Ryan Out Loud

''Hey, sweetie,'' Ryan Adams coos into a cell phone. ''It's Ryan. If you want to meet tonight I'll be at my place.'' Adams is leaving a voice-mail for a movie star. A really famous movie star. One he used to date. And no, he won't reveal who it is. At least not yet. ''I went to Los Angeles and fell madly in love with her,'' he says. ''It was the worst decision of my entire life. It all fell apart. It isn't that we were bad for each other. It's like, she's no good for the world, and neither am I. I always get s -- - like 'Ryan's a f -- -ing drunk, Ryan's a f -- -up,' whatever. That might be true, but I'm also an intelligent person. She gets s -- - as well. She's a f -- -up? So what if she's a f -- -up. Everyone's a f -- -up.'' So who, exactly, are we talking about, Ryan? ''I'm not going to say.''

We're supposed to be shooting billiards. But when Adams finally shows up -- 40 minutes after our scheduled 4 p.m. rendezvous -- at the Manhattan pool hall of his choosing, he's hungover and craving lasagna. He spots an Italian joint across the street.

''You have no lasagna?'' Adams asks, aghast. They have no lasagna. ''What's something like lasagna? If you wanted something spicy because you had a hangover, what would you have?''

''Veal scaloppine,'' the waiter responds.

''That's what I want, then,'' says Adams. ''Do you have any aspirin?''

On Sept. 24, the prolific singer will release Demolition, a compilation of the best tracks from several full albums he has recorded (but never released) over the past year or so. There's 48 Hours, a full-length record that he created in a feverish two-day session in New York City. Then there are tracks with the Pinkhearts, a scruffy Nashville-based grit-rock band in the style of the Stones and the Replacements. And there's Suicide Handbook -- inspired, he says, by that ill-fated fling with the mystery starlet. ''Suicide Handbook included songs like [Demolition's] 'She Wants to Play Hearts' and 'Cry on Demand,''' Adams says without looking up, scribbling intently with a ballpoint pen on the paper tablecloth. ''I don't think you have to throw a f -- -ing penny to f -- -ing find out what that's about. 'Cry on Demand'...acting...hello? I love the line 'She dies every night with her face on the news/Nobody cries, they just smoke and stare at their shoes.' That's how I really felt about her. And then, weirdly, s -- - happened and she was in the news.'' Okay, really, who are we talking about?

He smiles. ''I don't think anyone's gonna like this record anyway. I think people will overlook it, think it was a misstep, a career ender. I'm not very good at marketing myself. People don't know what to make of me. They're like, 'Who is this guy? Bryan Adams?' My name is wrong, I get too f -- -ed up. I write for the song, you know? I don't write for me to be a star. To be honest, popular music... I'm not gonna be another f -- -ing person who says popular music isn't good. Popular music is just as bad as it's always f -- -ing been. Britney Spears is no worse than -- and no dis to Cher -- than Sonny and Cher. I'm sorry, but I think 'I Got You Babe' sucks. It sucks. It sucks just as bad as the Britney Spears song 'Boys.' What do you mean, boys? What the f -- - do you know about boys? You're a virgin. But I feel bad for somebody who's 20 f -- -ing years old and her mother's standing over her whole life going 'Dance! Dance for the money!' What the f -- - is that? I don't have any of that. And I don't look like Jesus, so I can't be in Nickelback.''