Is it fate that the first single off Ryan Adams' "Gold" is "New York,New York," or that its video was shot in front of the New York skyline onlyfour days before the terrorist attacks? And is it fate that the album coverfeatures Adams standing in front of an American flag? Fate or not, these factorscombined with airplay on MTV and radio have garnered much attention for Adams inrecent months. And, from the sound of "Gold," this attention is welldeserved.

Ryan Adams was already well-known in the indie rock community asthe frontman of Whiskeytown, one of the leading bands of the alt-countrymovement, or alt-rock bands who brought country influences into their music.After their break-up, Adams released "Heartbreaker" in 2000 thatimpressed audiences with his anguished, heart-wrenching song writing."Gold" continues down the road with more tales of lost love, but thistime there seems to be more optimism - and more rock.

Adams seems to put abit of everything into the mix. There is the swaggering, Southern-fried rock of"Enemy Fire," the Memphis blues of "Touch, Feel, and Lose,"and the bitter, snarling rock of "Nobody Girl." Of course, there's alsothe ballad of "Sylvia Plath" and the gorgeous "Goodnight,Hollywood Boulevard." The result is an emotional roller coaster.

In"Firecracker" Adams declares: "Well everybody wants to goforever/I just wanna burn up hard and bright." Hopefully, that isn't hisphilosophy for his career. At this rate, Ryan Adams is only going to become morebrilliant. From tormented relationships to the streets of New York, Adams hasseen it all. Watch out, he could very well write a song about you, too.