7.23.00*a heartbreaker review from the austin american statesman. 
 

Ryan Adams 'Heartbreaker'Bloodshot 

Here's the guy who seemed to have the whole package when he burst 
onto the Americana roots scene with Whiskeytown a few years ago.
The North Carolina country rocker not only had the puppy dog looks 
and the haze-cutting voice, but he had the attitude that he was 
the real deal and everyone else was faking it. If the self-centered 
make the best music (a theme of the Bob Dylan documentary "Don't 
Look Back"), this cocky kid would have quite a future. 

What his debut solo album sadly shows, however, is that Adams is a 
brick shy-and it's a big un-of the creative load required to sustain 
an album's worth of songs.For all his drawling sense of purpose and 
rambunctious poetry, he just isn't a very engaging songwriter.His 
material sounds unfinished, as ideas fall apart before the second chorus
and the shortness of melody makes all the slow tempo songs sort of melt 
together like self-conscious goo. 

The album opens with such promise, as a trivial argumentbetween Adams 
and guitarist David Rawlings about whether Morrisey's "Suedehead" is on 
"Viva Hate" or "Bona Drag" (it's on both) leads into "To Be Young (is to be
sad, is to be high)," a track that starts off on Dylan's "Route 61" and 
takes a wonderfully unexpected turn. 

The encouraging first third of the album includes a guest spot by Emmylou 
Harris on "Oh My Sweet Caroline" that adds not only sweet harmonies but 
an endorsement of Adams as a spiritual descendant of Gram Parsons.There's
also a nicely orchestrated Indian pop vibe on "AMY" to mix things up.But 
the opening flashes soon give way to the tedious dripping of songs that 
sound written at 4a.m., right after her cab leaves.Tunes "Damn, Sam 
(I love a woman that rains)" and "Why Do They Leave?" don't live up to 
the titles.When he finally does put together a great song, "Come Pick Me Up," 
Adams delivers it like he's screen testing it for the role River Pheonix 
left on the sidewalk outside the Vipor Room.What's with all the heart-wringing 
and whisper-to-a-roar dramatics?It's a song, not a soliloquy. 

"Heartbreaker" will no doubt be hailed a masterpiece in corners where 
self-importance is contagious.But self-expression is just the road, it's not 
the car.Adams said it himself on "My Winding Wheel": "I feel just like a
map, without a single place to go". 

-Michael Corcoran