why does everyone hate Ryan Adams?

Is there some reason he is almost universally disliked or considered uncool? I actually have no preconception or bias for or against him, having been blissfully unaffected by his career for the most part. I recently bought Stranger's Almanac, and listening to it right now, I have to say it has NO bad songs, and some gorgeous ones. What's to hate?

I think he's great musically. I've never had much of a problem with him on that account, except that he's sometimes guilty of having nothing approaching any kind of internal editor and his output can vary pretty widely at times.

Personality wise, he seems to be a complete ass, or at least that's how he's been portrayed in most media accounts. But according to many people who actually know him, that may just be a calculated pose on his part - being an obnoxious douche has never kept anyone out of the headlines, and there's no doubt that antics like being belligerent towards other members of Whiskeytown onstage and announcing the band's break-up at least weekly (until the rest of them seemed to finally get tired of it and moved on), veering between being a drunken mess and a sensitive songwriter, dating and dumping high profile actresses at a rate second only to John Mayer, etc., went a long way towards making him a bigger name than some mild-mannered schlub like Josh Ritter or Rouse. If misbehaving sells more albums than being a good doobie, what the heck. He'd be stupid not to misbehave.

So most animosity towards him has come from the persona end of things, not his music. He used to set my teeth on edge until I finally figured why the hell should I give a damn if he's a dumbass or not? He's recorded as many if not more good to great albums in the last decade as anyone else I can think of.

He's been on ACL. I wonder if Toland has any insight into whether he's as big a jackass as he's been portrayed as being, or if it does seem to be an act?



Post Edited (04-29-10 22:58)

The last time Adams was here (a Cardinals show supporting, I think, Jackson City Skyline) he put on an embarrassing show, acting like a whiny idiot between songs, sitting with his head in his hands, smashing his guitar not for cool effect but out of pique. Half the audience walked out. (Which sucked for Tift Merritt, who followed him.) I heard audience regulars talking negatively about that show for years afterward.

I've heard different stories about why he acted that way. The most common assumption was that he was drunk, but I also heard that he had, in fact, just quit drinking and it affected his mood adversely. I also heard that he had recently lost his longtime manager/father figure, who knew exactly how to handle him. Maybe he was just in a pissy mood. Not sure.

We edited all the bullshit out, of course. We got a lot of requests for it on DVD while it was still in rights. We explored that, but Adams is having none of it.

I have a friend who used to be in his band (pre-Cardinals), so I've gotten to see a couple of his shows, and I always thought he was pretty damn good onstage. He never stopped any shows or acted the goat at any of the ones I saw (other than the ACL). I think his recorded career has been dreadfully uneven, but when he's on, he's fucking on and justifies the hype. He needs a strong outside personality, I think (manager, producer, whatever) who can force him to choose his best stuff and put out one great album every few years, instead of a bunch of mediocre records with some gems scattered through them.

And I love that Whiskeytown show. It's just as uneven as the rest of his career, but the best performances in it are truly magnificent.

What's to hate?

THIS
and
THIS

stuff like that which, as Brad pointed out, has nothing to do with his music.

I think Ryan Adams' music is pretty good, actually.

As far as that answering machine message to Jim DeRogatis is concerned: yeah, it's rather petty and immature, but having played in bands and dealt with music critics, part of me cheered Ryan Adams on while the rest of me cringed. If there's anything worse than a whiny, egotistical, self-important musician, it's a smug music critic who writes like a total jerk.

I saw Ryan Adams & the Cardinals open for Oasis a couple years ago. Okay set, decent songs, no tantrums or anything like that. Plus, the group walked on stage to the theme from Sanford & Son. That was a nice touch. I have no problem with Ryan.

I've heard that, at one of Adams' shows, a person in the audience shouted out an earnest request for "Summer of '69" (getting the singer confused with some other rock musician). Adams allegedly responded by jumping out into the audience, finding the guy who shouted that, and personally telling him to leave. That may be merely an Internet myth, though.