Ryan Adams’ Crazy ‘1989’ Cover Album Idea Is Paying Off

When Ryan Adams’ latest album, a remake of Taylor Swift’s album 1989, was just a twinkle in the artist’s eye, yet to be fleshed out, there was a plenty of skepticism, confusion, and a belief that he was pulling on everyone’s legs. Well, it turns out Ryan Adam’s was serious and now that the project has been assembled and released, the response is starting to roll in.

For example, Ian Crouch of the New Yorker, raves about the Adam’s reworking of 1989 and his ability to turn Taylor Swift songs into Ryan Adams songs, he does admit that Adam’s sucks a bit of the joy and fun out of the songs that Swift.

“…[I]f anything Adams’s 1989 is, at times, too serious or reverent toward Swift’s songs. It leaves out the album’s bravado, cheeky humor, and plain silliness.”

In the end, Ryan Adam’s receives praise for what he was able to accomplish with this project.

“Something in his state of mind and musical sensibility listened to the romantic exuberance of a young woman’s pop album and heard his own melancholy. He responded with music that is both personal and generous.”

Jillian Mapes wrote in Vulture about how Ryan Adams has been able to bridge two worlds that in some ways seem so far apart, melding his alt-country cool with Top-40 pop, and in doing so showing that under the glitz and glamour of Swift’s album, there is substance.

“By taking the basic structure of Swift’s songs and dialling them way back in instrumentation and production, Adams is at once affirming these beliefs about musical authenticity and dismantling them: These songs were here all along, he’s telling the pop haters, and Taylor Swift wrote them. Mostly, he’s taking us back to a time when pop and rock could exist synonymously.”

Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly gave Ryan Adam’s redo of 1989 an A-minus rating, seeing the album as somewhat of a triumph in proving that good music is good music.

“[T]here’s nothing ironic or tossed off about Adams’ interpretations. By stripping all 13 tracks of their pony-stomp synths and high-gloss studio sheen, he reveals the bones of what are essentially timeless, genre-less songs.”

And Neil McCormick of The Telegraph echoes other reviewers in pointing out that this album is as much a success for Taylor Swift as it is a success for Ryan Adams.

“Swift did not become a pop star by accident, and she and her producers have already done all the hard work of crafting these songs into beautifully formed vessels perfectly carrying her message. The whole thing demands listeners put pop prejudices aside and think about what actually makes a song.”

Of course, nothing goes on in the world of entertainment without the twitterverse giving their view, and Ryan Adam’s covering Taylor Swift seems to be getting decent to outright raving reactions on social media.

So, I’m actually pretty into the Ryan Adams/ T Swift cover album, mainly because I like the idea that every album can become a breakup album

— Brandon Lattimore (@kingdork430) September 23, 2015

Ryan Adams’ 1989 is exactly what I didn’t know I wanted. — Halle C (@happy_hallidays) September 23, 2015

Ryan Adams’s 1989 changes lives.

— Amar Chauhan (@amarsinh) September 23, 2015

What could have turned into a horrible, lame, hair-brained cover album scheme seems to have worked out more than fine for both Ryan Adams and Taylor Swift, each being drawn into each other’s worlds thanks to the vision Adam’s had of turning Swift’s slick, commercial pop smash into a stripped down, alt-country work of art.

[Photo from Getty Images / Frazer Harrison]