Ryan Adams & The Cardinals – Cold Roses

The first hint is the album cover, a stark, dark blue faux-leather pattern that looks and feels like the early ’70s — especially its central image, a full-bloom rose clearly echoing the cover of the Grateful Dead’s 1970 classic American Beauty. Given his recent habit of covering that band’s “Wharf Rat” at his live shows, does this mean Ryan Adams is embracing his inner Deadhead?

Partly, perhaps, though it’d be misleading to suggest that Cold Roses is a jam-band record (Adams’ recent appearance at the Jammy Awards notwithstanding). The 76-minute opus — presented in classic double-album fashion on two discs — is, however, fundamentally organic in texture and consistently deliberate in tempo, and thus a sharp right turn from Adams’ 2003 disc Rock N Roll.

There’s also a concerted effort to portray this as a band effort rather than a solo venture. Not only does Adams include the Cardinals (his current backing crew) in the official name on the spine, he also backs it up in the songwriting credits: All eighteen tracks here are listed as collaborations between Adams, guitarist J.P. Bowersock, steel guitarist Cindy Cashdollar, drummer Brad Pemberton and bassist Catherine Popper. (That said, the lineup has already changed, with Beat Rodeo steel man Jon Graboff replacing Cashdollar on Adams’ current tour.)

It may be the ensemble emphasis that makes Cold Roses Adams’ most cohesive release since his 2000 solo debut Heartbreaker, though that’s not necessarily saying it’s his best. Certainly it holds together better than his 2001 popular breakthrough Gold, an effort of similar length and ambition that ultimately was far too sprawling and inconsistent for its own good (despite a handful of first-rate songs). 2004’s Love Is Hell, initially released as two separate EPs before being repackaged in its initially conceived incarnation, is probably Adams’ finest work to date, but its sonic scope is so sweeping that it’s difficult to absorb as a single entity.

Cold Roses, by contrast, sounds very much of a piece throughout, which accounts for both its strengths and its shortfalls. On the up side, nothing here sounds forced or fabricated; Adams and his bandmates settle comfortably into a soulful country-folk-rock groove right from the opener “Magnolia Mountain” and ride it steadily pretty much all the way to the closing track, “Friends”. Cashdollar’s stellar steel flourishes continuously imbue the music with a rich melodic grace, as do the piano accents added on various tracks by Adams, Popper, and guest musician Rachael Yamagata.

The price of such evenhanded artistry, though, is that few moments really emerge as standouts. “Let It Ride” is catchy enough to carry its weight as the album’s first single; the infectious harmonica and heavenly harmonies on “Dance All Night” make it a clear candidate for repeated listens; and the gorgeously lilting chorus of “When Will You Come Back Home” sticks around long after the song has finished.

Those are exceptions rather than the rule here, though. It’s hard to imagine much from Cold Roses making it onto an Adams anthology a few years down the line. And yet, taken as a whole — as an album unto itself — it’s hard to call it anything less than a success, and quite easy to be enchanted by it.