RYAN ADAMS - 29

Ryan Adams seems to be trying to break some kind of record. There's no other explanation for it. Releasing three albums in one year (one of them a double) is a feat (let's also throw in a contribution to the soundtrack of Cameron Crowe's "Elizabethtown") from another era, one that only the greats can afford to pull off. And Ryan Adams, for all his talent - sometimes considerable talent - didn't quite have what it takes to carry it all off.

It's hard to think of other songwriters as prolific, as eclectic, and, let's be honest, as inconsistent. David Bowie, Prince, and Bright Eyes come to mind.

"29" (released in America in December 2005 and here at the end of January 2006) closes out the country trilogy that began in May with the double album "Cold Roses", the best of the bunch, suspended between psychedelic atmospheres recalling the Byrds and the Grateful Dead.

Next came the less successful, but still enjoyable, "Jacksonville City Nights", which leaned toward pure country (and left many Adams fans unsatisfied). On both records Adams had the backing of an actual band, the Cardinals, with satisfying results.

On "29" the mood turns darker and more intimate: no more Cardinals, just Ryan Adams and producer Ethan Johns (who had already worked with him on "Heartbreaker" and "Gold"). The arrangements are bare, just guitar and piano, with a strong urge to sing the small, great stories that have made the American heartland legendary.

But Adams is neither Bruce Springsteen nor Neil Young, and it's clear that the rush to put out a third record within a year didn't do the final result any favors.

"29" thus comes across as an album made up of broken-off flashes of inspiration, good ideas that never get fully developed.

There are certainly notable tracks, like the opening blues-country title track, or a "Carolina Rain" that's almost moving in its simplicity, as well as "Night Birds", which edges close to the atmospheres of "Love Is Hell", and the Latin-tinged "The Sadness".

The rest is pretty much nothing: tracks like "Strawberry Wine", "Blue Sky Blues" or "Starlite Diner" are just wasted opportunities, emotionally cold, long-winded songs with arrangements that are far too bare-bones.

So, hats off to Ryan Adams' noble intentions. Namely, wanting to prove that a musician can write and release, if he so chooses, as many albums as he wants, without any label obligations.

The problem is that, after "Jacksonville...", Adams had pretty much nothing left to say. Because despite its many flaws, "29" is a sincere album, full of promise and tears, one that - had it been written and produced with more care - could have become a great work, a worthy country-folk counterpart to the never-praised-enough "Love Is Hell".

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google

15/12/2006