VINYL FORMAT. "Gold" -- the brilliant second solo album from Ryan Adams -- will only heighten the artist's current role as one of the most revered songwriter-performers of his generation. But like all great art, Gold should also serve to surprise and confuse the expectations of those who've been quick to place labels on the extremely talented and prolific former leader of the now-legendary Whiskeytown, arguably the greatest post-Gram alt-country band to come down the musical pike.