Ryan Adams
Love is Hell, Parts 1 & 2   

Lost Highway Records 2003/2004

With Love is Hell, Parts 1 & 2 (released as separate EPs in the fall of 2003, then as a single disc in May 2004), Ryan Adams has finally come full circle to his days in Whiskeytown.  Gold, Adam’s 2001 release, combined Whiskeytown’s country aesthetics with a pop sensibility, and 2003’s RocknRoll took a more straightforward approach to…well, rock and roll.  Love is Hell is a collection of songs where Adams retains his firm grasp of writing a perfect pop song, but musically, LiH feels like a resurrection of the more quietly beautiful songs on a Whiskeytown album.

There are virtually no distinctive traits with which to differentiate Part 1 and Part 2.  Both albums have a mix of up tempo and slower songs, and both albums have similar lyrical content and vocal styles.  Part 1’s best tracks invariable fall in its quieter moments – “Afraid Not Scared” and “Avalanche” showcase Adams’ emotive and slightly gravelly vocals, and a subtle, mournful guitar twang adds a sense of atmosphere to the recordings.  Adams reworks Oasis’ 1996 hit “Wonderwall” to great effect, recreating the song with a stark, moody guitar and tremulous vocals.

Part 2’s songwriting follows a path similar to Part 1, with slightly different results.  Adams traverses the same terrain of girls, booze, and girls, but on Part 2, when he is good, he is only mediocre, and when he is great, he is truly brilliant.  The meandering “English Girl, Approximately” falls into the former category, while “Please Do Not Let Me Go” and “Hotel Chelsea Nights” are in the latter.  “Hotel Chelsea Nights” is especially gorgeous, and the songs builds in a slow crescendo from a soft beginning to a glorious end, complete with a gospel choir.

Love is Hell is a natural progression for Adams -- it is a collective of all of the different musical styles he has favored in the past, and offers enough direction to know that he will only continue creating great things in the future.