Ryan Adams’ cover album of Taylor Swift’s “1989” could potentially become his highest charting record to date.
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Following sustained cheers and applause, and the second song, New Romantics, she elaborated only more slightly. Adams’ creative liberties with Swift’s material is nothing short of brilliant.
I’m not very familiar with Adams’ solo work, but a large amount of his songs on this album seemed reminiscent of other musical artists.
It’s probably safe to say Swift gained one more fan that night. But if there’s one emotion you can consistently find in Adams’ voice, it is longing.
And yet, it should be noted that Swift is also a credible songwriting dynamo who, along with Swedish hit-makers Max Martin and Shellback, has penned catchy hits for the album, such as “Shake It Off” and “Blank Space“.
Then there’s his stunning take on “Out of the Woods”. In a sense, Adams” 1989 is more of an “80s album than Swift’s original will ever be.
It took Ryan Adams’ band just 3 weeks to put the entire cover album together, which he admitted is actually a long time for them. For his live performances, the 40-year-old rocker rolled out his versions of 1989 singles “Bad Blood” and “Style”. “Style“, with its badass Smiths-esque groove, snarling but sensitive vocals would easily fit in his own most recent album.
As RipItUp note, Adams isn’t exactly a triple j mainstay these days.
But the rock and soul brought to the album by Ryan Adams fit better with the emotion of the lyrics.
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A highlight in the cover album is “Wildest Dreams”, turning the dreamy tune into something of a melancholy statement, what with the chiming guitars on the background.
