Because we are dedicated to honest customer opinions 29 (Ryan Adams) (Audio CD), we have also included Amazon's customer reviews for this item (of which 6 are displayed below). Amazon customers have given 29 (Ryan Adams) an average rating of 4.5/5.
Top Amazon Review
On his third release of a most prolific year, Ryan Adams takes a break from his band, the Cardinals, to fashion an introspective song cycle with stripped-down arrangements focused on acoustic guitar or solo piano. After the propulsive, self-mythologizing title track opens the album in brazen fashion, forging an unlikely bond of comparison between John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band and the early '70s Grateful Dead, much of the rest of 29 finds Adams at his dreamiest (the reveries of "Strawberry Wine" and "Elizabeth, You Were Born to Play That Part") and most rapturously romantic (the aching falsetto on the lovesick "Starlite Diner"). He continues to take chances and not all of them pay off, with the underwatery echo of "Night Birds" and the over-the-top dramatics of "The Sadness" showing the downside of self-indulgence, though "Carolina Rain" suggests he can return to the alt-country prime of Whiskeytown whenever the mood strikes. With the intimacy of the closing "Voices," Adams sounds less like he is singing a song than sharing a secret. Refusing to rein himself in or pin himself down, he sings on the title track, "You can't hang on to something that won't stop moving."
Customer Review 1
Three albums, one year. This is the best one.. 2005 was a whacky year even by Ryan Adams standards, as he released three albums, one of which was a double, in the space of around eight months. Luckily for all concerned, they got better as they went on, and he certainly saved the best for last.
29 is a kind of sequel to Love Is Hell, but rather than having the sprawling depression of that album's production it's more reminiscent of Heartbreaker's stripped sound, only amped up even more. Most of the songs were recorded by Adams alone with a guitar or piano and then overdubbed to a very minor extent. Instrumentation is spare and production is all but absent, all wise decisions for an album like this.
Whether you believe that Adams is as tortured as this or not - as far as I'm concerned, the majority of these songs are character sketches anyway - the music is simply beautiful. Using often bizarre but beautiful chord changes, he has made some of his most wonderful music on this album. The title track and 'The Sadness' are both excellent tracks but really don't feel like they fit on the album at all, the latter in particular a gonzo-Spanish-rock epic that sounds out of place anywhere in his catalogue but especially here.
The rest of the album was the best material he released in 2005, without exception. 'Blue Sky Blues' and 'Elizabeth You Were Born To Play That Part' are both breathtaking, so spare instrumentally and yet so affecting. 'Nightbirds' is the closest this album gets to a single worthy song, its delay-ridden closing chorus (albeit an idea recycled from 2003's 'Hotel Chelsea Nights') making the song soar.
'Carolina Rain' is one of his best story songs ever, with some of his most amusing but heartbreaking lyrics; the line that stands out most on the entire album is 'I met your sister and I married her in July/if only to get closer to you, Carolina'. However, finest of all is 'Strawberry Wine,' a song so stripped back it's practically absent, even more fragile than 2000's 'Oh My Sweet Carolina.' For eight minutes of acoustic guitar and mandolin, Adams whispers in your ear in the most pleasing way, so subtle, so emotional.
Whether you buy the emotion or not, 29 is a hell of a record. Adams has so many great albums that it's difficult to discern its place in a list of his best, but it's certainly the best he released in 2005.
Customer Review 2
His best yet. In 2005 Ryan Adams released 3 albums; Cold Roses, Jackson City Nights and ending with 29, his best. So called because the songs were written when he was that age, the album can be described as way of closure to one era of his life and the dawn of a new one.
Clocking in at only 9 songs this is a tight little album that contains no filler. Starting of with a jaunty blues number you would be surprised into thinking that the rest will follow in similar upbeat guitar twiddling fashion. From song 2 onwards the star of the show is Adams voice; never in any of his previous releases as he sung with so much conviction, power and beauty as he does here.
On the standout track "Strawberry Wine" he sounds strikingly similar to David Gates (Bread) while on "The Sadness" and "Voices" he effortlessly demonstrates restrain and power in a single verse.
As he continues to lose his traditional Country roots with each album Adams is slowly turning into his generations Springstein and if this is the case then this is his Born to Run.
Customer Review 3
A grower.... This album was written and recorded before any of the other 2005 releases, at the time when Ryan was nearing his 30th birthday (hence '29', it's an album about growth) while he was recovering from his broken wrist. He's said that it's a concept album, basically about one guy who commits suicide and is looking back on the actions in his life. I'm not sure how well the album fits his theory, but there are plenty of tales within these songs.
It's an intimate album, best listened to with headphones in a quiet place. His voice is close and there's an ambience, a certain atmosphere to many of the songs as we hear these world-weary lyrics played out to music. The rock & roll '29' is a bit of a red herring in terms of sound, as we have the introspective 'Strawberry Wine' come after. It is succeeded by several more quiet, piano-led songs, telling wistful tales of love, heart-break and life. 'Blue Sky Blues' and 'Nightbirds' are songs to lovers, about carrying on, 'Elizabeth...' is apparently written for a friend of Ryan's whose baby daughter died before birth. The only other song that doesn't fit this trend is 'The Sadness', which is a bit of a bizarre inclusion; Ryan sounds more like Freddie Mercury than the heart-broken troubador we're used to hearing.
My personal favourites on the album are '29', 'Blue Sky Blues' and 'Carolina Rain'. All of these songs tell a story though, and it's worth listening just to hear the narratives as they play through.
The Ethan Johns/ Ryan Adams pairing once again produces an excellent album, with a suitable sheen for the material on here. I feel that the album needs to be listened to properly, to be taken in and appreciated. It's a grower, but the one track I can't seem to get into is 'Strawberry Wine'. It's not Ryan's best material to date, but it's still a good album. Give it time.
Customer Review 4
More genius. Full tilt boogie variety genius.
every song is exellent.
if you dont have any adams buy this or love is hell as they are his best.
astounding songwriter.
just hurry up and release more albums, as ive had to go back the way and get into whiskeytown.
could release 3 albums every year and id buy em all.
Customer Review 5
I don't believe you Ryan. Ryan Adams would have us believe that he is a tortured soul, a love-lorn ball of pain - as described during this pleasing album. I don't agree - in order to delve into as many styles and genres with the 'devil-may-care' outlook this man possesses requires an open book and a positive outlook. He does a good job however of recounting failed relationships, but for us to believe that he is always the one left behind takes the biscuit. Ryan, I believe that you see the suffering in relationships - and also that you write about it with cynical precision. 'Elizabeth...' is as stripped down and haunting as an ode to a former lover can get. 'The Sadness' is as showy and excessive as some overblown number from the theatres of the west-end but he just about pulls it off - i think its because he knows he's going over the top and can't help but embrace it. 'Voices' is great - conjuring images of abuse, suffering and people forced together through invisible ties. 'Night Birds' is classic Adams, a self-pitious apology to himself for the excess. Good work - but frankly not as deep as he would have us believe - the guy's a great observer.
