Jacksonville, NC, singer/songwriter Ryan Adams has courted controversy ever since founding the volatile seminal alt-country band Whiskeytown, in 1994. While that band's albums were greeted with resounding critical acclaim, their lineup was famously unstable and their concerts hit-or-miss affairs. Nonetheless, Adams gained national recognition as a promising young talent, embarking on a tremendously prolific, much publicized, genre-bending solo career, beginning with 2000's Heartbreaker.

Often referred to as his "sober and clean" period, Ryan Adam's has produced some of his most mature and consistent, if not his most ambitious, material during the past two years. Cardinology is credited to Adams and his backing band the Cardinals (guitarist Neal Casal, bassist Chris Feinstein, drummer Brad Pemberton, and pedal steel player Jon Graboff). Depending upon how one chooses to classify Adam's post-Whiskeytown output, Cardinology is either his fourth Cardinals release or eleventh "solo" release, counting 2007's Follow the Lights EP. Stylistically, the majority of Cardinology's twelve songs are in the same laid back country-rock vein that dominated 2007's Easy Tiger and Follow the Lights.

Cardinology's lead-off single, "Fix It," has a definite Rolling Stones vibe, sounding like it would fit comfortably on a Some Girls session reel. "Magick," perhaps Cardinology's most upbeat track, possesses a playful Buzzcocks-infused punkishness. "Born Into Light," Cardinology's catchy but all-too-brief opener, shares a Mexicali musical bond with "The Sadness," an epic cut featured on 29, Adam's third full-length release of 2005. Midtempo numbers like "Evergreen" and "Let Us Down Easy" increasingly render their subtle charms with subsequent play. Add "Natural Ghost" to the growing list of Ryan's songs influenced by his affinity for the Grateful Dead; an admiration which is mutual, as Phil Lesh has been known to perform several of Ryan's songs in his own live shows. A 2006 Answeringbell.com posting quotes Lesh as stating that, "Jerry [Garcia] would have loved Ryan and his fearless interpretations of his songs," and that he "'feel[s] Jerry close to [him] whenever [he is] around Ryan."

As a whole, Cardinology is a solid, commercially palpable offering from one of today's most versatile singer/songwriters. Perhaps, this is the record's only inherent flaw; too few highs or lows. While established fans and casual newcomers alike will find something to love about Cardinology, diehards, long-accustomed to Adams' prolific nature, will anxiously await his next release. In the interim, Adam's first book, Infinity Blues, is slated for publication on March 16, 2009.