Ryan Adams – Destroyer

This was recorded at Pilot Studios in NYC in 2000 with David Rawlings and Gillian Welch before HEARTBREAKER
THIS IS NOT 'Love is Hell: NYC Sessions' from 2002. Track 12 starts and continues into track 13 (but it's still only one song). It's a better listen if you take out the slow songs and combine them with the folkier material on HEARTBREAKER. There's enough material on the HB re-issue to make two stand alone albums.

Among the many unofficial bootleg recordings from throughout Ryan's career, this is one of the best! Destroyer showcases his tremendous songwriting ability, and features some of Ryan's most folky and stripped down recordings. Overall, the tracks sound like unfinished, very loose demo recordings. A couple of the songs feature Ryan playing solo acoustic with no accompaniment. Others songs feature tracks that sound slightly out of rhythm. And other tracks like "Bartering Lines" go a little heavy on the experimentation. Still, the album is worth checking out, and fits perfectly alongside a Gillian Welch, Townes Van Zandt, or other traditional acoustic folk/blues record.