Advantages: More mainstream than previous
Disadvantages: not his best

...Ryan Adams didn't want to make this album, but I for one am glad he did. The story goes that Ryan wanted to release the "Love is Hell" album (which did eventually get released anyway later that year) but his record company didn't think it was mainstream enough and told him to record another album. This is it! "This is it" is in fact also the title of the first track, which is a play on words of The Strokes' "Is this it?", and is basically a variation of The Strokes song. The song also sends a blunt and straightforward message to his record company - up ypurs!. The majority of this record are songs with direct influences coming through from bands such as Oasis, U2. The Smiths and even Nirvana, as Ryan took these bands to be "mainstream" and basically used their style of music to give the record company what they wanted and to stick two... Read review

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Advantages: Ryan at his best
Disadvantages: There's an Oasis track on the album

...The genius that is Ryan Adams has gone back to what he knows best on this album. Heartbreaks, tales of lost love and friendships ended. This is the album that Ryan Adams wanted to release originally in 2004, but his record company made him record and release the throwaway yet un-missable Rock 'n' Roll. What were those people on?? While I am glad that Rock 'n' Roll was released, as it is another Ryan Adams record for my collection, it really is hard to understand why "Love is Hell" was not released originally as Adams wanted? He did get his own way in the end though. Love is Hell was released shortly after Rock 'n' Roll as two seperate albums and later put together as one as its popularity grew. Love is Hell is essentially just Ryan with a guitar, piano and songs with so much emotion that you do start to believe that love is actually... Read review

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Advantages: A very simplisctic, but understated album
Disadvantages: It will take a while to get into, a few tracks take a lot of listens to get into

...for a simplistic arrangement on this new album, stepping away from the more complete sound The Cardinals enjoy. Instead this album has a real acoustic feel to it while Ryan focuses on the guitar and piano loops rather than the electric guitar rifts and the more complete band sound. The pace has certainly dropped considerably from Ryan's other releases this year and it seems that the solo material is another form of release for Ryan's emotions and pent up feeling. There is still a real Country rock feeling to Adams material that shows he hasn't moved on too far from his time as frontman of Whiskeytown. He mixes his early Country influences and experiences with a real 60's sound that wouldn't be too far away from Lennon's solo material or early 70's Grateful Dead giving it a slight revival. That's not to say Adams is in the same league as either of those... Read review

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Advantages: Gorgeous stripped down acoustics, excellent songwriting.
Disadvantages: Maybe a bit too relentlessly melancholy for some.

...As a member of Whiskeytown, people already saw the potential in Ryan Adams, but his first album blew all expectations out of the water. Clearly inspired by Gram Parsons (The picture on the cover even looks like Gram), and the Rolling Stones, Ryan really wears his heart and his influences on his sleeve with Heartbreaker. The opening track is no more than the title implies, an argument about Morrissey with one of his band-mates David Rawlings which leads into the honky-tonk number 'To Be Young(Is To Be Sad, Is to Be High)' which is an excellent upbeat track with the wistful chorus showing off Ryan's vocal range perfectly. As an interesting aside, this song is featured in the recent brainless action film 'The Condemned' for absolutely no apparent reason. But regardless, the album's tone turns to a more melancholy tone for the next few... Read review

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Advantages: great while it lasted
Disadvantages: n/a

...Just when you really start getting into a programme they take it away and this was no different with The OC after the fourth season. A great programme as this was talked about so much before it started and we all thought it would be around for years, but unfortunately not. A great American soap set in Orange County with lots of spoilt rich kids who have the best of everything. Starring Mischa Barton as Marissa Cooper, Benjamin McKenzie played Ryan Atwood , Adam Brody played Seth Cohen and Rachel Bilson played Summer Roberts. In this American Soap Ryan was a troubled teenager who was always in trouble with the law whilst living in Chino, so Sandy Cohen Seth's dad, as a solicitor came to his rescue and decided to allow him to move in with them. As time went on Ryan moved in permanently which upset the people of Orange County as they did... Read review

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Advantages: It's Adam and Joe!
Disadvantages: None that I can think of

...Who are Adam and Joe? ****************************** Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish are two friends who met at Westminster School, they are fans of Star Wars, good records, busking and Bobby De Niro. They currently work on XFM, presenting a saturday morning radio show. Wha