The prolific singer/songwriter could only be described as a musical genius by anyone's standards. Over the past five or six year, and throughout his solo career, following the split of the cult-status, alt-country supergroup Whiskeytown, Adams gained a strong fan base and established himself as a talented artist who's not afraid to get out there and bear his heart out for us, to caress it or crush it.

Ever since he released the critically-acclaimed masterpiece Heartbreaker in 2000, Ryan Adams churned great records one after the other, never failing to deliver, always maintaining the high standards he set with his first solo outing, an impossible task that he makes seem like a walk in the park. It's so good it's frightening at times!

29 contains nine gorgeous songs inspired by that all-important transitional year we all loathe and anticipate. Nine songs through which he takes us on an emotional and very personal journey, a journey that we cannot help but relate to. 29 also sees a subtle return to his earlier roots, collaborating once again with long-time partner Ethan Jones, who also performs on the record.

The stripped-down guitars and woeful voice are ingrained in tracks like the eight minute 'Strawberry Wine', a sad yet hopeful tale about being young and old. But one of the immediate standout tracks in the record appears to be an unlikely one. In 'The Sadness' Ryan Adams let lose and brings a side of him rarely, if at all, seen before. Tinged with a Latin, cowboy riff, Adams' paints us a wild-west vision: "Deny, deny me my destiny/I am not ready to go/I am the horror that brings us to the morning/where I will have to stand up and fight"

The lyrics are poetic verses made of silk and stone, dreams and nightmares, every line tells a million tales. He is a master in toying with our hearts, breaking them with every haunting word he sings. It's his ability to create such original and consistently beautiful records that make him nearing the legendary status.

Ryan Adam captures the lover, the hero, the villain, the dreamer, the demon, in all of us. He's the manifestation of our generation's heartaches and sorrows, our hopes and dreams.

With such quality at hand, it's hard to imagine ever having enough of Ryan Adams.