TORONTO - Ryan Adams is notorious for his uneven live performances, during which he's been known to stop and start songs, spend ages tuning his guitar, harangue the crowd and even stomp off the stage.

So it should have come as no surprise that his alternately spectacular and infuriating show at the Kool Haus Tuesday -- which included most of the above -- was not exactly designed to endear him to his long-suffering fans. It consisted almost entirely of songs from his new double album, Cold Roses, which came out that day and thus was largely unfamiliar. Still, the new songs are so good, and were played so beautifully, that it was pretty easy to forgive him.

Adams' musical output since his days in the alt-country band Whiskeytown has been erratic and unpredictable, and yet impressively prolific and sporadically brilliant. After the U2-like bombast of 2003's Rock 'N' Roll, he released two EPs last year, Love Is Hell Pts. 1 and 2, and plans to release two more later this year. That feat will be even more impressive if the upcoming albums are half as good as Cold Roses, a collection of beautiful hurtin' songs backed by Adams' new band, The Cardinals. It's a welcome return to country -- albeit the rock-flavoured country of The Grateful Dead and Neil Young rather than classic Nashville.

On stage, Adams and The Cardinals rolled out the songs on Cold Roses' first disc one by one, pretty much in the same order, saying little and letting the duelling guitars, pedal steel and vocals do the talking on songs like Meadowlake Street, which featured his fragile falsetto, and the upbeat Beautiful Sorta.

After announcing he would do a few old songs solo, Adams sat down at the piano for Nightbirds and then promptly left, perhaps because the restless crowd was making too much noise. After a short break, the band came back for the irresistible Easy Plateau, the first song on the second disc, and proceeded through that one in much the same manner, although they did fit in a couple of oldies like Heartbreaker's Shakedown On 9th Street and To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High).

For the encore, Adams came out alone and began his haunting version of Oasis' Wonderwall, which was lovely despite being interrupted because a fan's flash annoyed him, followed by gorgeous solo renditions of Why Do They Leave and Sylvia Plath that showcased his voice and raw, emotional songwriting. Adams is prodigiously talented -- but does that talent necessarily have to go with neurotic behaviour? Stay tuned.