Cardinology

Last updated
Cardinology
Cardinology.jpg
Studio album by
Ryan Adams and the Cardinals
ReleasedOctober 28, 2008
Recorded Electric Lady Studios, New York
Genre Alternative country, rock
Label Lost Highway Records
Producer Tom Schick
Ryan Adams and the Cardinals chronology
Follow the Lights
(2007)		Cardinology
(2008)		 Orion
(2010)
Alternate cover
Cardinology vinyl.jpg
vinyl cover art
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic (72/100) [1]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Blender Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [3]
Entertainment Weekly A− [4]
Los Angeles Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [5]
musicOMH Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [6]
Paste (6.4/10) [7]
Pitchfork Media (4.7/10) [8]
PopMatters Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [9]
Robert Christgau Rating-Christgau-dud.svg [10]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [11]
Spin (7/10) [12]
USA Today Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [13]

Cardinology is the tenth studio album by Ryan Adams, and fourth album with his backing band The Cardinals, released on October 28, 2008. The album completed Adams' contract with Lost Highway Records, [14] and marks his final recording session with The Cardinals. Following the album's release and subsequent tour, Adams disbanded the band and entered a self-imposed hiatus until the release of Ashes & Fire , in 2011.

Contents

According to Adams, the album "[is] about the moment when you recognise the difference between ego and pride and your sense of service to your friends, family or yourself. Once you've had that epiphany, you can't really turn around and pretend that you haven't. It's about accountability."

The album was placed at #14 on Rolling Stone's 50 Best Albums of 2008 list. [15] The magazine also placed "Magick" at #13 on the 100 Best Singles of 2008 list. [16] The album has sold over 250,000 copies worldwide.[ citation needed ] In April 2011, Adams released an EP, Class Mythology , featuring four unreleased tracks recorded for Cardinology.

Writing and composition

Cardinology was written and recorded in the aftermath of Adams' break-up with girlfriend Jessica Joffe, with Adams stating, "There's a lot of disappointment on this record. There's the pain of lost love and the brutality of unrequited love. It was a dark place to go, but this time I managed to go there with a bit of balance. I tried to make sure there were at least one or two lines in every song that, should someone be listening who is having a bad time, there's something there telling them to keep the faith. I wanted to find that hope. I didn't fully find it, but I was trying."

Release

A vinyl version included a bonus 7", a comic book, and a digital download code. [17] The album's first single, "Fix It", was released on vinyl and online on September 23, 2008.

In 2014, Adams reflected upon the album, and the final line-up of The Cardinals, stating: "That wasn’t the creative band. The proof of that is, listen to Cardinology, then go listen to Cold Roses . You fucking tell me where the power is. It ain’t in the end. There was nothing there." [18]

Reception

The album so far has a score of 72 out of 100 from Metacritic based on "generally favorable reviews". [1] Silent Sound Waves gave it a score of five sound waves out of six and said it was " brave and successful in its flow and creativity. A must have for Ryan Adams fans and something worthwhile for curious listeners." [19] Hot Press gave it a favorable review and called it "an album worthy of high praises." [20] Billboard also gave it a favorable review and said, "Musically, the band works up a handsome country rock sound with shades of the Rolling Stones and Wilco throughout, making room for swagger ('Fix It,' 'Magick') and sentimentality ('Natural Ghost,' 'Evergreen') in equal measure." [21] Similarly, The Boston Globe gave it a favorable review and said, "If only a few of the tracks rise to the greatest heights of which Adams is capable--like the poignant closing salute to sobriety, 'Stop'--the rest remain impressive pictures of craftsmanship." [22] Prefix Magazine also gave it a favorable review and said it " jettisons the schizoid, freewheeling genre-hopping of previous records, giving the album--and, most important, the songs--an intensity of focus where there was once just intensity." [23]

The A.V. Club gave it a B and stated: "Even at his slightest--and Cardinology is pretty slight--Adams always turns out likeable ear candy." [24] Tiny Mix Tapes gave it three-and-a-half stars out of five and said: "The new attention to cleanly produced and perfectly played and arranged backdrops function as both a blessing and a curse." [25]

Other reviews are average or mixed: Uncut gave it a score of three stars out of five and said it ultimately "serves as another minor indictment of Adams’ famously lackadaisical internal editor. Nevertheless, it is still, almost infuriatingly, a stretch better than most people at their best." [26] Yahoo! Music UK gave the album only five stars out of ten and said, "The first half of the album as a whole is easy to forget....Cardinology takes a turn for the best around the midway point." [1] Under the Radar also gave it five stars out of ten and said that "if you’ve always wanted to hear U2’s frontman lead a hook-filled classic country/rock band, Cardinology is for you. If, however, you’re waiting for Adams to deliver the classic album his prodigious talents seem capable of, you’re stuck waiting until his multiple personality disorder wears off and he remembers who he is." [1] Slant Magazine gave the album two-and-a-half stars and stated that "too often Cardinology seems content to float along on an oily sea of good feelings and bad attitude." [27]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Ryan Adams.

