11

It's not hard to figure out why Bryan Guy Adams called this album what he did. What do you do when you're recording the follow up to your tenth album? Exactly. He's also at an age where he can never go back to the summer of '69, the kids that wanna rock COULD be the grandkids and straight from the heart could refer to angina, so the teen rocker status is no longer plausible.
Any musician with class and dignity moves on, moves forward, and creates. We've all seen the pathetic rockers who are trying to look younger than their kids and we know that they 'can't get no satisfaction' no matter what they do. Thank God Bryan had some common sense. He recorded a disc that isn't trying to rehash the oldies, but he isn't ready for the 'rock walker' yet!
The first single released was "I Thought I'd Seen Everything", which is an up-tempo love song done in true Bryan Adams fashion. This is his signature sound at play here. "Tonight We Have Stars" has a good punch to it and sounds a lot like a Tom Cochrane song. The best song on the whole disc is "I Ain't Losin' The Fight". This is the closest anything on this CD comes to an all-out rocker set in the style of Bryan's past glories, a song that rocks out yet could still find a home on CMT. This song shows just how much the line between rock and new country has been blurred. It's very reminiscent of a Don Henley song. As for the other tracks; there are hints of U2 on "We Found What We Were Looking For"; the Bruce Springsteen-esque "Broken Wings" is a great number and Oasis come to mind on first hearing "Somethin' To Believe In" and "Mysterious Ways". Even with saying that, the songs still sound totally original and represent a familiar artist we've grown up listening to. As for the remaining songs on the disc, there are a few ballads and the rest could be best described as mid-tempo adult contemporary rock songs, and that's not a bad thing at all. Bryan Adams has grown up, matured, and has moved past the "It's Only Love" and "18 'Til I Die" days. Although he still has a huge back catalogue of hot rock hits that he can perform live, he's shown that 'maturing' isn't the same as 'aging'. He's crafted a great collection of songs that will be welcomed by his fans. This is a very good CD.

it ait all good music bray adamas cd 2010 cd
it ait all good music bray adamas cd 2010 cd

It seems like whenever Bryan Adams releases an album there's some kind of expectation for him to deliver another Reckless or Waking Up The Neighbours. Well in truth 11 is nothing like those two albums. The album cover of 11, showing the rocker playing guitar in a suit, gives the listener a clue as to the type of music to expect on this album. This isn't the young guy in a white t-shirt and blue jeans blasting out Summer of 69, but rather a more mature, sophisticated artist mellowing out a bit. Whereas his earlier albums usually had a mixture of driving rock singalongs and piano-based power ballads, this one pretty much sticks to mid-tempo rock, smooth but with an acoustic edge. It's a logical progression as he's been building on this sound pretty much for the last decade; that's not necessarily a bad thing, although someone expecting an album with another Somebody or Only Thing That Looks Good On Me will be disappointed. Even the closest thing to a real rocker on the album, Oxygen, has a sombre feel to it. I Thought I'd Seen Everything probably has the best chance of being a concert staple, We Found What We Were Looking For is quite a pretty ballad, and Flower Gone Wild is an interesting song with something to say about today's young celebrities. The rest of the album plays out nicely, although it's more of a grower as opposed to one that grabs you right away. While it may not rank with the two classics mentioned earlier, it shows Bryan Adams can still put out decent music decades after those two albums came out.