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I had to chip away at this album quite a bit in order to find a core vibe that tickled my fancy, a process that started with the merciless tossing out of tracks that I couldn't get past. The caveat here is that my final product tells you more about me than about Adam or his artistic intentions, so take all of the following with a large grain of salt. (For the artist's own articulate take on things, go to [...] .)The most basic alteration I made was to reshape two CDs' worth of music into the format I grew up on - the two-sided vinyl LP - a makeover that was easy to start because the album included two strong starter-upper tunes that could potentially drive each side of the LP: "Burn down the World" and "Stranger on the Town." Why Adam would blow his wad by putting them back to back in the final edit baffled me.Anyway, here's how my sequence goes.Side 1:Standing in ChicagoWhoBurn down the WorldLearning the RopesDecember 24Go WestLike Other MenTalking about MyselfSide 2:Half LifeStranger on the TownFade AwayGrateful for the RainNo ReturnDespairMy PainTrains"Burn down the World," with its Elton John rock'n'roll groove and '70s TV show theme style sax solo (just in case you were wondering about which decade he was referencing), is the perfect capper to the opening trio of songs that starts with Adam channeling Boz Scaggs' "Lowdown" croon ("Standing in Chicago" - which seems to be kind of a prequel) and segues into a gorgeous one-syllable, overdubbed sea of harmony ("Who"). The protagonist breaks free from the trappings of youth and hits the road with "Burn" and the listener is quite exhilarated to be along for the ride.The unblushing naïveté and anxious sense of wonder of "Learning the Ropes" captures the conflicted emotions the journey brings and paves the way for the warm, romantic, sunny glow of "Dec. 24," the story of our protagonist's first serious relationship. It's not hard to become engrossed in this initial cluster of tunes, as Adam doesn't make a musically wrong move, and "Learning" is arguably the best song he has ever written.With "Go West" the heady anticipation that opens the album dissipates into somber reflections on a flight from childhood pain that are poignant but optimistic. Adam urges his beloved to "go west": to jettison the baggage weighing her down, learn to live with the inevitable self-doubt, and ultimately embrace the present and future. Stylistically similar to "Portland," a Marsland classic about longing to be reunited with a distant lover, "Go West" also talks about a pot of gold at the end of a long journey, only this time it's existential. But you can't escape the world that you were born in There's a corner of your mind always be your prison You've got to push that to one side And let a good thing manifest Honey....Go WestTinkering with the song order, I slotted in "Like Other Men" as the side 1 second-from-the-ender. Not only does the pogo-ing rhythm and tongue-in-cheek playfulness make a nice change of pace from the bittersweet "Go West," but it allows the more the confessional "Talking About Myself" to finish the side with the suggestion that the protagonist's relationship with his significant other is ending, thus completing the first act. I also thought that "Talking" stylistically had both feet in the '70s - namely the countrified pop of guitar/vocal groups such as The Eagles, Poco, Fool's Gold, Firefall, etc. - and that made it a chronologically sensible choice to punctuate side 1 of the album..Putting together side 2 proved to be a more daunting task than I expected. "Stranger on the Town" seemed like a no-brainer to kick things off, but it doesn't segue smoothly into "Half Life" at all, so I flip-flopped the two and pleasantly found that the sprightly and nonchalant "Half" pretty effortlessly signals a new start: We have fast-forwarded ahead to find the protagonist as a public figure, more wise and mature - no longer learning the ropes. The crisp sonic texture and polish underscore his progress and the lyrics depict an individual who has gained a healthy, detached perspective on the isolation of the path he has taken.Our hero is now a successful performer and next offers up what is clearly a crowd pleaser in his performance repertoire: He's burning down the house with a cover: The Damned's "Stranger on the Town," a vehicle that has him militantly reveling in the solitude he has learned to embrace as his station and it's fascinating to see Adam cut loose with such abandon.But as the artist thrives on existentialist isolation, his efforts at finding a soul mate flounder, and perhaps it's no coincidence that he reintroduces the country rock stylings of "Talking to Myself" to present a pair of tunes that follow a husband's disillusionment and eventual decision to end his marriage: "Fade Away" and "Grateful for the Rain."The failure of his marriage triggers a longing for his first love, which is a hopeless pipe dream at best, and hence the nihilistic, haunting tone of "No Return," the song that marks the beginning of the end of the protagonist's story. There are times that you're close enough Close enough in my mind to touch Whisper to the wind that I know I'll never again be the one you love But don't forget meLife is now passing him by. There is no world to burn to down anymore, just self-doubt about where he is and what he's become. Musically, the youthful and cathartic release, the romantic musing, the playful pop, the bittersweet philosophizing, the country/folky sing-alongs - they're all in the past. The inorganic texture of "No Return" conjures up a sense of dread that suggests an impending end.The artist's final state of the union address is "Despair," a surprisingly upbeat ditty that shows a willingness to accept the loss of hope as a new default state of mind. Adam likened it to Supertramp, perhaps failing to notice that he's got a Motown rhythm propelling his journey into despair.The downward trajectory spins out of control into "My Pain," which is perhaps a nightmare or just a passing vision, but a very real glimpse of personal horror in the first-person from one who has allowed his private suffering to turn him into a monster - the kind who flies commercial airplanes into buildings or randomly guns down innocents "to assuage my pain." The tone is confessional and the background is simple acoustic strumming, synth coloring and glockenspiel highlights; if you didn't look at the lyrics you would assume the song was about something far more benign - and that's what makes it quite jarring. But it's the Scrooge nightmare that sets up the epiphanous ending.Our protagonist has seen the evanescence of aspirations that died on the vine and personal relationships that crashed in his journey "west," finding that with nowhere left to go, all that's left is to let go. About as epic and fitting a requiem for the passing of youth as one could ever hope, "Trains" is the sad but honest realization that the quest to conquer the world and have it all is ultimately an empty journey that must end by abandonment - by "jumping ship." Now I know everything fits It'll all work out if we let it Close your eyes and jump ship I never believed it but now I get it And all the things you're scared to lose Relationships you're loath to choose Offers you could not refuse Let them goAdam slays dragons, exorcises demons, purges regrets, and self-heals in one of the most heartfelt vocal performances of his career. And once the protagonist has spoken his peace, the song and album close with a bare piano coda that recalls the "Trains" intro, this time with just a wistful hint of the opening notes to "Burn down the World." The unspoken conclusion: You can try to burn the world down but when you're ultimately left with the reality that it's still standing, you've got to learn to live with it.
