Quote:
Originally Posted by Supersonic
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.
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
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See, what you criticise about "18" I would all say about "On A Day Like Today". A few decent tracks: On A Day Like Today, When You're Gone, How Do You Feel Tonight, Fearless, Cloud Number Nine. And even they don't really hit the nail on the head. The rest just sounds like demos, B-sides, session leftovers to me, with a huge lack of inspiration and the lack of attempt to make something more with the ideas than just the ordinary, standard 3 minute formula - like giving each song a personal note, a unique flavour, as to some point it was done on "18".
The spanish guitars on "Have You Ever", the harp groove on "Do To You", the epic dreamy atmoshphere of your beloved "Let's Make A Night", the pro-tooled "Star", the energetic rock of "We're Gonna Win", the dark groove of "Black Pearl". The range of styles is more deverse, the lyrics also have more consistence than the follow-up. And it DOES sound like an album to me, not a collection of single songs. Don't undertand why you dislike the drums and the guitars, to me they sound just fine. Not that it couldn't have been done with more edge, but it doesn't bother me too. "We're Gonna Win" always had a whole lot of edge to me, turn it up, you'll see.
Also "Black Pearl", I think this laid back groove is quite fitting in the means of creating a 'swampy' atmosphere.
Maybe the lyrics on OADLT are not that cheesy, but not brilliant either. Lines like
"we're gonna make it home tonight, c'mon c'mon c'mon - everything's gonna be alright"
or
"getaway - ya know it's now or never
getaway - nobody lives forever"
or
"if I was blind you could make me see
if I was down you could comfort me"
are just lame reprises of chliches (and far far worse than anything on "18"). And you don't find anything much deeper on the album. And then I can't ignore the poorness of those lines, together with the music. OADLT almost all sounds like backing tracks, elevator music, just not exciting, moving. No dynamics, all so laid back, no good guitar work. On "18" on the other hand it's all quite decent. And Keith does play some nice licks and riffs.
Thinking about it, it's more the music than the lyrics that make me say "18" is a mature album. Ok, in some way I can't compare it to "Reckless", which is a killer. I don't know the "Into The Fire" album, and I don't know (yet) the bonus tracks you were talking of: Hey Elvis, Low Life. I know "If You Wanna Be Bad" only from Unplugged.
But still, for BA most of the lyrics I don't consider bad, though of course there are some cheesy lines and low points. Most of the time I find it quite convincing though, like "I'll Always Be Right There", with its awful "forever we will be - together a family" rhyme.
In fact, "Have You Ever", "Black Pearl", "We're Gonna Win", "Let's Make A Night" - they all work, though it might not be poetry.
Musically, the album as it is sounds really like a whole with different flavours, while OADLT just drowns in indifference. And I just give OADLT as an example because that fits your critics on "18", in my opinion.
In the end, I just like the album. I can't stand "Waking Up The Neigbours" nor "OADLT" as whole albums, only single songs, while "18" simply does the trick to me. "Room Service" was a bit better than "OADLT", though it's still far from being great, but a few really decent tracks.