so, tell me about whiskeytown

well, anyway, i went to my local library and picked up a copy of Ryan Adams’ Gold.

And I listened to it.

I listened to it.

Goddamn, I listened to it.

And I didn’t get it. Sure, there were a few ok numbers. New York, New York is decent pop. But it’s not great. Certainly not worth the hype.

But I remembered what I read on Pitchfork.

Heartbreaker is the album. Gold is shite.

So I listened to Heartbreaker.

I listened to Heartbreaker.

Goddamn, I listened to it.

Goddamn, I love it.

I love the slow acoustic jams. I love ‘Come Pick Me Up’. I love ‘My Sweet Carolina’ or whatever it is called.

And I love the fast country rockers. Is 'To Be Young (Is to be sad, Is to be high) not a brilliant song.

I’d always expected there was something I would like about country music. As a hip-hop fan, I understand how a genre can be hated by people by people who haven’t heard the full extent of what the genre can offer. As such, I only dislike artists, not genres.

So, I know it’s only alt-country, but Heartbreaker is a brilliant album.

And, now, I have two questions for y’all.

[numbero one]
given the information above, will i like whiskeytown?

[numbero two-o]
and if yes, where should i start?

it’s a simple question. hope y’all answer me good.

While I do think Heartbreaker is a better album, I like Gold as well.

I own Faithless Street and Pneumonia by Whiskeytown. I’ve not been able to get into Faithless Street that much, but Pneumonia is front-to-back brilliant–as good as Heartbreaker, in my estimation. It seems more like a Ryan Adams solo album than a band effort, not that the band necessarily took anything away.

That said, is Caitlin Cary’s solo album any good? I haven’t heard it.

Dr. J

I didn’t like Gold as much as I liked Heartbreaker, either, but it’s still a good album.

DoctorJ, I have to disagree with you about Pneumonia being perfect. It would be, except for the three block of songs starting with “Mirror, Mirror”. I absolutely cannot stand those songs. Total crap, IMO. But everything else is excellent, especially “Reasons to Lie” and “Jacksonville Skyline”.

But if you really want to get into Whiskeytown, buy Strangers Almanac. It is, in my opinion, the best CD they have. “Waiting to Derail” and “Everything I Do” are absolutely brilliant, and the rest of the CD isn’t half bad, either.

in short, I would imagine if you feel the way you do about Heartbreaker and *Goldi/]i, you will probably dig Wiskeytown A lot…

a 2nd for Amptech’s nod at Strangers Almanac and also for Pneumonia.

Chris (better still, be my winding wheel)

Next to Gillian Welch’s cds, Strangers Almanac is my favorite alt-country cd. From the 1st song to the last it’s solid throughout. Their others are good too.

I like ‘GOLD’ better than I like ‘Heartbreaker’. ‘Heartbreaker’ was a little too monotonous for me, except for one or two they were all the same. Just my opinion. Whiskeytown is better than his solo stuff, and he needs Caitlin Cary in my opinion.