Friday ACL Fest Record Reviews

Aside from "knocked-it-out-of-the-park" albums including 2000 solo debut Heartbreaker and 2005's Cold Roses, Ryan Adams' discography is made up of solid, Americana-tinged crooning. Prisoner, his 16th release and most obvious homage to Springsteen's early-Eighties output, doesn't stray, though it does find Adams at his most heavy-handed lyrically. Within the first verse of the lamenting, slow-burn "Breakdown," he somehow crams in "thorn in my side/ pain I can't hide" and "a soul black as coal." Still, opener "Do You Still Love Me?" delivers a true earworm, and "Broken Anyway" sends heartland rock guitar riffs spiraling over a glamorous, glimmering pop ballad. (7:15pm, Miller Lite stage)