A friend inspired me to "liveblog" the new Ryan Adams & The Cardinals album, Cardinology. He does not know that I've been inspired to do this, and I like it better that way, there's something about how inspiration can come from the unlikeliest of sources and all that. One more thing before I press 'play': I've never done this before so, enjoy.
Born Into A Light
I'm struck by the 'in your face' attitude of this song. I like it, I'm not in love with the song, but it is my first listen. "For everyone alone, I wish you faith and hope" is a nice line, and then Ryan starts singing some real upbeat stuff. I hope no one busts into gospel music, because in my opinion, the Willie Nelson/Ryan Adams take on that with the Songbird album wasn't that great. This, however, was a great way to start an album. I'm in the mood for good things.
Go Easy
This sounds much smoother to me than the first song though the subject material is a little sadder. "I'll always love you, so go easy on yourself" turns into the title chorus and as soon as that's over I find my toe is tapping (I'm not wearing any socks) because this is such a good tune. I like the "go easy on yourself" mantra that gets repeated. It's a great ideology to adhere to and ought to be repeated over and over, regardless of the emotional history behind the statement.
Fix It
It starts out almost funky. The Cardinals are bringing the funk, which I always like to hear. About a minute into the song I am almost wishing Ryan Adams would shut the hell up and let the music take me somewhere. I don't know where I want to be taken, but it feels like one of those melodies that will move you somewhere you ought to be. I'm not trying to say that the lyrics to this song aren't any good, I just haven't been paying much attention. The ending was anti-climactic too, I don't know what specifically that means, but it's pretty close to being a letdown.
Magick
"You're like a rain cloud, if it rained [reigned?] mushroom clouds." I hope to hell this isn't a political song. "What goes around comes around" could go either way but ok, he's talking about dancing and magick now, I'm really glad this doesn't sound overtly political, I'm really sick and tired of hearing about politics anymore. It's a cool song and there's someone singing backups that I could probably do without but I'd give this a thumbs up.
Cobwebs
Moments ago I was told that this was a song to watch out for on this album, in a good way. It's slow to start up and I hope that the hype wasn't too high for this. "Confuse my love for the cobwebs" is pretty symbolism as "If I fall, will you catch me?" is crooned. I am thinking of the feeling that I've experienced plenty of times where I'm just moving through life, falling, and I want something to catch me and stop me, I'd hate if a spider caught me and ate me. You gotta stop and take a look around, but you don't want to be caught by the wrong thing. I like the message this song is sending.
Let Us Down Easy
"Easy" seems to be a recurring theme for this particular troubadour/band combo. I know that Ryan Adams was all about being emo (or whatever) for a while, but I can't say I always enjoy when that type of influence finds its way into his singing. It's like Ryan is whining half this song instead of singing it. It sounds all right, but the lead vocals are not doing it for me. I like the "Let us down, Let us down" backup chorus/vocal line going on. I'm really under the impression that this song was written on a napkin in poem form, it doesn't ring true to the spirit of a Ryan Adams & The Cardinals song. On a positive note, the song ends much better than it began. He did let me down easy!
Crossed Out Name
This is another of the hyped songs from before. That will teach me to run my mouth off about my happenings as part of the point of this was that I'd be totally unaware of what was on the album beforehand, oh well. "The crowded streets lead me back home" and as they should! Maybe the problem with the last song is that it felt like a song instead of a story, this song feels like a story being told. The music builds and the story builds about how he feels like a piece of paper with a crossed out name on it. I don't know what that means exactly, perhaps further thought is needed for this, but I liked it.
Natural Ghost
Cool. "I was waiting around for somebody to die" sounds like a Johnny Cash line. I will say that the Natural Ghost title of the song flows well with the ghostly feeling I get around 50 seconds in. "I am more than you think I am" could mean anything, but "you make me feel like a natural ghost" makes me think that this song is about how people can be ignored sometimes. Maybe all that's needed is a little love to be passed around, maybe our songwriter needs some attention. I don't know, the song strikes me as one of those 'take it or leave it' kind.
Sink Ships
A little twang in my ears is always nice to hear. It's about an office of some sort that doesn't quite live up to expectations. I don't really understand why this is called 'sink ships' because it sounds to me as if it's about how someone didn't get the job they wanted. It's not great, but not horrible. I don't know what to make of this, so on to the next.
Evergreen
I like this song a lot so far. Oh now, Ryan Adams seems to have picked up a bit of a Bob Dylan slur for whatever reason. A slower than normal, but very colorful song. I like this except for the slur. It's a real cool link between how people can be like different things in nature. Some folks are like the clouds while others are just looking for an evergreen tree to grow up next to them. I like the peaceful ambience of this tune. I'd recommend it!
Like Yesterday
Oh cool, a nostalgic song. I like songs that make me think of the past, being a history major and what not. Oh now, something about sleeping pills and less pain. That's cool too, everyone has a past that has some things they don't like, but then this song turned sad on me. I could take this or leave this song.
Stop
Piano man. The piano makes this sound spooky and real sad. I'm reminded a lot of Ryan's Love is Hell right now, much more than anything else. "Political Scientist" is the song that comes to mind. It's a cool effect, I guess, but aurally, I'm not impressed. I hope this cd doesn't end on such a downer. "You and I won't ever ... ever ... ever ... stop." I'm not a fan of this song, but it's picking up now at about 5 minutes in with 30 seconds left. I didn't want the good times to stop, but this song was all right stopping when it did.
Since there are 12 songs on this album, I'll pick the top one-third of the songs that I like in order:
1) Go Easy
2) Evergreen
3) Born Into A Light
4) Magick
Enjoy yourselves.
