Ryan Adams – The 2024 Tetralogy: Heatwave, Star Sign, Sword & Stone, and 1985 + Prisoners (Live)

Ryan Adams is a hard recording artist to keep up with because he is painfully prolific. For example, he dropped four new studio albums and a live version of 2017’s Prisoner on streaming services on New Year’s Day 2024 (and on vinyl via Pax Am). Each studio album has a unique style/genre, yet all sound distinctively like Ryan Adams. I like this set of studio albums more than the tsunami of releases (both original material and covers) he has released over the last few years. This is a nice comeback.

Heatwave is heavy rock with a sprinkle of pop-punk to give it a more contemporary sound. This is a sound Ryan has done before and it works well for him.

Star Sign is soulful roots rock. It has kind of a Van Morrison vibe. This is my favorite of the four studio albums.

Sword & Stone sounds like a conventional (if there is such a thing) Ryan Adams album. It leans into his Americana sound. This album is challenging Star Sign as my favorite of the four.

1985 is a long-rumored follow-up to Ryan’s 2014 eleven songs in less than fifteen minutes hardcore punk “album” 1984. 1985 is twenty-nine songs in just under thirty-five minutes. Like his inspiration, Hüsker Dü, Ryan’s version of hardcore is highly melodic – bubblegum with buzz saw guitars. Although, this is well executed, this is not a style that resonates with me.

Prisoner was released in 2017. I couldn’t find any information about the source of this live version. The live version is a sparse arrangement: guitar and keyboards compared to the full band performance on the studio album. Prisoner was a middling Ryan Adams album, so having a live version is not essential.

This barrage of releases is a welcome addition to the Ryan Adams catalog. Two of the four studio albums (Star Sign and Sword & Stone) will be in my regular rotation for the next few months.

P.S, here is a great thought piece from The Federalist on Ryan Adams.