Surprise, surprise Ryan Adams has another new release for your listening pleasure. In 2005 alone, the man put out three full-length albums, one being a double disc, so it is no shocker that after the debut of Easy Tiger a few short months ago that this six-track EP has made its way to the public.
Follow the Lights is a melding of the old and new. The first two songs, “Follow the Lights” and “My Love is For You is Real,” are the only unreleased songs on the EP and follow in a similar vein as Easy Tiger.
Next is “Blue Hotel,” a song previously recorded by Willie Nelson on his album Songbird, produced by Adams. He has been performing this song for about a year now with his backing band, The Cardinals, in venues such as the Bijou Theatre in Knoxville, Tenn.
Another cover on the record is “Down in the Hole,” an Alice in Chains song. Much like his cover of Oasis’ “Wonderwall,” Adams personalizes and makes the song his own. The original track has heavy guitar parts, but Adam’s is capable of taking the original lyrics and chord progression, and slowing the song down to make it tailor-made for his outfit, The Cardinals.
The last three songs on the EP are re-workings of songs from previous albums. “This Is It” from Rock n’ Roll was initially a straight-forward rock song, but was slowed down considerably for this release. It could be that I loved the original version so much, but I am not huge admirer of the remake. It’s not sacrilege versus the previous version, but I prefer the first recording.
However, I did enjoy his different versions of “If I Am A Stranger” from Cold Roses and his duet with Norah Jones, “Dear John” from Jacksonville City Nights. Although, with lines like “And I ended up with a house full of cats /But most of them went missing,” in the song, it sounded a little more convincing when Jones sang the line, this is not to say that only women end up with a collection of cats though.
Overall, I was pleased with the EP. The record does seem like an extension of Easy Tiger, but it was good that the music was actually released to the public at a price of around $6.
In a time where bootlegs are prized possessions and iTunes special releases reign supreme, it’s nice to know that the fact that I don’t have the Internet does not stop me from buying new, unreleased music from an artist I enjoy.
Surprise, surprise Ryan Adams has another new release for your listening pleasure. In 2005 alone, the man put out three full-length albums, one being a double disc, so it is no shocker that after the debut of Easy Tiger a few short months ago that this six-track EP has made its way to the public.
Follow the Lights is a melding of the old and new. The first two songs, “Follow the Lights” and “My Love is For You is Real,” are the only unreleased songs on the EP and follow in a similar vein as Easy Tiger.
Next is “Blue Hotel,” a song previously recorded by Willie Nelson on his album Songbird, produced by Adams. He has been performing this song for about a year now with his backing band, The Cardinals, in venues such as the Bijou Theatre in Knoxville, Tenn.
Another cover on the record is “Down in the Hole,” an Alice in Chains song. Much like his cover of Oasis’ “Wonderwall,” Adams personalizes and makes the song his own. The original track has heavy guitar parts, but Adam’s is capable of taking the original lyrics and chord progression, and slowing the song down to make it tailor-made for his outfit, The Cardinals.
The last three songs on the EP are re-workings of songs from previous albums. “This Is It” from Rock n’ Roll was initially a straight-forward rock song, but was slowed down considerably for this release. It could be that I loved the original version so much, but I am not huge admirer of the remake. It’s not sacrilege versus the previous version, but I prefer the first recording.
However, I did enjoy his different versions of “If I Am A Stranger” from Cold Roses and his duet with Norah Jones, “Dear John” from Jacksonville City Nights. Although, with lines like “And I ended up with a house full of cats /But most of them went missing,” in the song, it sounded a little more convincing when Jones sang the line, this is not to say that only women end up with a collection of cats though.
Overall, I was pleased with the EP. The record does seem like an extension of Easy Tiger, but it was good that the music was actually released to the public at a price of around $6.
In a time where bootlegs are prized possessions and iTunes special releases reign supreme, it’s nice to know that the fact that I don’t have the Internet does not stop me from buying new, unreleased music from an artist I enjoy.

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