskeytown might have sounded like if its brand of alt-country had absorbed the influences of Neil Young and the Grateful Dead and had replaced its fiddle with steel guitar."

And Neil Young's influence again in Shannon Zimmerman's review:

"The set's best bet, though, is its opener. "Magnolia Mountain" could be the sequel to Neil Young's melancholy coming-of-age classic "Sugar Mountain" -- albeit one sung from the point of view of a world-weary adult. "We burned the cotton fields down in the valley and ended up with nothing but scars," Adams sings as his band throbs in the background. "The scars became the lessons that we gave to our children after the war."

In another review over on Jukebox Graduate by Caryn, whi is a huge Ryan Adams fan:

"After the perversion of Love Is Hell (where are those New Orleans sessions, damn you), chopping it up into bits and then releasing the whole shebang six months later (forcing us to buy the damn thing two or three times, especially if you wanted that beautiful 10" vinyl edition), Lost Highway is going to let Ryan release what he wants, how he wants it. Finally! We will be able to feast upon Ryan Adams' True Creative Genius.

What we got, instead, is an unfocused, meandering double album that seems just the tiniest bit self-indulgent. It would be easier for me, I think, if I could just say "I fucking hate this record, it's the worst thing he's ever done, it SUCKS!" But I can't. Cold Roses doesn't even piss me off; it's just -- blah. Which is, I think, probably the worst crime an artist can commit. Not bad, not mediocre, not disgusting, but to be so bland as to not cause any reaction of note, any emotion, nothing. Probably the biggest crime an artist can ever commit is to be boring."

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