by Stephen Thomas ErlewineRecorded during the 2007 sessions that produced Easy Tiger but shelved until 2010 for no particular reason, the double-album III/IV shares much of the relaxed, unhurried vibe of that tight 2007 LP but there is a key difference: this is a straight-up rock & roll album, the first Ryan Adams has released with the Cardinals. No country touches III/IV, not even of the Deadhead variety: Adams is in his alt-rocker mode, so much so that he even dabbles in textures borrowed from the Killers, who were at the height of their prominence back in 2007. Despite these lingering new wave affectations, the roots of this record lie in the left-of-the-dial sounds of the late ‘80s. » Read more