Adams Is An Oasis In A Musical Desert

But he may still be overshadowed by the more ballyhooed act for which he opens

Based on musical accomplishment alone, Ryan Adams should be headlining a bill with Oasis on Saturday night at the Pearl. But alas, the bigger egos — and bigger record companies — appear to have won out.

Undertaking its first U.S. tour in three years, Oasis, anchored by the cantankerous Gallagher brothers (Noel and Liam), comes to Las Vegas to support the band’s seventh studio effort, “Stop the Clocks.” Apparently, the British band, according to a news release promoting the show, has reinvented itself as a bunch of “indie rockers,” with a set of “hauntingly familiar” songs.

Oasis, it must be noted, is as indie as Britney Spears, but promoters deliver on the second count, and it’s because the band’s new record fits nicely among its aggressively mediocre output.

Don’t get us wrong. Oasis was great in 1994, when “Definitely Maybe” became the fastest-selling debut album in British history. Serious nods to hits “Supersonic” and “Live Forever.”

A year later Oasis was even better, releasing the classic “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?” The Gallagher brothers, fueled by drink and drug, were inescapable. MTV even needed subtitles to keep up. “Wonderwall” and “Champagne Supernova” were everywhere.

With Axl Rose off working on something called “Chinese Democracy,” the brash, snobbish embrace of rock ’n’ roll decadence was just the right medicine to get us over a bad grunge hangover.

But then came the talk about being bigger than the Beatles. And for all the talk, what did we get? — the wholly forgettable “Be Here Now,” in itself a reference to John Lennon’s quip about the philosophy of rock ’n’ roll. The Gallaghers spent the subsequent years churning out three generic albums and a live record.

Nevertheless, it’s hard to beat Oasis when it comes to solid British rock. Here’s to hoping for the classics.

Around the time Oasis’ star was fading, Ryan Adams, leading the alt-country outfit Whiskeytown, was taking off. When his band called it quits, the prolific Adams embarked on a solo career, releasing an album a year since his 2000 debut, “Heartbreaker,” including three in 2005.

To be sure, it wasn’t all good — far from it. But Adams just couldn’t stop himself. Take, for instance, last year’s “Easy Tiger,” among the better efforts. Adams, with some assistance, whittled more than 100 songs down to the 13 that made the final cut. The praise was steady and it clearly went to the songwriter’s head. While recovering from oral surgery and a broken heart, Adams (living in the Chelsea Hotel, of course) covered the Strokes’ debut, “Is This It,” on mandolin and banjo. Come on.

Stunts like that prompted former Replacements frontman Paul Westerberg to suggest in a 2003 interview that it might do Adams some good to get his teeth kicked in. Bruised, Adams told Rolling Stone recently that he “can’t listen to (Westerberg’s) music again, ever.” Come on.

Later, Adams reportedly went through therapy to get over antagonistic fans who would come to his shows and shout Bryan Adams song requests. “Summer of ’69!” The shows were notoriously erratic. Consider a 2003 gig in Minneapolis (Westerberg’s hometown, by the way), where a drunk and rambling Adams played several songs twice, allegedly excused himself from the stage to puke and continuously complained about the bad sound system. (A Google search for “Ryan Adams” and “tantrums” gets 16,900 hits.)

Last year Adams, on a steady diet of alcohol and speedballs, hit rock bottom. He quit cold turkey and sobriety seems to have served him well. “Cardinology,” Adams’ new record with his band the Cardinals, is truly a great album, a testament to the power of picking your spots instead of releasing the floodgates.

With just one real rocker on the roster, “Magick,” the record is a low-key, largely acoustic, country-rock affair, chock full of Grateful Dead and pedal steel. It’s just the type of music that pops in a small venue such as the Pearl.

Adams has summed up his influences like this: “Growing up, I had a Grateful Dead Steal Your Face sticker on my skateboard next to a pentagram logo and a Danzig sticker. I couldn’t differentiate.”

Here’s to hoping the therapy holds and that all of that shines through Saturday.

If you’re lucky, Adams might even play his acoustic cover of Oasis’ “Wonderwall.” That one earned him a Grammy nomination.

Source: www.lasvegassun.com