Ryan Adams: Gold (2LP) [LOST HIGHWAY]

Why you'll love it

This 2LP set, mastered by Levi Seitz at Black Belt Mastering, lays Gold out as the double album Adams had in mind, Side Four included. It is his best-selling album, with 812,000 copies sold worldwide, and earned three Grammy nominations.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Mastered by Levi Seitz at Black Belt Mastering
• Stereo mix

About the album

Ryan Adams said that with Gold he wanted to invent a modern classic, which is a tall order for a second solo album, and he came remarkably close. Out in September 2001 on Lost Highway, it rolls through Stones-y rock, country soul and late-night balladry with a young man's swagger.

"New York, New York" became an MTV and VH1 staple in the weeks after September 11, its love letter to the city landing at exactly the right moment. "When the Stars Go Blue" has been covered by The Corrs with Bono, Tim McGraw and plenty more, "Answering Bell" later turned up in Bridesmaids, and "The Rescue Blues" closed out the film Behind Enemy Lines. Adams' old friend and former roommate Adam Duritz of Counting Crows adds backing vocals to several tracks, and the Side Four songs, from "Rosalie Come and Go" to "Cannonball Days," round out the full sprawl.

The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop poll ranked it sixth for 2001, and Rolling Stone later put it at No. 81 among the best albums of the 2000s. Twenty-one songs is generous by anyone's standards; it's the album equivalent of a host who keeps topping up your glass, and we've never once complained.

Also at Kops: more Ryan Adams on vinyl · browse Singer-Songwriter

Tracklist

Listen

On Lost Highway (cat# 088 170 235-1), a reissue of the 2001 album.