From his debut in 2000 as a solo artist Ryan stole this decade from musicians, he's made the most impressive albums, in the shortest amount of time, with his "fuck you" attitude growing with each one. To date he has 9 full length solo albums and 5 eps and a box set due in 2008, not to mention countless appearances on others records. And each has a seperation from the last, whether he is doing a sick 13 minute song or a simple acoustic 2 minute song, ryan is doing something that no one else is, being an artist in a decade suffering from lack of.

lastdecember said:

I agree. He's definitely my generation's Neil Young or Bob Dylan.

Got my vote

I'm kinda ignorant to this guy. I'm not ashamed to admit it. Which albums would u suggest I start at?

Bishop31 said:

theres alot to chose from but "heartbreaker" his solo debut still ranks amongst his most amazing work. "Love is hell" parts one and two are also amongst the best as is his recent "solo" cd "easy tiger".

EmbattledWarrior said:

mine too

lastdecember said:

The guys entire catalogue is amazing
including the whiskeytown years

didnt "summer of 69" come out in the 90s?

i couldn't even get through one album of his (easy tiger). it bored the hell out of me. perhaps it just isn't my cup of tea. is there something of his with some more "action".

xperience319 said:

I always thought it was a poor choice of name too. Bryan Ryan. Hmm, a little too close if you ask me.

Funny how Google offers some links isn't it. I looked for Ryan Adams and the second page had "Butt Licking Anal Whores". Didn't bother to follow the link.

xperience319 said:

Ha, I saw him live a couple of weeks ago and he totally ripped into some guy who shouted "summer of 69" from the crowd. In fairness someone did exactly the same thing when i saw him at the same venue 7 years earlier.

I have to agree with this topic - no one can match Ryan for his consistency - and while there isn't perhaps the variety there of some other artists - he's been so prolific you barely notice. A beautiful voice, and a brilliant songwriter.

Anyone looking to get into him should probably do it chronologically. His best album to my mind is still Heartbreaker, but as I say he's been pretty consistent since then. Both Gold, Demolition & Easy Tiger are solid works with commercial appeal, and Cold Roses & Love Is Hell add something different to his cannon.

Definitely the artist of the decade.

CrozzaUK said:

Yeah i think alot of times we think the music artist of the decade has to be the one who gets the sales and airplay and magazine covers etc.. but dont look into what other musicians are saying, im sure the "artist of the decade" will go to a Beyonce or Timberlake etc. But if you listen to musicians, older artists and ask them who they think, i have heard everyone from Elton John to Willie Nelson to Dolly Parton to Norah Jones and Alison Krauss say that this guy is the one they actually look for when a record comes out, hes kind of kept that feel of the 70's when you did a record every 6 months, and he also has the "i dont give afuck" attitude of the 60's in there, so he has been kind of the saviour for that kind of artist.

iloveannie said:

lastdecember said:

Totally agree...the man is brialliant...he only gets better!

..

CrozzaUK said:

If i were him i'd do the exact same thing,
i've been a fan of him for a few years and a friend as well (cool thing about him is he actually responds back to fans from several message boards)
In his defense a good portion of his fan base are frat boys
who do yell alot of obscenities during concerts.
And occaisionally they need to be slapped around.

Funny how different artists appeal to us. I listened to the first and last albums and can some it up as 'meh'. REM are another like this. I appreciate their appeal and (at times) brilliance but they just don't make me tick.

lastdecember said:

i totally agree. he has been my "great hope" for rock and roll. he is an excellent song writer, and performer when he has "it all together". and now that he, at least for now, is somewhat clean, i so look forward to his future output.