Ryan Adams must have had one inspiring year. The heartfelt 29 is his third album of 2005 and the final installment of a trilogy that includes the well-received Jacksonville City Nights and Cold Roses. This time, Adams splits from his country-tinged band The Cardinals to produce a stripped-down, modest set of tunes that alternates between alt-country narratives and poignant odes to both lovers and love alike.
Adams, a veteran of the punk and country music scenes, has been a perennial critics' darling since the release of his 2001 album Gold. He later emerged to popular alternative audiences with his cover of the Oasis anthem "Wonderwall" on "The OC," joining the ranks of many moody balladeers who have embarked on such a rite of passage. Before he was providing the soundtrack to frothy SoCal soaps, however, he was churning out solid, sincere work and earning comparisons to everyone from Neil Young to Bob Dylan. Both the impressive work and the comparisons continue on 29 and, despite a slightly schizophrenic nature, the album boasts beautiful sentimentality while remaining musically intact.
The multiple personalities of 29 are evident in the album's almost song-by-song genre shifts between country twangs and muted acoustic guitars. The disc opens with the bluesy "29," which harkens back to Adams' 2001 hit "New York, New York." The jazzy flavor stops there, however, as the singer-songwriter descends to maudlin lows with "Night Birds" and "Strawberry Wine." Shoved between these heartbreakers are several upbeat, alt-country tunes. On "Carolina Rain," Adams adopts a strange Southern accent as he sings of impoverished heroines living "on the south side of town" near "an auto parts store just off the interstate." Even more out of place is "The Sadness," which depicts Adams being chased by the personification of the album's entire emotional landscape, set to the beat of a Mexican rumba. Discord ensues.
While Adams got his start in rock-flavored country, he still sounds as if he's playing his part on 29's rustic tracks. He fares much better when he delves into his soul for the album's more mournful half. "Blue Sky Blues" is a deeply affecting, somber tune about a lover whose battles Adams cannot fight ("But I can't fight your blues / 'Cause I know I'll lose … / I can't win / But for you I will try"). Along the same earnest vein is the weeper "Elizabeth, You Were Born to Play That Part," on which Adams confesses to his piano that he is "waiting for someone who just won't show" and that "every night it feels like there's no tomorrow." Dramatic, yes, but somehow these tracks maintain their emotional credibility without stepping too far into the meaninglessness that plagues much of the singer/songwriter genre.
In fact, what separates 29 from so many other dreaded "emo" records is that even as Adams cries himself a river, he manages to project a sense of hopeful calm. Most of the album's sadness isn't simplistic or pitiful, but carefully musing. While "Night Birds" has a devastated Adams singing of emptiness, "Starlite Diner" has him crooning about an earnest love that overcomes misery with hope. Adams even shakily attempts wisdom on "Voices," which cautions those with broken hearts to never "listen to the voices in the past."
It's easy to see why Adams has garnered so much critical praise in his young but prolific career — there's enough emulation of rock legends on this album alone to satisfy any rock critic. While older fans might praise Adams' frequent resemblance to the Rolling Stones' softer side, modern generations will most likely claim that he sounds an awful lot like Jeff Buckley. Adams is indeed a master of following good influence, but he also holds up well on his own.
Although 2005's trilogy of Ryan Adams albums probably ensured that every song the alt-rocker has ever written is now released, he escapes the year clean of overexposure because 29 is much too impressive to warrant annoyance. Though the album is mismatched and sloppy in places, it features enough beauties to guarantee Adams enters 2006 at the top of his game.
Rating: 4 out of 5
