Beyond self-titled and Prisoner, Gold and Love is Hell are my favorites. I think Heartbreaker is a little overrated, but it has a few of his all-time greats. And I'm pretty partial to Ashes and Fire, too.
Heartbreaker, Gold, Love Is Hell. I also love Easy Tiger and my favorite release with the Cardinals is Cold Roses.
It gets written off for being really simple and traditional, but that's part of what I love about it.
I would say Prisoner is probably the closest to the S/T in terms of style and writing. So, maybe go there next? Love Is Hell was the album I first got hooked on, so it always has a special place amongst his catalog for me. Gold is pretty great as it covers a lot of styles and influences. I agree with @Craig Manning about Heartbreaker... some great songs there but it falls pretty low in his which I listen frequently to.
That album is so hot or cold for me depending on my mood. Sometimes I'm all in and sometimes I don't get past the first couple tracks.
In order of "essentianlness" 1. Heartbreaker 2. Gold 3. Whiskeytown - Pneumonia 4. Cold Roses 5. Whiskeytown - Strangers Almanac
I hope so, I feel like Ryan can never not be releasing something haha. Even his "hiatus" after Cardinology was released saw the release of the Orion album and the III/IV outtakes compilation.
Definitely feels like the last 2 albums filtered through some Beatles influence. I dig it. Looks like the 7" will be available to pre-order soon with the b-side "Chris"
From what I understand he had only really dug deep into The Beatles discography recently. The second I heard the first first of this new song I got major Meet The Beatles vibes.
Heartbreaker is a really good album and I get the praise, but it's definitely overrated. I always feel like Jacksonville City Nights gets overlooked, it's the most straight up country thing he's ever done and I love it. 29 is good too, but it's my least favorite of the 2005 trifecta ha. He did, and it was fun watching his reactions as he progressed through their catalog haha.