29 (album)

Recording notes

29 was recorded over two weeks during the first half of August 2004 at producer Ethan Johns' North Hollywood studio, Three Crows. According to Johns, only two songs were completely written before the sessions began – "Night Birds" and "Elizabeth, You Were Born To Play That Part". The remaining tracks were written in the studio. To give the music a sense of spontaneity and immediacy, several of the songs on the album were first takes.

The album is a loose concept album, with each song representing a single year in Adams' twenties.

Reception

The album received a score of 69 out of 100 on Metacritic based on "generally favorable reviews". The A.V. Club gave it a B and said that Adams' music "takes some sifting, but the gold always glitters." The New York Times gave it a favorable review and called it "Cohesive in its fragility." E! Online gave it a B− and said that Adams "fails to come up with an album that keeps up the standard set here by a couple of standout tracks such as 'Strawberry Wine' and 'Nightbirds'."

Other reviews are average or mixed: The Guardian gave it a score of three stars out of five and said, "Committed Adams-heads will love it; others will wonder why he commands such loyalty." The Village Voice gave it an average review and said, "Adams mines American Beauty and Workingman's Dead respectably, but his attempts at early-'70s Neil Young piano ballads come off as tear-stained love letters to himself, and hardly distinguish him as the guy who dropped out of high school to become Paul Westerberg." Prefix Magazine gave it a mixed review and said that "Despite the three or four keepers, 29 suggests that Adams is still struggling to nail down his musical identity."

Track listing

Charts

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

References

1. [https://www.metacritic.com/music/29/ryan-adams/critic-reviews Critic reviews at Metacritic]
2. [{{AllMusic
3. [http://entertainment.ie/album-review/Ryan-Adams-29/4255.htm Entertainment.ie review]
4. [https://web.archive.org/web/20070526013525/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1141322,00.html Entertainment Weekly review]
5. [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-dec-20-et-rack20-story.html Los Angeles Times review]
6. [https://www.nme.com/reviews/ryan-adams/7833 NME review]
7. [https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/44-29/ Pitchfork Media review]
8. [https://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/adamsryan-29/ PopMatters review]
9. [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=ryan+adams Robert Christgau Consumer Guide]
10. [https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/29-20060112 Rolling Stone review]
11. [http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/ryan-adams/29.htm Stylus Magazine review] {{webarchive. link. (2007-12-30)
12. Hasty, Katie. (2007-06-03). "Busy and bored, Adams tames "Tiger"". [[Reuters]]/[[Billboard (magazine).
13. (September 2024). "The 100 best pop albums of the Noughties". The Times.
14. Scoppa, Bud. (2006-03-24). "Production Notes: Ethan Johns / Ryan Adams".
15. "Yahoo! Music UK review".
16. [https://www.avclub.com/ryan-adams-29-1798201348 The A.V. Club review]
17. (2005-12-02). "CD: Ryan Adams, 29".
18. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090703073240/http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-01-10/music/three-times-a-crybaby/ The Village Voice review]
19. [http://www.prefixmag.com/reviews/ryan-adams/29/14782/ Prefix Magazine review]
20. "Austrian Charts". austriancharts.at.
21. "Dutch Charts". dutchcharts.nl.
22. "German Charts". musicline.de.
23. "UK Chart Log". zobbel.de.
24. "American Charts".