Still 18 ‘Til He Dies
Blue jeans, white T-shirt, sneakers, guitar, rock ‘n’ roll - that’s Bryan Adams. Even at 47, he still seems philosophically bound to 18 ‘Til I Die, one of his biggest hits.
He hasn’t changed much, sure, but in an era where aging artists like Madonna scrutinize trends amongst 18- to 35-year-olds and Rod Stewart tries to shape shift into a Vegas-like lounge lizard, Adams’s steadfast approach to rock ‘n’ roll is admirable.
Say what you will, the guy’s consistent.
With the rock scene now awash with terms like “emo” and “progressive,” Adams’s back catalogue is refreshingly uncomplicated and straightforward with hit tunes like Run to You, Can’t Stop This Thing We Started, Kids Wanna Rock and It’s Only Love (a duet with Tina Turner).
It’s also a formula that clearly works. Adams’s show at Rexall tonight is almost sold out and it’s a feat he can probably pull off at any Canadian venue, if not all of North America. Historically, Adams has always done well in Europe and Japan, too. He’s also maintained his status as one of Canada’s premier rock acts while residing in England for roughly the last decade.
Before anyone calls into question his identity as a Canuck, check your walls looking for your Order of Canada or Order of British Columbia or your star on Canada’s Walk of Fame. Adams’s fourth album, Reckless, is also one of the top-selling Canadian albums of all time. Not bad for a kid who dropped out of school at 15.
Adams has grappled with identity, however. In 1976, he replaced the lead singer of Sweeney Todd. Even then, at the tender age of 17, Adams’s voice, which would later become his signature, was raspy. The rest of the band didn’t like it, speeding up the few recordings he’d done with them to counteract it. Adams left the band a year later.
The late ’70s saw Adams striking up a longstanding songwriting partnership with former Prism drummer Jim Vallance. Adams’s first two albums were promising, but his breakthrough was 1983’s Cuts Like a Knife, which scored him three Top-40 hits - lovestruck teenagers everywhere swayed to Straight from the Heart at high school dances.
Hits like Run to You and, ironically, Summer of ‘69 would come to define the Canadian ’80s. But the early-’90s cast doubt on the Canadian content of his work.
A global phenomenon, Adams’s 1991 hit (Everything I Do) I Do it For You, recorded for the Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves soundtrack, debuted at No. 1 in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. The tune was taken from Waking Up the Neighbours, an album initially declared non-Canadian because some songs were written with Brit “Mutt” Lange (now married to Shania Twain).
Adams didn’t attend the Junos that year and his longtime manager Bruce Allen went so far as to say they’d turned their backs on the biggest thing to come out of Canada. The rules were later changed and Waking Up the Neighbours entered the annals of Canadian rock.
Shrugging off the controversy, Adams released the somewhat anachronistic 18 ‘Til I Die album in 1996, which evoked his carefree ’80s ethos, at a time when he was pushing 40. Yes, there was a ballad, with Adams’s guitar showing more range on the Latin-tinged Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?, which was released on the soundtrack for Don Juan Demarco.
But in addition to the title track, the album also boasted singles like It Ain’t a Party … If You Can’t Come Around, seemingly an homage to the Adams of old, which was only outdone by less-than-subtle hits like The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me is You or (I Wanna Be) Your Underwear.
That thematic trend continued into Adams’s ninth studio album, Room Service, which received a U.K. release in 2004, but took another seven months before it received a release in the States. If you followed the pans of the album, a tune like Nowhere Fast told the story of Room Service, which many critics said showed no evolution to Adams’s songwriting or style of play.
At the same time, a tune like Right Back Where I Started From, also from Room Service, is quintessential Adams.
The truth of Bryan Adams’s music hasn’t changed much in the last 25 years.
The aforementioned Madonna has enlisted dance producers like William Orbit and Stuart Price to maintain some kind of relevance to a more youthful demographic. She’s also done so, admittedly, successfully.
Stewart too has always been something of a chameleon. Whether he was channeling new wave during the ’80s or his 21st century re-invention as a schmaltzy crooner, the only thing consistent about Stewart is that his hair still looks ridiculous.
The experimental phase of Adams’s career actually preceded the straight-ahead brand of rock he’s become famous for. Perhaps inspired by the success of Saturday Night Fever and the Bee Gees, in 1979 Adams recorded Let Me Take You Dancing, a disco hit, which spent 23 weeks on Billboard’s dance chart and worldwide sales of 240,000 copies.
Adams is one of the world’s most successful recording artists of the ’80s and ’90s, but he’s disavowed that ’70s hit. Don’t count on hearing his disco falsetto tonight - cuts like a knife indeed.
(Source: http://www.edmontonsun.com)
Filed under: General News
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January 16th, 2006 at 2:38 am
that simple…Bryan is always young:):):)
January 16th, 2006 at 9:02 pm
Please take it easy with your health & voice Bryan.
January 21st, 2006 at 5:27 am
wanna be young rest of my life..never say no try anything twice..to angels come to ask me to fly wanna be 18 till i die..he is young forever..like his song..do i have to say the words?
February 3rd, 2006 at 9:23 pm
He is awesome…
July 2nd, 2007 at 8:21 pm
Hi all Im Sagar a die hard fan of Sir Bryan Adams.. I love him and his music like anything.. May God bless him
February 26th, 2008 at 4:17 am
For me Sir Bryan Adams is all that i ever thought a successful personality can be, Hats off to him….
God Bless Him and still waiting to get the new CDs of his new albums