Gold

Gold, the album that was or is a social media algorithm before the algorithm became The Algorithm, the Gold Standard in pulling from all you enjoy on the social media hellscape to influence everything you consume. In the case of Gold by Ryan Adams, he manufactured a record that sounds like everyone else without sounding like original music. I'd say Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Van Morrison, Niel Young, and essentially any musician from the late 70s who also used their name to identify their music or band, not Ryan Adams. Not Ryan Adams, because the litany of musicians he sounds like created quality, if not essential, music long before him. Sadly, this record is on the list because it felt necessary given the love the critics had for Ryan Adams, and this is in some way an unsung hero of an album that sounds like hundreds of records that came before. And that cover- I've seen it or a version before. I can't seem to place it, and the other missing thing is my mind following the listen, missplaced emotion... Ryan Algorithm.

Trash, sorry

This was a rough listen. The most vanilla, plain jane, inoffensive music I've listened to. Have never heard of this guy before, but everyone is saying he's a huge douche? I'm just here for the music, and man I don't want to be here for this. This dude moaning in "nobody girl" ????

Ryan's apologies and recent sobriety might help him come off my skip list (you can look his past behavior and decide for yourself) eventually. I used to enjoy this record a good bit, though not as much as Heartbreaker, but since hearing about how he treats other people I'd felt that the flag's upside down for a reason. Since I don't dock every jerk musician stars for misbehaving maybe I should go easy on this guy? I'm fully aware of the conundrum of separating the artist from their art. And, I acknowledge that I often apply my own standards unevenly. I try to not live in a world of absolutes though. I to try to take something of the artist and their context into account on the one hand and ultimately I try to not let that "allowing the person into the discussion" to interfere with the final aesthetic judgments on the other. It really is a case-by-case basis act of balance. I'll also confess that the ones I have the most difficulty with are musicians and artists I personally admired or enjoyed for a long stretch of time, that I somehow felt I "grew up with" along the way only to have that person's transgressions and trespasses revealed. I guess Ryan could take it as a compliment then that I struggle to enjoy his music anymore. He might smile a little knowing that he's as close as he is to Morrissey and Kanye both.

Derivative, bland, annoying harmonica, stock music.

I was disappointed that the two opening tracks weren't Sinatra & YMO covers. And it didn't get any better from there. Yawny generic rock ballads sung in a generic rock ballad voice that add nothing new to music or its enjoyment. Also, was this really 70 minutes long???? I had to bail long before that.

Another baffling inclusion on this list. I'm coming at this completely blind, I am pretty sure I've never heard of this guy, but the pre-9/11 release and the album art predispose me too dislike this. Anyway, this guy sounds like he's ripping off other artists and genres indiscriminately, it sounds very commercial, like he's aiming for maximum appeal by offering a little bit of everything which is tedious and popular, a bit like the musical equivalent of a chain restaurant. Some observations on tracks as I listened to them: New York New York's instrumentation really flat-sounding. Firecracker also really flat, vocals especially. Juxtaposition between title and the content. Everything is bland bland bland. La Cienega Just Smiled sounds like some inauthentic country or a Bruce Springsteen rip-off. The Rescue Blues - cheap gospel backing choir. Nobody Girl and another track which I forget - sounds like he's going for a sort of Bob Dylan vibe, then giving up on it. And why is this nearly ten minutes long!? This is one of those albums which is aggressively safe and dull. I would rather have a thousand weird avant garde or experimental metal albums on this list than anything this suffocatingly boring. I was considering a 2 for this, but when I write this much as a review, the album must have provoked some strong reaction, and it ain't a 5. 1 star.

Sounds so of its time and I just don’t like it lol. Even the songs I didn't hate (firecracker being the only one), I really only liked because it reminded me of being a young kid getting into music and it is the kind of song I would have slurped up at that time... but now?? now I think it's bad. Getting to be needlessly long. songs blurring into the next. feels like dribble. I do not like this man. fighting the urge to turn this off with two more songs.

Not for me

Think I liked the first track but that was about it.

1. neuu york - 0 2. firecracker - 0 3. bell - 0 4. zmiled - 1 5. bluez - 1 6. zomeday - 1 7. ztarz - 1 8. girl - 1 9. plath - 1 10. fire - 1 11. me - 1 12. uuild - 1 13. harder - 1 14. touch - 1.5 15. toledo - 1.5 16. hollyuuood - 1 17. rozalie - 1

If a lyrical trope exists, this chode of a man used it on this record. Not one original moment in an hour and 14 minutes.

Not my thing at all. insipid and boring.

Back when I thought Ryan Adams was a guy with a lot of talent prone to taking artistic missteps I still only listened to Gold once through. Heartbreaker is the only one in the catalogue to hear to track popular music trends in the 00s. I don't think there are any notable hooks in the 21 songs on Gold. In 2025 it seems like a very sad attempt at a pop breakthrough. The scattered attempts at sounding soulful are not good. In 2025 the other thing Ryan Adams playing pop reminds you of is him being gross and coercive to young women who wanted music careers. music industry creeps: hated. (⌐■_■)

Douchebag music

So incredibly bland, and a slog to get through

i don’t think i was ever going to give this a truly fair listen as a phoebe bridgers fan, but i was willing to at least give him a chance and holy shit this was the most annoying album i’ve listened to. it’s an old joke but it really does sound like starbuckscore. i think that all the criticism directed towards male singer songwriter for being vain crybabies can be forwarded to ryan adams.

I thought it was terrible

Second album for Brian and still no summer of 69?

Shit music from a turd

If the color beige made an album this would be it. It's so boring and typical. And it goes on forever, a decent guitar part here and there does nothing to help it. And if you're judging by the cover, you know it's trash going in. "Hey photographer did you get my new belt from Hot Topic? I really want people to see the belt." I hate pretty much everything about this. 1/5

I think I am prejudiced against Ryan Adams based on a guy I use to know who loved him and wanted me to listen to this album. The kind of person that likes a 'manic pixie dreamgirl' kind of person. So I have always associated Ryan Adams with that type of person and resisted listening. Walked into another room when listening, came back and it sounded like exactly the same song was playing.

BOOOOO RYAN ADAMS SUCKKSSSSS BOOOOOOOO I’ll listen to this (maybe) but in a way where this man does not see a cent of my change. I stand with the women he harassed. Also he doesn’t get a full in depth review. Also screw what he did to 1989 this man is a terrible person and musician I hope he plays summer of 69 at his next show (iykyk)

I'm on song 5 and this is mind-numbingly bad. I will skip through and try the most popular ones. I suppose it isn't as bad as some other 1/5s so let's say it is a 1.5, but it is borderline unlistenable. Voice is bad.

From what I’ve listened to so far and know about this guy’s missteps…no thanks.

I've never listened to Ryan Adams before (had a flatmate who was a big fan, and that was enough to make me avoid altogether). Bland 2000s soft rock. Hints of van morrison.

I don’t know what this guys appeal is

Wow, what a slog of 70 minutes. I read in the Wiki that Adam's was "attempting to write a modern classic" when making this album. Hate to break it to you man, but that's not exactly how classic albums work. This shit's dryer than Melania.

Generic

more like oh brother another white guy stealing music and making it worse. bad job. 1 star, 5 booos

World of hurt expected. Album cover mixed with some reviews I accidentally saw tells me this is going to be a rough ride. Billy Joe Armstrong in front of the American flag that’s, huh? UPSIDE DOWN????? Whoa. This guy is off his rocker!1!!1!!Guys, this is going to be extreme. Look the fuck out. This is a worse version of counting crows. , sappy pop vocals, TERRIBLE lyrics, annoying cadence, bongos??? This thing BLOWS. Even the saxophone can’t save you. I’m crying. That harmonica hit me as so disingenuous. This is campfire music at a youth church camp. One of the worst lyricists we’ve had to listen to. The harmonica player even sucks. No soul, nothing. Wow we’re off to a flyer here. Oooh now a banjo. Is this that singer that does “bubbly.” Fuck. It’s pop country. Get out of here. You suck. The vocal melody is better and there is a catchy pop chorus (which has been partly ripped off from Steve miller band) but the instruments and his inflections make this completely unlistenable. It’s so unlikeable. Yes, describe the parts of an outfit Bryan er Ryan. This is songwriting camp stuff. It’s so basic. Oh yay, a reference to a “little girl.” Shocker. This is endless. Each song beginning feels like the onset of another heave during vomiting. I am catatonic. Nothing about this is blues. I suppose I am feeling depressed. We’re halfway there. Oh god the gospel inclusion. No. Imagine being this dimwit’s backing band? Fuck. There’s a group in need of rescue. Dude shut up. This is responsible for every moron who headlines the stampede every year. What? Speak up. I somehow haven’t run out of mean things to say. I more than likely never will when given ammunition like this. This feels like a first dance song for a doomed marriage. Doomed marriage feels like this guys overall aesthetic. Listen. I love reading, writing, all that. I don’t claim to be a genius. Look at this writing. It’s rife with errors and bloated prose, but, these lyrics aren’t saying anything, are they? I’m trying focus on anything but this hackneyed bob dylan impersonation mixed with an attempt to sound like the pixies (see: FAILED). I chose the lyrics and they too are approximations of good things half-remembered garbled in a self-importance blender. STOP REPEATING THIS LINE. Another bad guitar solo. Imagine saying “you’re not John Mayer” and meaning it as an insult. Here we are. Oh boy. Here we go. He’s about to propose an open relationship to the barista he’s attempting to leave. Get ready guys. This guy can’t leave well enough alone. There are elements of something that a talented songwriter could assemble into a useable song, but this guy builds Ryan Adam’s’ monster out of mangled pieces of bad ideas. And we get Sylvia Plath rhymed with “Give me a Bath.” 👍🏻 Oh sweet Jesus. The drummer lurched alive like he was being defibrillated. Furrow your brows gentleman. Ryan is getting gruff. This has been the only slightly listenable song thus far. And we’re back. Money can’t buy me love called, and it’s begging for death, everyone is really scared. Somebody call Ringo to talk it down. Yes Ryan, take that stolen melody and add the words “little girl” and a couple references to amphetamines. Perfect. Does someone have a capo and possibly a maraca? Excellent. Let’s call it track 11. Another whisper ballad. His voice is breaking. Hahahahahah oh man. That little instrumental swell. I want to heckle him. I just can’t stand the music on this album. It’s so basic. Good singer/songwriter music I so great but it’s hard to pinpoint exactly why the good stuff is good. This is simple to a fault and just so pop friendly. The country twang is also insufferable with everything else going on. Another clanger. Some more John Mayer lite. This album is making me like John Mayer by proxy. Stockholm Syndrome. Don’t do driving guitars. Ryan wants a ford commercial. Maybe the My name is Earl theme? Well he didn’t get either (to my knowledge, I honestly don’t care.) this is not horrid I guess. Grading on a curve. It’s cheesy and I would never listen to it again unless it’s accompanying the smooth ride of a 2024 ford escape, the most fuel efficient model in the premium series. Ford, Ryan Adams approved. This last song sucked. Fitting end to a pile of lukewarm refuse. This is the music that used to come automatically downloaded on windows Media player. Songs that feel like reproductions of hits filtered through a record executive’s septic tank. We really need to start examining what constitutes a “must listen” album because this ain’t it pal. Painful experience. 0-0.5 HIGHLIGHTS: Enemy Fire (I Guess).

Booo tomato tomato

Beige rock / country rock with phony, faux-Americana affectations and unremarkable production values, whose peremption date occurred a long time ago by now. And the whole thing is played by a figure whose real personality and supposed unsavory acts with women in the music business has had a few eyebrows raised in the last couple of years. Hard pass. 1/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums. 6/10 for more general purposes (5 + 1) Number of albums left to review: 45 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 411 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 240 Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 306 (including this one)

Is this the most anonymous sounding album in the book? I think yes likely l. Music for squares to play at their wedding

What an insufferable collection of ear numbing muzak. I can't believe this charted anywhere in the world. I can't believe how basic and uninspired each individual song was, and what a tedious experience listening to the whole album was. The fact that this was shorter than anticipated and was still 70 minutes of this shit is something else. 1/5

I'd rather listen to Bruce Springsteen, and I hate Bruce Springsteen.

Look, if I skipped every album written by an abuser I would be listening to two albums a month but this one is too close to home. One star on principle, fuck off Ryan.

A collection of uninspired songs that runs for way too long. Has no reason to be on this list.

i can't even finish this saccharine boomer future predator shit 1/10

Boring!!!!!

Lyin' Badams

if i may quote, in its entirety, my previous review of this album: dear lord, i hated that. that is all.

No not at all.

No

More like Fools Gold... Bland uninspired country pop rock.

lol this album cover is so bad. Hmmmm. This feels like a guy who really liked Van Morrison, but decided to just be annoying in a different way. There's a smugness that permeates the album, like this dude's been told he's the voice of a generation when in reality he only speaks for the most milquetoast segment of people who are juuust interesting enough to step outside their comfort zone but without losing sight of comfort. This sucks basically. Writing a song about wanting a Sylvia Plath sure is a choice, and not one I'd make but fuck it I guess that sounds profound and was probably done by this weirdo to get girls. Truly, TRULY thankful the trend of making albums 70+ minutes for no reason other than filling a CD is dead because Christ alive this is unbearably long on top of everything else.

Yeah no .4/5

More like tin, amirite?

This was way too country. When I tuned it out it was good.

I didn't even listen to this album. I'm giving it 1 star for that cover. Fuck you.

This guy loves BBC

Nope

A man worthy of being punted across the field like a golf ball. See, the three things in music that don't quite personally tickle my pickle are: 1. overly long albums, 2. country music, 3. music by people with a college thesis-long Controversies section on Wikipedia. If your album has one of these elements, that's fine, but when you combine all three of them into one, you get a concoction of elements most foul, as if you were a nasty green witch brewing the Potion of the Rot. Want an actually good 2000s country album? Should have been literally anything by Jason Molina instead.

Não entendo como alguém aprende a tocar violão ou guitarra e compõe canções tão sem sal e sem graça. Horrível, sem sal, sem nada. Perdi tempo com esse. Tão ruim quando o "Bryan" Adams...

Bohoring.

Muito, muito, mas muito fraco mesmo, completamente sem personalidade

TWO ryan Adams albums on this list??????

Starts dull and lifeless and somehow goes downhill from there

Second Ryan Adams on my list and my opinion of him and his music hasn’t changed. Blue grass country music isn’t my thing at all. I’m also slightly worried about him has a person. From what our American reviewer’s say about him I cannot listen and feel at ease. Especially when there’s so much music out there I can avoid Ryan Adams and pretend he doesn’t exist. 1/5 19/5/24.

Apparently this guy’s a molester, so I’m skipping.

My god, day 1, country music, one unhappy camper. I lasted about 15 seconds - nothing new there then!

90 minutes of uninspired, inoffensive middle of the road adult oriented rock. 90 minutes….. Also is it coincidence that he releases a song called New York days after 9/11? I think not. Some people will do anything to shift a few CDs. Wish it had been the album with ‘Summer of 69’ on it. Or the one with the Spice Girl.

Blimey, think Ryan might have a overinflated opinion of himself. Listened on the fast forward as it's so long. Bland country rock, not sure how it got on this list but at least it's not Pere Ubu.

Ryan Adams has put out a ton of albums and dear reader it’s all crap. This is an over stuffed vanilla early aughts piece of garbage. Really not sure of what is appealing about this. His voice is reedy and uninteresting and lyrics are obtuse. The musicianship is fairly decent. All in all not my favorite.

Man, this album was just painfully boring. It's just so flaccid and safe.

Discount Bob Dylan, oh my god I hate this. Right down to the harmonica bullshit, boring ass writing, and annoying voice. Genuinely one of the worst album covers as well. This is the worst thing to happen to the US in the year 2001.

How does one separate the art from the artist? Ryan, a notorious asshole on top of his grooming and abuse allegations (which tracks), has produced some fantastic music...but I don't think this album is it. It has more nostalgia from the release of NY NY post 9/11 than top to bottom quality as an album. He's thin, watered down as an artist here. Separately judging this from the artist here.. there's not much art.

Country - Folk: nichts für mich.

What shite!

Shit Rating: 1.0

This is what I like to call "music for people who don't really like music". Awful, boring, generic, plastic rubbish. How on earth has this made it onto the list? One star is being generous

Generic and insipid pop/country. Has about as much punch as an toddler born without arms. Doesn't offer anything that hadn't been done before in decades previous by other artists, so I'm not sure why it's on this list.

jakiś countrydiscopolo wyjec

Fraco! Deve ter sido colocado na lista por ter algum parente jornalista, tirando isso, não faz nenhum sentido. Disco fraco, fraco, fraco! Cara que disco péssimo

Just not into the mellow acoustic thing.

I never like these generic singer song writer things. Throw in country and it gets neven worse. This guy definitely seems like the kind of douchebag to cover an entire Taylor Swift album and then get hit with me too allegations. You can't make this stuff up. Will this album ever end? Oh God, I'm only half way through it.

I remember Adams being very hyped at the time this came out, but he always left me cold and it seems nothing has changed. I listened to the first few tracks and then skipped through the rest. So derivative (if I want this kind of music I will listen to The Band, Gram Parsons etc) but without the best elements of its influences. Bland, blaaaand, blaaaaahhhh.

Hard pass. Creep.

No es mi wstilo

The timing of the release along with the cover art and songs like New York, New York lead me to believe he was in on 9/11.

