Ryan Adams | 1989

When Ryan Adams covered Oasis’s “Wonderwall” for his album Love is Hell, he made the song his own in a way that made Noel Gallagher admit that Adams was “the only person that ever got that song right”. It’s so hauntingly beautiful that no frat bro could ever attempt his version at 2am and that the people who created the damn song defer to his version. So I should have had plenty of confidence in Adams doing a cover album of just about anyone out there. But…Taylor Swift? How the hell was he supposed to recreate 1989, a pop masterpiece sure (whatever that is worth) but not exactly the musical or lyrical material made for a 40 year old guy. Tay-Sway isn’t exactly known for depth, more for becoming a successful musician at a young age, dating a lot of famous people, and writing sappy songs about heartbreak. Oh right, that’s basically Ryan Adams too. Who better to make moodier versions of Swift songs than the man whose first album was titled Heartbreaker?

And lyrically Adams has stayed true to the original on his version of 1989. Aside from the pronoun switching, the biggest change was his wise decision to eliminate all the rap intros and breakdowns. Which is great, because as awkward as Swift’s whole “This Sick Beat” section of “Shake it Off” is, it would have been infinitely more embarrassing for Adams to take a crack at it. And while his version is so muted it falls somewhere between an album interlude and a poor man’s version of Springsteen’s “She’s On Fire”, him trying to rap would have taken his 1989 to parody levels. And that’s absolutely not what this album is. Yes, he is covering an album of pop songs, but this sounds like a Ryan Adams album through and through. If Swift wasn’t so ubiquitous that anyone from 8 to 80 years old can recognize her songs, you wouldn’t be able to tell that Adams wasn’t the genius behind this.

Whether you like this version of 1989 basically falls on where you land on Ryan Adams. If you’re only taking a listen to it because you are intrigued by all things Taylor then you will probably be underwhelmed. And depending on how old you are, you should probably seek help as well. His cover of “Welcome to New York” is close to the original; you know if instead of a DJ playing synth pop behind Swift was replaced by Ryan Adams and the Heartbreakers (Yes this is a reference to both his debut, and Tom Petty, who this version owes its sound to).  Adams turns the teen pop of “Blank Space” and “How You Get the Girl” into acoustic tracks that could be found anywhere in his back catalog, but instead of taking the easy way out and going full acoustic, Adams attacks different tracks with all of his trademark weapons. On “This Love” he opts out of the unplugged treatment and turns it into one of his crooning piano ballads that wouldn’t be out of place on 29 or the end of Cold Roses, but is remarkably more powerful than his own work. “Out of the Woods” goes from Savage Garden to an ’80s-hair-band-style love ballad, while “All You Had to Do Was Stay” comes from a similar place and now sounds like it belonged on Adam’s 2014 self-titled album the whole time. Meanwhile, “Wildest Dreams” now appears to be a Whiskeytown song, which after hearing the original, I wouldn’t have believed that was possible in my…..well, you see where I’m going here. Maybe most impressive is his transformation of “Style”, recreating it as hard rock jam that is surprisingly just as catchy, only slightly more bad ass. I can’t recommend this song enough.

However, the only song that Adams reinvents on his version of 1989 that is unequivocally better is “Bad Blood”. I don’t care how old you are, his version is the better pop song here; no matter how much Kendrick Lamar and video special effects tried to desperately save this song, Adams is the true savior here. On the contrary, “Shake It Off” while being over the top, was the catchiest pop song of the year and Adams may have taken the easy way out there. Again, I’m glad he didn’t try to feign his MC skills, but I was expecting a lively rock version with maybe some guitar solos taking the place of Swift’s whitest white girl moment. Still I can’t be too disappointed and neither you should you; the comparison of the other 11 tracks just depend on what you want. As much as I appreciate Madonna, Annie Lennox, and all the other pop stars that Swift emulated for her 1989, I’ve always been a Ryan Adams fan so I’m going to want to listen to  his newest, moody rock album rather than Swift’s ’80s pop that just isn’t my style. Still, while listening to it I admit that I will have to give some begrudging respect to Swift and the others responsible for creating this album to begin with. I may like my pop music with a little extra distorted guitar and a little less drum machine, but I guess I’m a sucker for 1989 like millions of others around the globe. Shit.

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Bake

I'm nothing. Maybe less than nothing. I also write.

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