Rev Jules, just admit it. As self proclaimed avatar of country/roots on cluas you simply don't like Ryan Adams cos he's popular. i bet you didn't have the same spite for whiskeytown.

Yeah, Adam's needs an editor based on previous stuff he's released at least. I think Heartbreaker is a cracker, Gold is bland and everything else after has been hit 'n' miss. I concur with previous opinions expressed relating to Mr. Carr and his attack on the artist Adams, rather than a relevant critique of the album(s) in question. I'd go so far as to wager that Carr hasn't even listened to 29. I may be wrong. Thought he was very vehement in his contempt for R.A. and i don't think that's fair. Adams is talented (as Carr kind of agrees) and has written some exceptional songs. He seems like a bit of a pre-madonna though, very tempremental and tends to throw his toys out of the pram sometimes. In fairness, Dylan released his fair share of BS too. Still, as Baxter Dury intones "We're all the same/We're all to blame/We're all f**ked in the air" - or something like that.

I too agree that Adams has a serious quality control problem.In amongst all those releases are maybe two really good albums. In terms of the review, it is sometimes difficult to seperate the music from the myth, particularly when the actions of the artist start to eclipse the music (Pete Doherty anyone?). Carr is clearly unimpressed by the album and focussed on Adam's failings in his point of view. It comes across as more of an opinion piece than a review but a lot of it stands up (IMHO). OK, plagarism is difficult to argue but a lot of Adam's music is derivitive (but then the vast majority of music is). I'm surprised that it has animated people. Perhaps if it was in The Observer rather than The Hedild, would this thread exist?