Release Date: October 11, 2011
Label: Capitol

There's a My Morning Jacket song that has nothing to do with Ryan Adams.  I suppose you could say that no MMJ songs have anything to with Ryan Adams, but that's not the point.  The MMJ lyric I have in mind is, "they told me not to smoke drugs, but I didn't listen...I guess I just had to get it outta my system".  Most people, I think, can relate to that.  Adams is sober now, and has been for his past few records.  But that's not the point either.  

When you get right down to it, Ryan Adams has always been capable of knocking your socks off with a great song.  But he's also almost always had a few head-scratchers on each record (there are a few early exceptions - see Heartbreaker; see also Gold).  Even some of his more enjoyable stuff with his erstwhile backing band The Cardinals was more or less Grateful Dead American Beauty covers.  The point of this endless set-up diatribe is that Ashes & Fire finally marries that clarity that comes with sobriety to the focus of a consistently great original songwriter.  Which is to say that it's a really good country-rock record with flashes of brilliance that's long overdue.

Adams has always been better when he's understated, and he seems to have dialed himself back a bit intentionally for this one.  The title track "Ashes & Fire" is the high point and is one of the best country songs you'll hear this year.  When he belts lyrics like "the wind was suddenly sweeter than Roosevelt pines / the windows broke out and the cigarette smoke drifted by" over open chords and those great country drums, you can't help but smile.  "Invisible Riverside" is a soulful wanderer's tune that dances in and out of jamband territory (in a good way).  "Dirty Rain" sounds a little bit like he's striving for a polished Big Pink sound.

For a relatively young guy, Adams has put out 13 records and seems to have put a lot of miles on an already weary soul.  It hasn't always been great.  But maybe he just had to get all of that out of his system.  If Ashes & Fire is the shape of things to come, it'll all be worth it.