Ryan Adams [ tickets ] revisits the musical roots of his Whiskeytown days with "Jacksonville City Nights," his most traditional country album to date. This new collection of songs reflects a chameleon-like musician who knows exactly what aspects of his craft to experiment with and exactly what not to change.

Emotive, provocative lyrics and a strong, distinctive voice carry Adams through an occasionally dodgy, but overall powerful album. The opening track, "A Kiss Before I Go," immediately and undeniably strikes a chord of similarity to the late Gram Parsons, a pioneer of the country-rock genre. Twangy pedal steel and wailing strings solidify the most country of tracks, including an ominous tune deemed "The End" and a sentimental song aptly titled "My Heart Is Broken."

But, just as he gets comfortable with the quick-tempoed, two-step-type music, Adams occasionally reverts back to a slower version of the indie-rock style that made previous solo albums bestsellers--and that's not such a bad thing. "Hard Way to Fall," a poignant post-relationship reminisce, dabbles in the country twang the album is centered around without going all in. And it's a similar story on "The Hardest Part" and "Silver Bullets," two leisurely tracks that exude a vague tinge of country while staying musically in line with past work. This inadvertent mix of styles turns out to be a wise move, pulling dedicated Adams fans into a legendary genre while simultaneously introducing traditional country fans to a prolific and inspiring Adams.