''Gold'' is the second studio album by

Ryan Adams David Ryan Adams (born November 5, 1974) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, artist, and poet. He has released 23 albums, as well as three studio albums as a former member of alt-country band Whiskeytown. In 2000, Adams lef ...

, released September 25, 2001 on

Lost Highway Records Universal Music Group Nashville is Universal Music Group's country music subsidiary. Some of the labels in this group include MCA Nashville Records, Mercury Nashville Records, Lost Highway Records, Capitol Records Nashville and EMI Records Nas ...

. The album remains Adams' best-selling album, certifying

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

in the UK and going on to sell 364,000 copies in the U.S. and 812,000 worldwide. Adams noted that "with ''Gold'', I was trying to prove something to myself. I wanted to invent a modern classic." Adams intended for the album to be a double album, but his record label, Lost Highway, condensed the album into a single disc. According to Adams, the label "took the last five songs, made it a bonus disc and put it on the first hundred and fifty thousand copies. Fucking my fans over and making them pay extra for a record I wanted to be a double album. They counted that as one record." This bonus disc is known as ''Side Four''; the disc's title reflects the fact that the bonus material makes up the fourth side of the double LP edition of the album. The album includes "

When the Stars Go Blue "When the Stars Go Blue" is a popular alternative country song composed and originally recorded by solo artist and former Whiskeytown band member Ryan Adams. It was first released on his album ''Gold'' on September 25, 2001, and has been describ ...

", which has been covered by artists such as

The Corrs The Corrs are an Irish family band that combine pop rock with traditional Irish themes within their music. The group consists of the Corr siblings, Andrea (lead vocals, tin whistle, mandolin, ukulele), Sharon (violin, keyboards, vocals), Carol ...

and Bono,

Tyler Hilton Tyler James Hilton (born November 22, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Hilton began his professional career in music in 2000. '' Rolling Stone magazine'' compared him to his contemporary, Howie Day, while others have compared H ...

Bethany Joy Galeotti Bethany Joy Lenz (born April 2, 1981) is an American actress, singer-songwriter and filmmaker. She is known for her portrayal of Haley James Scott on The WB / The CW television drama ''One Tree Hill (TV series), One Tree Hill'' (2003–2012). S ...

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has released 16 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, four for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those album ...

and as a duo by

Kurt Nilsen Kurt Erik Nilsen () (born 29 September 1978) is a Norwegian pop/country singer. He won the first season of the Norwegian reality show ''Idol'', which aired on TV 2 in May 2003. He then won a one-off international version of ''Pop Idol'' called ...

featuring Venke Knutson. "New York, New York" became a notable MTV and VH1 favorite following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

. "The Rescue Blues" was featured in the end credits of the 2001 film '' Behind Enemy Lines''. Adams' friend and former roommate

Adam Duritz Adam Fredric Duritz (born August 1, 1964) is an American singer, best known as the frontman for the rock band Counting Crows, of which he is a founding member and principal composer. Since its founding in 1991, Counting Crows has sold over 20 mi ...

(lead singer of

Counting Crows Counting Crows is an American rock band from San Francisco, California. Formed in 1991, the band consists of guitarist David Bryson, drummer Jim Bogios, vocalist Adam Duritz, keyboardist Charlie Gillingham, David Immerglück, bass guitarist M ...

) lends background vocals to several tracks. Adams received three

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

nominations in 2002:

Best Rock Album The Grammy Award for Best Rock Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the rock music genre. Honors in sev ...

Best Male Rock Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to male recording artists for works (songs or albums) containin ...

for "New York, New York", and

Best Male Country Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance was awarded between 1965 and 2011. The award has had several minor name changes: *From 1965 to 1967 the award was known as Best Country & Western Vocal Performance - Male *In 1968 it was a ...

for "Lovesick Blues", a song recorded for the Hank Williams tribute album, "Timeless". Stephen King's 2006 book ''

Lisey's Story ''Lisey's Story'' is a novel by American writer Stephen King that combines elements of psychological horror and romance. The novel was released on October 24, 2006. It won the 2006 Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel, and was nominated for the Wor ...

'' includes part of the lyrics to "When the Stars Go Blue". Also, the song "The Rescue Blues" was featured in an episode of '' Scrubs''. In 2011, "Answering Bell" was featured in the film and on the soundtrack to ''

Bridesmaids Bridesmaids are members of the bride's party in a Western traditional wedding ceremony. A bridesmaid is typically a young woman and often a close friend or relative. She attends to the bride on the day of a wedding or marriage ceremony. Traditi ...

''. "La Cienega Just Smiled" was featured in the ''

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...

'' episode ''

Unleashed Unleashed may refer to: Art and entertainment Film and television * ''Unleashed'' (2001 film), a film featuring Jeff Anderson * ''Unleashed'' (2005 film), a 2005 martial arts film starring Jet Li * ''Unleashed'' (2016 film), a film starring ...

''.

