Inspired by his experience recording "MTV's Unplugged" in the 90's, Adams decided to revisit performing his material pared down once again in 2008.
Bare Bones is an inspired collection of minimally arranged hits culled from Adams' impressive body of work spanning three decades. Recorded in spring of 2010 during his "Bare Bones Tour," the disc captures a raw Adams, featuring only his distinctive voice and guitar, accompanied on select songs by keyboardist Gary Breit, lending a newfound appreciation and perspective to what many consider some of the most beloved songs in pop/rock music.
With a consistently loyal following on the road, Adams continued playing live shows with these new spare arrangements in 2010, and as an experiment decided to start recording them for a possible record. Comments Adams, "as the tour rolled across the USA and Canada, many people were asking for a recording of the songs as they had just heard in the show. So in response to that, I decided to record a few shows to see if a recording was even interesting... I like the way the songs carry themselves warts and all, bare-boned, without the original arrangements of a full band or an orchestra." He continues, "These recordings only have the voices and handclaps of the fans in the audience and the ambience of the room to lift them."
Narrowing down the selections for Bare Bones was a challenging exercise given Adams' expansive catalogue, so he enlisted the assistance of his fans. Chosen by a combination of suggestions received through Twitter and his official website, the final tracklisting reflects a well-balanced mixture of old, rare, familiar and new material. Bare Bones Tracklisting: You've Been A Friend To Me Here I Am I'm Ready Night To Remember It Ain't A Party (If You Can't Come 'Round) (Everything I Do) I Do It For You Cuts Like A Knife Please Forgive Me Summer Of '69 Walk On By Cloud Number 9 It's Only Love Heaven Right Place The Way You Make Me The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You You're Still Beautiful To Me Straight From The Heart I Still Miss You...A Little Bit All For Love
Bare Bones is an inspired collection of minimally arranged hits culled from Adams' impressive body of work spanning three decades. Recorded in spring of 2010 during his "Bare Bones Tour," the disc captures a raw Adams, featuring only his distinctive voice and guitar, accompanied on select songs by keyboardist Gary Breit, lending a newfound appreciation and perspective to what many consider some of the most beloved songs in pop/rock music.