Ryan Adams & The Cardinals Jacksonville City Nights

Despite it's rather hokey moments, this is still a very solid album and noteworthy accomplishment

In the follow-up to the release of Cold Roses, Jacksonville City Nights finds Ryan Adams & The Cardinals humbly settled in the barroom country setting, contrasting the more introspective and intimate previous release. One of the weak points of the albums is noticeable almost immediately, particularly on "The End," and that is the lackluster and clumsy lyrics. The lyrics of "Now the diner in the morning for a plate of eggs/The waitress tries to give me change I say, 'Nah, it's cool. Just keep it'" are so sloppy that you almost cringe while listening, and for someone as talented as Ryan Adams, it feels very rushed and amateurish. Where the album picks up is on the very beautiful "Dear John," a duet between Adams and Norah Jones, who compliments him very nicely. The most surprising aspect of the track is how Adams almost willingly takes a backseat to Jones' piano and vocals, rather than overpowering them, so while it definitely has more of a Norah Jones flavor than Ryan Adams, it doesn't in any way feel out of place on the album. From this point on, with the single "The Hardest Part," the swooning "Games," and the beautiful piano ballad of "Silver Bullets" there is a complete metamorphosis from the hokey country bar feel from the first few tracks, to now a more sincere and passionate country album, a sound that is much more effective. When you get rid of the opening two tracks (and the inconsistent closer) you find that Ryan Adams has reached an extremely high point and comfort level in his career of which glimpses had been seen in all of his previous albums (Cold Roses included). The latter part of the album also provides a sense of consistency that has also rarely been seen previously. Other highlights are the traditional "My Heart Is Broken," and the upbeat rocker of "Trains." This album proves once again that when Ryan Adams is on, he's really on, and as one of the streakiest artists in music, Adams showcases his best moments on the majority of his tracks, unfortunately some of the inconsistencies in the album set the album as a whole back slightly more than his previous effort Cold Roses. All in all, this is a thoroughly enjoyable album, that may appeal to fans more than casual listeners, but is well worth at least hearing out.

★★★★¼