I suspect Ryan thinks he’s better than he is. 🙈 A gaggle of one-dimensional songs here.

Hah, this is definitely white suburban people rock. It fucking sucks.

I don't need this in my life

Boring ...

It all went downhill after Summer of 69

Great album, but fuck Ryan Adams

generiskt skit

Trash human writes boring, generic pop.

Pop com verniz country ou country com pretensões pop?

Auf der einen Seite völlig überproduziert, auf der anderen Seite schreckliche vocals. Weichspülermucke, yeehaw.

Wehleidiges Rockalbum.

Auténtico peñazo infumable.

A country song about New York just sounds weird. Everything else is generic and dull. 🇺🇸

Just awful

This wasn't for me, very basic all around.

"modern" country; just so so bad in every way.

Ugh. It was country and then tried to be rock. It didn't work.

boooring

Insanely bland and obnoxiously long folk/light rock with a twang of country. So bland that I just finished it and couldn't pick out a single musical idea out of the entire hour and thirty minutes

I got maybe 2 songs in. Couldn't do it, not a fan a modern country.

Oh no, not this sexual harassing piece of shit again. Not on my watch! Fuck you, Ryan Adams. Justice for Liz Phair and Mandy Moore. I’m going to listen to their music today instead. I hope your dick rots and falls off.

Absolute trash, waste of 90 minutes of my life. Ooh look at me, I'm so edgy, got my American flag upside-down, blue-jeans with my face looking down and my spiky hair. Please give me a break. Whiny, country music, that doesn't deserve to have any Grammy Nominations in the "Rock" Category. Waste. Of. Time. Best (this was hard to pick): Firecracker Worst: The rest of the album

dipped his toe in noncing this one. the music is shite and i never understood why people bummed him so much, but time has shown they probably said he was good so he didn't do some sort of retaliation bumming or whatever shit it was he did.

Altogether not great 1.5/5

Well that was a brutal 1.5 hours. Sounded like the worst combination of Speingsteen and Coldplay. Absolute drivel

This album was a real test of strength considering it’s an hour. At first it sounded like that guy at the open mic before mordecai and the rigbys but occasionally I’d be like oh shit is this about to get interesting then it didn’t

This ain't it

Ugh

Shite.

Nahh, easy listening adult contemporary bullshit from a creepy son of a bitch. Pass.

I hate this album so much I'm not even going to talk about the music. Instead I'd like ask a few questions about the album cover. First of all, who stands like that? Were they deliberately trying to capture the most awkward, unnatural stance possible? Also, look at his skin. I would think someone with such a rootsy sound would get a little more sun that that. Is he some kind of weird substrain of folksy Americana Goth?

Yucky Americans. Really couldn’t tolerate it.

Nah I'm good.

I purposely chose not to listen to this because the guy is a cunt.

Shite. Awful, unremarkable shite. Another one from the Black Crowes or the Black Keys school of why am I listening to this, all the influences are already in the book and it's shite at that, nothing new. I don't understand it, there's just nothing here. And then there's all that shit about the man himself. Take it away.

Shiiit detta va fælt

I can’t believe the first song isn’t a Sinatra cover. This guy’s a douche.

Not really my thing, gave it a chance but nothing hooked me

Totalmente olvidable

Este disco no me gustó nada. "Exageradamente estadounidense y muy genérico para el estilo.

New huge meh

not a fan of the album, but we're going all the way to 1/5 for personal conduct: “You’re not a real musician, because you don’t play an instrument.”

Despite nothing being objectively bad about this album, nothing was noteworthy either. I repeatedly zoned out while listening, forgetting that I even had music on.

I’m not a 18 year old girl in 2007

FFS, what music industry exec did Ryan Adams blow to get this massively generic tripe hyped so much? Oh and another thing - if my name was Steven Miller, and I formed a rock band called The Steven Miller Band, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't act like a little bitch every time someone yelled out for "Space Cowboy".

Ryan Adams is a garbage person and I refuse to acknowledge him.

Fuck Ryan Adams

didnt even listen ridiculous recommendation

Sorry no review anything by the pos.

Never ending boringness.... If that word exists. DNF

The mixture of pop and soft country is lethal.

sudas

Wish it was Bryan Adams

Fuck Ryan Adams.

Just a forgettable album, nothing really special about it. 3/10.

dear lord, i hated that.

This album feels like a big bland wet blanket. Couldn't wait for it to end.

I may not have been in the mood to listen to this ( I was looking at buying the new Royal Blood album ) but it was "ok"

primero que me carrrrrrga

kk