Personnel includes: Ryan Adams (vocals, acoustic guitar, banjo, piano); Ethan Johns (acoustic & electric guitars, Chamberlain strings, Hammond B-3 organ, vibraphone, drums, congas); Bucky Baxter (steel guitar); Richard Causon (strings, piano); Kamasi Washington (saxophone); Benchmont Tench (piano, Hammond B-3 organ); Chris Stills (bass, background vocals); Jennifer Condos (bass); Adam Duritz, Julianna Raye, C.C. White, Rob McDonald, Keith Hunter (background vocals).

Recorded at the Sunset Sound Factory, Hollywood, California.

GOLD was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Rock Album. "New York, New York" was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance.

Personnel includes: Ryan Adams (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, banjo, piano); Ethan Johns (acoustic, electric & 12-string guitars, mandolin, celeste, electric piano, harmonium, Hammond B-3 organ, strings, vibraphone, drums, percussion); Chris Stills (acoustic & electric guitars, bass, background vocals); Bucky Baxter (steel guitar); Rami Jaffi (accordion); Kamasi Washington (saxophone); Andre Carter (trumpet); Benmont Tench (piano, Hammond B-3 organ); Richard Causon (piano, strings); Jennifer Condos, Milo De Cruz (bass); Rob McDonald, C.C. White, Juliana Raye, Adam Duritz (background vocals).

Recorded at the Sunset Sound Factory, Hollywood, California.

GOLD was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Rock Album. "New York, New York" was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance.

This is a (multi-channel) Super Audio CD playable only on Super Audio CD players.

Personnel includes: Ryan Adams (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, banjo, piano); Ethan Johns (acoustic, electric & 12-string guitars, mandolin, celeste, electric piano, harmonium, Hammond B-3 organ, strings, vibraphone, drums, percussion); Chris Stills (acoustic & electric guitars, bass, background vocals); Bucky Baxter (steel guitar); Rami Jaffi (accordion); Kamasi Washington (saxophone); Andre Carter (trumpet); Benmont Tench (piano, Hammond B-3 organ); Richard Causon (piano, strings); Jennifer Condos, Milo De Cruz (bass); Rob McDonald, C.C. White, Juliana Raye, Adam Duritz (background vocals).

Recorded at the Sunset Sound Factory, Hollywood, California.

GOLD was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Rock Album. "New York, New York" was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance.

Personnel: Ryan Adams (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, banjo, piano); C.C. White (vocals, background vocals); Ethan Johns (guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, 12-string guitar, slide guitar, mandocello, mandolin, celesta, electric piano, harmonium, chamberlin, vibraphone, drums, congas, background vocals); Chris Stills (acoustic guitar, acoustic 12-string guitar, electric guitar, background vocals); Bucky Baxter (steel guitar); Kamasi Washington (saxophone); Andre "Big Dre" Carter (trumpet); Benmont Tench, Richard Causon (piano); Adam Duritz, Julianna Raye (background vocals).

Audio Mixer: Ethan Johns.

Recording information: Sunset sound Factory.

Photographer: James Minchin.

One would think that being Ryan Adams would be a pretty good deal at the time of this album's release; he had a major-label deal, critics were in love with him, he got to date Winona Ryder and Alanis Morissette, Elton John went around telling everyone he was a genius, and his record company gave him carte blanche to do whatever he wanted. But to listen to Gold, Adams' first solo album for his big-league sponsors at Lost Highway, one senses that there are about a dozen other musicians Adams would love to be, and nearly all of them were at their peak in the early to mid-'70s. Adams' final album with Whiskeytown, Pneumonia, made it clear that he was moving beyond the scruffy alt-country of his early work, and Gold documents his current fascination with '70s rock. Half the fun of the album is playing "Spot the Influence": "Answering Bell" is a dead ringer for Van Morrison (with fellow Morrison enthusiast Adam Duritz on backing vocals), "Tina Toledo's Street Walkin' Blues" is obviously modeled on the Rolling Stones, "Harder Now That It's Over" sounds like Harvest-period Neil Young, "New York, New York" resembles Stephen Stills in his livelier moments (Stephen's son, Chris Stills, plays on the album), and "Rescue Blues" and "La Cienega Just Smiled" suggest the influence of Adams' pal Elton John. Of course, everyone has their influences, and Adams seems determined to make the most of them on Gold; it's a far more ambitious album than his solo debut, Heartbreaker. The performances are polished, Ethan Johns' production is at once elegant and admirably restrained, Adams is in strong voice throughout, and several of the songs are superb, especially the swaggering but lovelorn "New York, New York," the spare and lovely "When the Stars Go Blue," and the moody closer, "Goodnight, Hollywood Blvd." But while Gold sounds like a major step forward for Adams in terms of technique, it lacks the heart and soul of Heartbreaker or Pneumonia; the album seems to reflect craft rather than passion, and while it's often splendid craft, the fire that made Whiskeytown's best work so special isn't evident much of the time. Gold sounds like an album that could win Ryan Adams a lot of new fans (especially with listeners whose record collections go back a ways), but longtime fans may be a bit put off by the album's richly crafted surfaces and emotionally hollow core. ~ Mark Deming

The "it" boy of early-'00s roots-rock, former Whiskeytown leader Ryan Adams has responded to the mountain of hype surrounding him with an arrogance worthy of his idol, mid-'60s Bob Dylan. Accordingly he follows his stripped-down solo debut with a two-disc, fully produced set that finds him grasping for the mantle of alt-country messiah. GOLD picks up where Whiskeytown's swan song FAITHLESS STREET left off; a step removed from the country-rock hard line but still full of rootsy, organic, Band-like warmth.

The up-tempo opening tune "New York, New York" recalls vintage Steve Forbert, while "Answering Bell" sounds like David Gray fronting the aforementioned Band on a rewritten "The Weight." The epic, acoustic guitar-based ballad "Nobody's Girl" is one of the more overtly Dylanesque pieces here, and while trying to overshadow Zimmy is a fool's errand no matter how big your britches, one has to admire Adams for the considerable chutzpah necessary to even take up the task. Whether you believe he's the Gram Parsons of the 21st century or not, its that undeniable spirit and ambition that lay at the heart of GOLD's appeal.

The "it" boy of early-'00s roots-rock, former Whiskeytown leader Ryan Adams has responded to the mountain of hype surrounding him with an arrogance worthy of his idol, mid-'60s Bob Dylan. Accordingly he follows his stripped-down solo debut with a two-disc, fully produced set that finds him grasping for the mantle of alt-country messiah. GOLD picks up where Whiskeytown's swan song PNEUMONIA left off; a step removed from the country-rock hard line but still full of rootsy, organic, Band-like warmth.

The up-tempo opening tune "New York, New York" recalls vintage Steve Forbert, while "Answering Bell" sounds like David Gray fronting the aforementioned Band on a rewritten "The Weight." The epic, acoustic guitar-based ballad "Nobody's Girl" is one of the more overtly Dylanesque pieces here, and while trying to overshadow Zimmy is a fool's errand no matter how big your britches, one has to admire Adams for the considerable chutzpah necessary to even take up the task. Whether you believe he's the Gram Parsons of the 21st century or not, its that undeniable spirit and ambition that lay at the heart of GOLD's appeal.