No.TitleLength
1."Born into a Light"2:16
2."Go Easy"2:56
3."Fix it"3:00
4."Magick"2:17
5."Cobwebs"3:57
6."Let Us Down Easy"4:21
7."Crossed Out Name"2:44
8."Natural Ghost"3:39
9."Sink Ships"3:38
10."Evergreen"3:36
11."Like Yesterday"2:32
12."Stop"5:34
13."The Color of Pain" (iTunes Bonus Track)3:05
14."Memory Lane" (UK Bonus Track)3:02


Vinyl version bonus 7"
No.TitleLength
1."Heavy Orange"2:42
2."Asteroid"3:18

Personnel

Ryan Adams & the Cardinals

Additional musicians

Recording personnel

Artwork

Chart positions

CountryPeak
position
USA 11
Belgium 54
Ireland 52
Netherlands 74
New Zealand 31
Norway 22
Sweden 41
UK 41

Related Research Articles

Ryan Adams American rock singer-songwriter

David Ryan Adams is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, artist and poet. He has released 19 albums, as well as three studio albums as a former member of rock/alt-country band Whiskeytown.

<i>Rock n Roll</i> (Ryan Adams album) 2003 studio album by Ryan Adams

Rock n Roll is the fourth studio album by Ryan Adams, released on November 4, 2003. The album features the hit single "So Alive", and includes guest appearances by Adams's then girlfriend, actress Parker Posey, former Hole and Smashing Pumpkins bass player Melissa Auf der Maur, and Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong. Adams describes the album as "the most rock thing I have ever done," and notes that in spite of the album's mixed reception, recording it was "fun as fuck."

<i>Sonic Nurse</i> 2004 studio album by Sonic Youth

Sonic Nurse is the thirteenth studio album by American rock band Sonic Youth, released on June 8, 2004 by Geffen Records.

<i>Murray Street</i> (album) 2002 studio album by Sonic Youth

Murray Street is the twelfth studio album by American rock band Sonic Youth, released on June 25, 2002 by DGC Records. Murray Street is the first album by the band to feature Jim O'Rourke as an official fifth member to bolster the group's sound.

<i>Cold Roses</i> 2005 studio album by Ryan Adams and The Cardinals

Cold Roses is the sixth studio album by alt-country singer-songwriter Ryan Adams, released on May 3, 2005 on Lost Highway. The album is his first with backing band The Cardinals, and the first of three albums released in 2005.

Ryan Adams & the Cardinals

The Cardinals were an American rock band that were formed in 2004 by alternative country singer-songwriter Ryan Adams and fronted by him until 2009. The band was featured on Ryan Adams and the Cardinals albums, Cold Roses, Jacksonville City Nights, Follow the Lights, Cardinology and III/IV. Though credited as a solo Ryan Adams release, the 2007 album Easy Tiger also features the Cardinals.

<i>Love Is Hell</i> (Ryan Adams album) 2004 studio album by Ryan Adams

Love Is Hell is the fifth studio album by American musician Ryan Adams, released on May 4, 2004. The album was originally released as two EPs, Love Is Hell pt. 1 and Love Is Hell pt. 2, at the insistence of Lost Highway, who deemed that the album was not commercially viable. A full-length version of the album was released when the EPs proved to be more of a commercial success than anticipated. Love Is Hell features guest contributions from Marianne Faithfull and Greg Leisz, as well as Fabrizio Moretti and Leona Naess on certain bonus tracks.

<i>Jacksonville City Nights</i> 2005 studio album by Ryan Adams and The Cardinals

Jacksonville City Nights is the seventh studio album by American alternative country singer-songwriter Ryan Adams, released on September 27, 2005 on Lost Highway. The album is Adams' second with The Cardinals, and the second in a trilogy of albums released in a seven-month timespan during 2005. By 2007, the album had sold 100,000 copies in the United States and 158,000 worldwide. The album was recorded live in the studio, without overdubs. The title is a reference to Adams' hometown of Jacksonville, North Carolina, which has been referenced throughout his career.

<i>29</i> (album) 2005 studio album by Ryan Adams

29 is the eighth studio album by alt-country singer-songwriter Ryan Adams, released on December 19, 2005 on Lost Highway. Produced by Ethan Johns, and recorded prior to the formation of backing band The Cardinals, the album was the last of three released in 2005. Session guitarist JP Bowersock would later go on to join the Cardinals, subsequently recording Cold Roses and Jacksonville City Nights alongside Adams. The album's cover art was drawn by Adams.

Neal Casal American musician

Neal Graeme Casal was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and photographer. First rising to prominence as lead guitar with Rickey Medlocke's Blackfoot from 1988 to 1993, he is also known as a member of Ryan Adams' backing band the Cardinals from 2005 until 2009, with whom he recorded three studio albums. He played in several groups, including the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Hard Working Americans, The Skiffle Players, GospelbeacH and Circles Around the Sun– and released twelve albums as a solo artist.

<i>We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank</i> 2007 studio album by Modest Mouse

We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank is the fifth studio album by American alternative rock band Modest Mouse, released in 2007. It followed their previous studio album, 2004's Good News for People Who Love Bad News. It is the band's only full-length with former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr as a member. It is also their last with founding member and bassist Eric Judy. It has a strong nautical theme and was originally envisioned as a concept album about a boat crew that dies in every song.

