29 (album)

29 is Ryan Adams' eighth official album, and his third album released in 2005 (although the preceding two were credited to Ryan Adams and The Cardinals). The album was produced by Ethan Johns, who also produced Heartbreaker and Gold. Recorded without (and in fact, prior to) the country-rock sound of the Cardinals, this album's sonic and emotional predecessor is 2003's Love Is Hell. Critics were mixed on the album: Cokemachineglow gave it a 90%, while Rolling Stone only gave it 2.5 stars (out of 5). The album has sold 81,000 copies in the United States and 153,000 worldwide.

The album's cover art was drawn by Adams. Art appears to be one of his major non-musical interests: In the September DVD accompanying Jacksonville City Nights, he can been seen working on numerous sketches in between writing/recording sessions.

Chart positions

Adams' comments on the album

That one's really fucked up. It has nine songs, and all the songs are nine minutes long, they're all story-songs. And it's basically just me and a piano, me and a guitar, with (producer) Ethan (Johns). It's really cerebral. The theme of it was that I wanted to write a record where I could write myself out of my twenties. So for each year of my life, in my twenties, I kind of assigned different parts of my character, I gave them names. The last song is a song from the perspective, believe it or not, of a ghost. When it's just passed out of a body, and it goes 'Don't go to the light/ I'll show you how to haunt.' This spirit is trying to conjure this dead child, this dead person, back to the house where they died. So they can haunt it. It's really fucked up.

In fact, not one song clocks in at nine minutes; they average around five and a half minutes in length. Two tracks are shorter than four minutes, and the longest, "Strawberry Wine," clocks in just under eight minutes.

Track listing

1. "29" – 5:48
2. "Strawberry Wine" – 7:58
3. "Nightbirds" – 3:51
4. "Blue Sky Blues" – 5:18
5. "Carolina Rain" – 5:25
6. "Starlite Diner" – 3:51
7. "The Sadness" – 6:43
8. "Elizabeth, You Were Born to Play That Part" – 5:07
9. "Voices" – 4:53

Personnel

• Ryan Adams — Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Piano, Electric Guitar
• Wayne Bergeron — Trumpet
• JP Bowersock — Electric Guitar, Mandolin, Acoustic 12-String Guitar, Guitarone
• Jennifer Condos — Bass
• Bruce Dukov — Violin
• Endre Granat — Violin
• Ethan Johns — Drums, Bass, Pedal Steel Guitar, Chamberlin, Synthesizer, Acoustic Guitar, Ukulele, Harpsichord, String Arrangement, Brass Arrangement, Conducting
• Alan Kaplan — Trombone
• Dennis Karmayzn — Cello
• Phil Levy — Violin
• David Low — Cello
• Rafael Rishik — Violin
• Anatoly Rosinsky — Violin
• Lisa Sutton — Violin

References