AC/DC Inspired The Direction Of Ryan Adams’ New Album

The last album Ryan Adams released was a cover record of Taylor Swift’s 1989 so it may comes as a surprise that his next release has been inspired by AC/DC.

Adams is due to drop his first album of original material since 2014 in November and he told EW that it’s been inspired by listening to ’80s music while running around LA.

The first important piece of information here is that Adams still uses an iPod Nano when running and the second important piece of information is that it was AC/DC’s record Fly On The Wall that kicked this new album into gear.

“I put all the AC/DC records on from back to front, or I’ll listen to the best of stuff from the ’80s: Springsteen, or Hornsby, and I’ll listen to what is going on there,” he said.

“I was listening to AC/DC’s Fly On The Wall and that’s when I realized what I had to do for the record.”

The album doesn’t have a name just yet but we know that he wrote 80 songs for the record and managed to cut it down to 11.

“I think the challenge for me — the Everest peak, for me — is to tell this story in 11 songs, to tell this part of my life in 11 songs,” he said.

“How do I make a real distinct record where anybody listens to it and says, “That’s the truth from beginning to end.” So it’s like exercise. It sucks in the beginning. But then you get into it.”

As for the sound of it, AC/DC weren’t the only ones who influenced it so don’t expect it to sound exactly like a classic ’80s rock record. Bachman-Turner Overdrive and ELO inspired the guitar tones on it.

The album out on 4th November was produced by Don Was, an iconic producer who has had a hand in records by Iggy Pop, Elton John and John Mayer.

Watch: Ryan Adams – Gimme Something Good

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