In early 2004, Ryan Adams had recently released two albums, Rock N Roll and Love is Hell, to much critical acclaim. He was headlining a European tour and riding a wave of publicity. Then he fell. He fell in quite the literal fashion when he tumbled off the stage of London's Royal Court Theatre and shattered his wrist. He thought he might never be able to play again. However, he did. He picked up his guitar to bless fans with Cold Roses.
Cold Roses could be seen as a self-indulgent album-after all it is one of three albums Adams is releasing this year-however, it features numerous solid tracks which fit into Adams' library rather well.
With Cold Roses, Adams journeys back to his Alt-country roots and releases an album which easily stands beside the sheer talent exhibited in Heartbreaker and Love is Hell. While many of Roses' lyrics venture to the arena of \suicide rock,"" like those albums, Adams and his new backing band, The Cardinals, maintain a lighthearted mood with their spirited instruments.
The initial stand out comes from the first single, ""Let It Ride,"" which captures some of the kicking style Adams developed on Gold. Its chorus of ""Let it ride / Let it ride easy down the road / Let it ride / Let it take away all of this darkness,"" hooks listeners right away with its refreshing twang.
""Meadowlake Street"" is one of the album's more unique tunes. It starts out slowly, Adams singing in nearly a whisper, with a haunting guitar playing in the background. However, halfway through the song, the speed slowly starts picking up, the lyrics come quicker and the full band kicks in with an amazing crescendo of music that lasts for the rest of the track.
Near the end of the second album, Ryan resurrects ""Dance All Night,"" which he originally wrote before the release of Gold. With lyrics like ""I ain't lonely now / Yeah, I got someone I love / Someone I think about / Someone for me to take care of"" would have easily fit in on Gold as a companion to ""Firecracker,"" but Adams decided to save it for Cold Roses to ensure having a rollicking, happy song.
Clocking in around 75 minutes over 18 tracks, Cold Roses presents numerous well done tracks. However, Adams is known for being a prolific writer that does not cut out songs when they really should be. Gold ran too long, tracks could have been dropped from Demolition and Cold Roses features several duds which could easily be cut out.
Oddly enough, the titular track might be the album's weakest song. ""Cold Roses"" features somewhat trite, boring lyrics combined with Adams singing in his most nasally voice possible.
Ryan Adams' fall off that London stage could have easily ended his career. Had he landed slightly differently, he might have lost too much movement in his wrist and never been able to play again. His shattered wrist did not hold him back, and he created a delightful album in Cold Roses.
