Album Review: 1989 by Ryan Adams

I’m not ashamed to admit that I listened to Taylor Swift’s 1989 when it was released, and whilst the entire album didn’t reach out and grab me by the scruff of the neck or anything like that – I’m not a Swiftie, or anything – there were a few good songs on there, catchy and appealing in that sort of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it world of pop music, where the big name is very shortly forgotten in favour of another.

Apparently, Ryan Adams, the American singer-songwriter saw something more in mega hits like ‘Bad Blood’ and ‘Shake it Off’, and decided that he would cover the entire album in his own style. Interesting choice, and maybe a gamble, considering how protective Taylor Swift’s legion of fans are where her music is concerned. Thankfully, Ms Swift herself seems to approve.

Yet, it was a good choice. The Ryan Adams 1989 is deeper and more serious than Swift’s work, the entire album reminding me of Nebraska­-era Bruce Springsteen, which was, according to press I’ve read surrounding this release, apparently what Adams had in mind. It works. It really works. Suddenly, it’s not the pop sounds that you focus on – that you can’t get away from on the Swift version – but the depth of the song-writing. There are some great lyrics here, and I would never have known it, were it not for this project.

Say what you will about Taylor Swift’s ascension to the top of the pop music world, after making a similar ascension to the top of the country world, but she writes (or, at least, co-writes) her own stuff, which is a hell of a lot more than you can say for a lot of artists out there. Even in country, which was one of the last bastions of the great, mass-appeal singer-songwriters. Even Garth Brooks didn’t write the songs on his comeback album!

As on the original album, ‘Welcome to New York’ is my favourite, and the Ryan Adams cover is one of the few songs to feature a full band. Mostly, it’s Adams and his guitar and his great voice. No wonder it’s reminded so many people of Springsteen. The Boss was just about all on his lonesome on Nebraska, and look how that turned out.

If you’re looking for something a little different to the norm, I would highly recommend 1989. The songs have such great depth to them, and are so serious, almost dark in places, that you have to remember the original versions were written as arena-happy anthems. The Ryan Adams version is a more personal album – like it’s just you and him in some small room together – and it works nicely.