Ryan Adams, Rock N Roll and Love is Hell, Pt 1

22 new songs from Ryan Adams released in a single day--including a new version of the Oasis hit, “Wonderwall.” Critics who continue to look for an excuse to knock on Adams will focus on what these two albums aren’t. They’ll fixate on the bands that inspire and inform Adams’ songwriting, eager to tell you how this or that song doesn’t live up to the record or band that gave Adams the idea for it. Or they’ll say he’s betrayed his alt-country roots because he’s too anxious to prove that he can master any genre he wants. Or they’ll say he should slow down, stop recording 60 songs or more in a year, and make the knockout album so many are convinced he has in him.

They totally miss the point. We’ve got 22 new Ryan Adams songs! Two albums (one is an EP, but at 35 minutes, it’s longer than the new Strokes record, which will be reviewed soon), with two very different styles and moods, isn’t a reason to pull out old Morrissey records and frown.

Rock N Roll is the “official” release, the one Lost Highway told Adams to make. It’s apparent that it’s intended to be derivative, and Adams was asking for critical trouble—song titles like “Wish You Were Here” (Pink Floyd) and “This Is It” (rearranging Is This It?, the title of the last Strokes album) beg reviewers to make comparisons to the alleged source material. Judged on its own merits, Rock shows that Adams can pull off the rock star thing. It’s enjoyable from start to finish, a fast and fun listen that sends 49 minutes gliding by. Its only shortcoming is a lack of depth that seems to belie its rapid creation.

That’s OK, but it’s hard not to notice when you compare it with the moodier and more thoughtful Love is Hell, Pt 1 . It’s this simple: Hell is beautiful. Adams kicks the tempo down a notch, turns up the twang ever-so-slightly, sings stories rather than mere words, and the results are stellar. Poignant songs about painful break-ups and coming “apart in the avalanche” are carried along by strong playing—how does Adams write such solid songs so fast?—and Adams’ insistent voice, which seems more dedicated to the project here than it did on Rock .

You can pick up Hell for only six bucks before Saturday at a certain Minnesota-based electronics giant, which also has Rock for only ten dollars. You won’t be sorry.