Love Is Hell by Ryan Adams

Love Is Hell is the fifth studio album by alternative country artist Ryan Adams, released on May 4, 2004. The album was originally released as two EPs, Love Is Hell pt. 1 and Love Is Hell pt. 2, at the insistence of Lost Highway, who deemed that the album was not commercially viable. A full-length version of the album was released when the EPs proved to be more of a commercial success than anticipated. The Oasis cover, "Wonderwall", was released as a single in the UK on June 28, 2004. A shorter version of "Anybody Wanna Take Me Home" originally appeared on Rock N Roll. However, the 'longer' version of the song on Love Is Hell does not fade-out/back-in as it does on Rock N Roll. Love Is Hell was released in Japan on June 27, 2007 with a bonus disc of tracks recorded during the same sessions as the album. Adams describes the album as sounding "a lot like Heartbreaker, but better and more severe. It's complex and it's damaged," and states that it "was the record [he] needed to make." In a 2007 interview, Adams notes that he loves to play songs from the album live, and that the songs are "usually tunes that The Cardinals and myself get really excited about when they come up in the set." Love Is Hell features guest contributions from Marianne Faithfull (backing vocals on "English Girls Approximately") and Greg Leisz (guitar throughout), and the bonus tracks feature Fabrizio Moretti (drums on "Halloween") and Leona Naess (vocals on "Caterwaul"). Ryan Adams' version of "Wonderwall" can be downloaded for the video game Guitar Hero World Tour. The track "The Shadowlands" was written backstage in Belfast on 26th November 2002, with Adams performing it as his opening song.