I thought "Love is Hell, Pt. 1" was Ryan Adams' best musical accomplishment. I was wrong. That production, as phenomenal as it was, doesn't come close to the level he reached in "Heartbreaker", his first album after he left Whiskeytown. Perhaps I have a weakness for nu-folk and alt-country these days, but I admit I have been possessed by Heartbreaker. "AMY" is a great example of why. It brings Elliott Smith right back to mind, and other momemnts in the album remind me of Dylan and Cash as well. Overstatement? Say what you want, but Ryan Adams' solo debut is one of the most solid albums in the past five years.

Ryan Adams's solo album trumps anything he's released with his band Whiskeytown to date. "Heartbreaker" has stronger songs, better arrangements and better songwriting than anything Adams has previously recorded. On the accoustic song "Damn Sam (I Love a Woman that Rains)," Adams is a dead ringer for classic mid-60s Bob Dylan (albiet with a much better voice). In fact, most of the highlights on the album are the slower accoustic numbers like "Oh My Sweet Carolina," (with Emmylou Harris) "Come Pick Me Up" and "In My Time of Need." The anthemic "To Be Young (is to be Sad, is to be High)" is also first rate and makes a great rallying cry for the younger generation. The album does feature a couple of clunkers, particularly to rocking but bland "Shakedown on 9th Street" that keep it from being a full five star effort. But it also marks Adams as a potential major star about to break through to the big time.

Someone wrote a review recently, saying that none of the music sounded like "Summer of 69." That reviewer is confused. The Hearbreaker album is by Ryan Adams. The song "Summer of 69" is by Bryan Adams. So please ignore that reviewer's comments. Thanks.

Ryan Adams, songwriter and volatile primary member of the Alt. Country group Whiskeytown, has ventured off on a solo project. The theme seems to be exposing the raw emotions that at times threaten to overwhelm him--as illustrated in "Why Do They Leave?" and the ironic "Come Pick me Up"--and you as the listener may feel like an intruder. The music is passionate, and his uncanny ability to paint word pictures to express that passion put him among the top songwriters/poets of the genre. At times Dylanesque, Adams' songs on Heartbreaker are more thoughtful and introspective than much of his previous work with Whiskeytown. Highlights include "To Be Young," perhaps the most upbeat of the songs, "Oh My Sweet Carolina," a duet with Emmylou Harris, and the somber "Bartering Lines." A must-buy for Whiskeytown and Alt. Country fans. The only way this album could be better would be if the production quality were more consistent--the vocal levels tend to wander in a few songs. A fabulous solo debut, but you can't dance to it.

Heartbreak has spawned some of the best albums ever. This is a well known fact - when the artist in question pours all his or her emotion into the songs, looking for a way to sort things out and bring closure to whatever happened, it really tends to show. When this honest emotional intensity is put onto a record and paired with wonderful lyrics, then you have something special indeed. And this is the recipe that has produced Ryan Adams' "Heartbreaker". The debut album from the former Whiskeytown frontman chronicles the dissolution of a relationship and the emptiness and directionlessness that often accompany it. You can hear this in Adams' pining for his "sweet home Carolina", and in lyrics like "I feel just like a map / without a single place to go of interest" (from the fantastic "Winding Wheel"). And I dare you not to have your heart broken by the album's centrepiece "Come Pick Me Up", in which Adams concedes that even though the relationship ended in a lot of pain, he'd do it all over again: "I wish you would come pick me up / Take me out / Steal My Records / Screw all my friends". The music, which traverses folk, pop, and rock with a country twinge, is perfect: bare bones acoustic guitars parallel the honest emotion in the lyrics. I think that for many songwriters, there is a brief window when talent, vision, and songwriting all come into line. With "Heartbreaker", Ryan Adams has found that window. This album should be treasured for years to come.