Critical reception

'' Q'' listed ''Gold'' as one of the best 50 albums of 2001. ''

Kludge A kludge or kluge () is a workaround or quick-and-dirty solution that is clumsy, inelegant, inefficient, difficult to extend and hard to maintain. This term is used in diverse fields such as computer science, aerospace engineering, Internet sla ...

'' included it on their list of the 25 best albums of 2001. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' ranked "Gold" the 81st best record of the 2000s. ''NME'' ranked ''Gold'' at number 193 on its list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Track listing

Personnel

Notes: D1 indicates Disk 1; S4 indicates Side 4 * Ryan Adams – vocals (all tracks) acoustic guitar (D1: tracks 1-8, 11-13; S4: tracks 2, 3, 5). electric guitar (D:1 tracks 8, 10, 14, 15; S4: track 1), banjo (D1: track 3), piano (D1: track 3; S4: tracks 3, 4) *

Bucky Baxter William "Bucky" Baxter (1955May 25, 2020) was an American guitarist. He is best known as a member of Steve Earle and The Dukes and as a member of Bob Dylan's backing band in the mid-90s during the Never Ending Tour. He released his only solo ...

– Steel guitar (D1: tracks 3, 13) * Andre Carter – trumpet (D1: track 14; S4: track 4) * Richard Causon – piano (D1: tracks 1, 4, 6, 7, 9, 16) *

Jennifer Condos Jennifer Condos is an American bass guitarist known primarily for her session and live performance work. She has contributed to the recordings and live performances of many well-known artists. Biography Condos was a founding member of the ban ...

– bass (D1: tracks 2, 3, 4, 10, 12, 14; S4: tracks 1, 2, 4) * Milo De Cruz – bass (D1: tracks 8, 11, 15) *

– choir (D1: tracks 5, 14), background vocals (D1: track 3; S4: track 1) * Keith Hunter – choir (D1: tracks 5, 14) * Rami Jaffi – accordion (D1: track 13) *

Ethan Johns Ethan Thomas Robert Johns (born 1969 in Merton, London, England) is an English record producer, engineer, mixer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Johns has worked with artists including Ryan Adams, Kings of Leon, Paul McCartney, Ray LaMo ...

– Drums (D1: 1-15; S4: tracks 1, 4), electric guitar (D1: tracks 1, 2, 5, 6; S4: track 1), guitar (D1: track 3), chamberlain strings (D1: tracks 4, 7, 12, 13), lead guitar (D1: tracks 8, 13, 15), Hammond B-3 (D1: tracks 1, 6, 8; S4: track 5), background vocals (D1: tracks 6, 15; S4: track 3), acoustic guitar (D1: tracks 2, 6, 8; S4: track 5), 12-string guitar (D1: tracks 5, 7) mandocello (D1: tracks 6, 7; S4: track 2), vibes (D1: tracks 4, 12), string arrangement (D1: tracks 9, 16), slide guitar (D1: track 15), mandolin (D1: track 13; S4: track 2), bass (D1: track 5), electric piano (D1: track 7), celeste (D1: track 12), harmonium (D1: track 7; S4: track 2), congas (D1: track 1), banjo (S4: track 3) *

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Dow ...

– drums (S4: track 4) * Rob McDonald – choir (D1: tracks 5, 14) * Sid Paige – concert master (D1: tracks 9, 16) * Julianna Raye – background vocals (D1: track 7), choir (D1: tracks 5, 14) *

Chris Stills Chris Stills (born April 19, 1974 in Boulder, Colorado) is a musician and actor. He is the son of American rock musician Stephen Stills and French singer-songwriter Véronique Sanson. He has played with both his father and his mother. Biogr ...

– background vocals (D1: tracks 2, 6, 8, 13), electric guitar (D1: tracks 8, 11, 15), bass (D1: tracks 1, 13), acoustic guitar (D1: track 4), acoustic 12-string guitar (D1: track 12), guitar (S4: track 1) *

Benmont Tench Benjamin Montmorency "Benmont" Tench III (born September 7, 1953) is an American musician and singer, and a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Early years Tench was born in Gainesville, Florida, the second child of Benjamin ...

– Hammond B-3 (D1: tracks 2, 3, 5, 14), piano (D1: tracks 2, 15) *

Kamasi Washington Kamasi Washington (born February 18, 1981) is an American jazz saxophonist, usually playing tenor saxophone. Archived July 9, 2015. Career Washington was born in 1981 and raised in Los Angeles, California. He is a graduate of the Academy of ...

– saxophone (D1: tracks 1, 14; S4: track 4) * C.C. White – background vocals (D1: tracks 8, 15), choir (D1: tracks 5, 14), solo vocals (D1: track 15)

Charts

Album

Certifications

Singles

References

External links

Rolling Stone Interview
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gold (Ryan Adams Album) 2001 albums Ryan Adams albums Lost Highway Records albums Albums produced by Ethan Johns