One of the songs on the new Ryan Adams CD is called "Easy Plateau." It's an especially poignant title in that it's a polite way of summing up the feel of the whole damn album. Filled with mid-tempo drivel and buffed to a high production sheen, there's absolutely nothing here to grab onto - no pathos, no ebb and flow, no peaks and valleys. It's like someone sucked all the spooky ethos out of Chris Isaac and shoved a lap steel player into the studio with him.

This is the genius behind Whiskeytown?