Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Encyclopedia of Popular Music
Entertainment Weekly	B+
The Guardian
NME	8/10
Pitchfork Media	9.0/10
Q
Rolling Stone
The Rolling Stone Album Guide
Uncut	9/10

Heartbreaker is the debut solo studio album by alternative country musician Ryan Adams, released September 5, 2000 on Bloodshot Records. The album was recorded over fourteen days at Woodland Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. It was nominated for the 2001 Shortlist Music Prize. The album is said to be inspired by Adams' break-up with music industry publicist Amy Lombardi.

According to Adams, the album's title originates from a poster of Mariah Carey: "My manager called and said, 'You have 15 seconds to name this record,' "My eyes focused on this poster of Mariah wearing a T-shirt that said HEARTBREAKER. I just shouted, 'Heartbreaker!'"

A Deluxe Edition, featuring bonus recording session takes and pre-album demos, was released on May 6 2016 on PAX-AM records.

Heartbreaker was considered by critics to be a fresh start for Ryan Adams after the demise of his previous band Whiskeytown. AllMusic's Mark Derning wrote that the album "is loose, open, and heartfelt in a way Whiskeytown's admittedly fine albums never were, and makes as strong a case for Adams' gifts as anything his band ever released", concluding that "the strength of the material and the performances suggest Adams is finally gaining some much-needed maturity, and his music is all the better for it."The A.V. Club's Keith Phipps wrote: "Adams has recorded an intimate, largely quiet record that indisputably establishes his identity as an independent singer-songwriter".Pitchfork Media's Steven Byrd called it "an album of astonishing musical proficiency, complete honesty and severe beauty."Rolling Stone's Anthony DeCurtis was less enthusiastic, stating that Adams' songs "too often fail to rise above their plain-spoken details to take on the symbolic power he yearns for".Robert Christgau of The Village Voice selected "To Be Young (Is to Be Sad, Is to Be High)" as a "choice cut", indicating a "good song on an album that isn't worth your time or money." The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die and was placed at #23 on Paste Magazine's "The 50 Best Albums of the Decade" list.

...
Wikipedia