<i>The Search</i> (Son Volt album) 2007 studio album by Son Volt

The Search is the fifth studio album by the band Son Volt. It was released March 6, 2007.

<i>Easy Tiger</i> 2007 studio album by Ryan Adams

Easy Tiger is the ninth studio album by Ryan Adams, released on June 26, 2007, on the Lost Highway label. Although the album is attributed solely to Adams, Easy Tiger features The Cardinals as his backing band, with Adams stating: "The only real concept of this record was complete and utter collaboration." In an interview, Adams states that the album contains "very, very simple, very easy songs that, in my opinion, were written on the periphery of some more complex work." Easy Tiger marks the first appearance of both guitarist Neal Casal and bassist Chris Feinstein, following the departures of J.P. Bowersock and Catherine Popper, respectively. Following the album's release, producer James Candiloro would go on to join The Cardinals as the band's pianist and keyboard player.

<i>Mr Love & Justice</i> 2008 studio album by Billy Bragg

Mr Love & Justice is the twelfth studio album by folk-rock musician Billy Bragg, and the second to be recorded with his backing band The Blokes. The title is taken from the 1960 novel by Colin MacInnes.

<i>Fucking Smilers</i> 2008 studio album by Aimee Mann

@#%&*! Smilers is the seventh studio album by singer-songwriter Aimee Mann. It was released by SuperEgo Records in the UK on June 2, 2008, and in the US on June 3. Upon the week of its release the album was featured as the Virgin Megastore "Pick of the Week."

<i>Okemah and the Melody of Riot</i> 2005 studio album by Son Volt

Okemah and the Melody of Riot is the fourth album by alt-country band Son Volt. It was released on October 5, 2005.

<i>American Central Dust</i> 2009 studio album by Son Volt

American Central Dust is the sixth studio album by the band Son Volt. It was released July 7, 2009.

<i>III/IV</i> 2010 studio album by Ryan Adams and The Cardinals

III/IV is the 12th studio album by alt-country singer-songwriter Ryan Adams, released on December 14, 2010 through PAX AM. The album is his fifth with backing band The Cardinals, and was recorded in 2006 during the same sessions that yielded Easy Tiger. A double album, III/IV was recorded prior to bassist Catherine Popper's departure, and also marks guitarist and backing vocalist Neal Casal's recording debut for the band. According to Adams, the album remained unreleased until 2010, as his former label, Lost Highway, had previously rejected it.

<i>Ashes & Fire</i> Album by Ryan Adams

Ashes & Fire is the 13th studio album by Ryan Adams, released on October 11, 2011, on PAX AM and Capitol. Recorded with producer Glyn Johns, Ashes & Fire marks Adams' return to recording following the disbandment of his band the Cardinals in 2009. Regarding the album, Adams noted, "The record is obsessed with time. I believe that there is a kinder view of the self. I'm passing through my own life as a ghost, and looking at these pieces and places in my life. I'm looking at California, and the idea of being lost and found at the same time."

Incorruptible Heart is the second full-length album by the Los Angeles-based band Lavender Diamond, released in September 2012 as a vinyl LP, compact disc and digital download. It received generally favorable critical reviews.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Critic reviews at Metacritic
  2. ↑ Allmusic review
  3. ↑ Blender review Archived February 11, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ Entertainment Weekly review
  5. ↑ Los Angeles Times review
  6. ↑ "Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Cardinology (Lost Highway)". musicOMH. Archived from the original on March 13, 2012. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  7. ↑ Paste review
  8. ↑ Pitchfork Media review
  9. ↑ PopMatters review
  10. ↑ Robert Christgau Consumer Guide
  11. ↑ Rolling Stone review
  12. ↑ Spin review
  13. ↑ USA Today review
  14. ↑ Cohen, Jonathan (2008-10-24). "Ryan Adams finds groove with band the Cardinals". Reuters . Retrieved 2008-10-28.
  15. ↑ Rollingstone
  16. ↑ Rollingstone
  17. ↑ "RYAN ADAMS AND THE CARDINALS — CARDINOLOGY (LP)". musicdirect. Archived from the original on 2008-09-22. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
  18. ↑ "Q&A: Ryan Adams on His New Self-Titled Album, the Other One He Shelved, and Everything else". 8 September 2014.
  19. ↑ "Silent Sound Waves review". Archived from the original on 2011-10-05. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  20. ↑ Hot Press review
  21. ↑ "Billboard review". Billboard . Archived from the original on 2008-10-25. Retrieved 2008-10-27.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  22. ↑ The Boston Globe review
  23. ↑ Prefix Magazine review
  24. ↑ The A.V Club review
  25. ↑ Tiny Mix Tapes review
  26. ↑ Mueller, Andrew. "Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Cardinology". Uncut . Archived from the original on 2011-12-08. Retrieved 2013-05-02.
  27. ↑ Slant Magazine review
  28. ↑ http://www.leahhayes.com/
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.