Aloha !
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Originally Posted by Simon
Well, I'm aware that we are talking about Bryan Adams here... he is known for cheesy lyrics. First, I don't consider your 3 examples that cheesy (in comparison),
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There's none of that cheesyness on albums like Reckless, Into The Fire or even On A Day Like Today. I just don't understand how anyone could call 18 Til I Die a mature album when all he does is pretending to be 18 and actually write songs that 18 year old relate to, instead of making the proper rock music he used to make in the eighties.
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Originally Posted by Simon
actually that whole "Underwear" song is quite a funny thing which I don't take too serious. In the context of the songs these lines totally work.
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It doesn't sound like a fun song to me. Hey Elvis, that's a fun song, and should've been on the original album. If Ya Wanna Be Bad... is also a fun song, and should've been on the original album. Underwear just sounds like a weak attempt at creating a fun song, but failing miserably. The live versions of it were just appaling.
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Originally Posted by Simon
Secondly, musically the record sounds like a band playing, it has many nice acoustic guitars and the song structures are beyond what was to come on the following years.
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Occasionally it sounds like a band playing. Most of the time it sounds like Bryan Adams singing along to a backing track where every now and then Keith Scott is allowed to do a few fills. Again, Hey Elvis sounds like a band playing, but Mutt, the producer, killed the sound of the drums. When it even remotely starts to sound a bit heavy he mutes everything out of the ordinary in order to make it appeal to as many radio stations as possible. Just compare the live versions of 18 and The Only Thing from that era to what it sounds like on the album. Live it sounds like a band playing, on the album it sounds like a backing track.
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Originally Posted by Simon
And whatever you say, I don't feel guilty of having "Let's Have A Night To Remember" as a favourite track. I would never argue the lyrics are deep, but the sound, the melody, the music always pleased me.
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I actually can sum up a conversation between me and my ex girlfriend about this:
Love, let's make a night to remember...
- yeah...
from January to December...
See how this just doesn't work? We both burst out laughing because it just sounds so ridiculous. The verses are alright, but everything that's right about the verses is wrong about the chorus.
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Originally Posted by Simon
So, whatever you say, for a BA album "18" is quite mature. It's not just easy listening, because there is more creativity in these songs, something he never really found again afterwards, sadly. "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman" is a great track, musically, and very moving lyrically.
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I agree that Bryan Adams is capable of delivering cheesy lyrics in a good way just like Bon Jovi is, but on 18 he just fails half of the time. You're Still Beautiful To Me, I'll Always Be Right There, Have You Ever, in a way they work. The others just simply don't.
Yes, it might be more creative, but half of the album sounds like b-side or outtakes from previous writing sessions. The way they're produced, the lyrics, the guitars, everything. While the guitarwork on Waking Up The Neighbours was still pretty decent for a Bryan Adams album, there's never a moment on 18 that makes it sound like a guitar album, a rock album. Black Pearl is the closest to a rock song you get, but once again the production on it is so terrible that it loses most of it's edge. It all sounds like a compilation of songs for soundtracks or other albums. It never sounds like a proper album.
Would it have been something like this...
1. Hey Elvis!
2. The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You
3. Do To You
4. 18 Til I Die
5. You're Still Beautiful To Me
6. If Ya Wanna Be Bad - Ya Gotta Be Good
7. I'll Always Be Right There
8. Low Life
9. Black Pearl
10. Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?
...I wouldn't slag it off as much as I do now. Low Life is a good song and I fail to understand why it's not on the album. The same for Hey Elvis and If Ya Wanna Be Bad. They all should've been on it, and everything I haven't listed should either have been a b-side or should've been put on a soundtrack or whatever. But it all doesn't belong on the 18 record.
The only really good thing about the 18 era was the artwork. The 18 era was really the beginning of the end when it comes to Bryan Adams making rock albums. While Waking Up The Neighbours still had a little edge, 18 just has zero.
Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan