You Want It You Got It

"You Want It, You Got It" is Bryan Adams' second album, and with this album Bryan Adams started to move away from the disco-pop sound of his first album and really started to turn into a more pop/rock artist. I personally think it would have been fun and humorous if Bryan Adams had called this album "Bryan Adams Hasn't Heard Of You Either" because I don't think his first album, and it's singles ("Hidin' From Love", "Give Me Your Love" and "Remember") should go unnoticed.

This album, like his first album however are no where near perfect but it is a nice album. Of course, "Lonely Night" became one of Bryan Adams' first hits to get his foot in the door to world-wide success, "Coming Home" and "Fits Ya Good" were also very well received.

Else where on the album though, definitely not Bryan Adams' best work. "One Good Reason", "Don't Look Now" are pretty good, I'd rank them up there with "Fits Ya Good" and "Lonely Night". "No One Makes It Right" is a good accessible slower song like "Coming Home". However, "Jealousy", "Tonight", the title track "You Want It, You Got It", and "Last Chance" - I don't know - they are good songs, but they aren't great and don't gel as well as the rest of the album does. I will say that "Last Chance" does kind of amuse me with Bryan Adams saying "F**K YOU" at the end.

I guess I'd give this album 4 1/2 out of five stars but since I can only do blocks I'll give it five for good measure because it's still good and too good to be lowered to just four stars.

The best way I look at Bryan Adams' "You Want It, You Got It" was this was the album that launched what I term "The Franchise". This was Bryan Adams' second full album and his second in which in co-wrote the songs with Jim Vallance. Adams and Vallance had collaborated together on Adams self title debut. But it was this album that truly launched 'The Bryan Adams sound' that would dominate the 80s and 90s. In addition, this is where Bryan Adams would start to form a core of studio musicians that would follow him for the next 2 decades. This album would feature Tommy Mandel on keyboards and Mickey Curry on drums. Mandel and Curry would become a staple of Adams' albums for the 80s and 90s. This was also the first of four studio albums in a row that Bryan would produce with Bob Clearmountain. Clearmountain is best known as one of the best studio mixers in the music business. All of these factors would launch "The Franchise" for Bryan Adams and set the tone for his musical development in the 80s.

This album being Adams' sophomore effort is a less commercial effort than the more familiar works that follow, but the quality of the music is there. There surprisingly is a lot of depth on this particular album. The song "Last Chance" is a very interesting track because there is a Saxaphone integrated into the music. The inclusion of a Sax is a rare thing on an Adams album which normally is usually loaded with lots of guitars and keyboards. You'll also hear Mandel's keyboards quite a bit on this song - as well as on the track "Lonely Night". The other thing is that the Adams/Vallance songwriting connection really gets off to a good start on this album. There is some nice depth of tracks "Lonely Nights", "Fits Ya Good", "Tonight" and "No One Makes It Right".

Some interesting stuff is on this album There is a reference in the track "One Good Reason" that says 'Now that Ronnie's in the Office...' - a slight political jab put into the song by Adams and Vallance. The track "Don't Look Now" has a distinct Jackson Browne feel to it - it does remind of "Running on Empty". 'Don't Look Now' also reminds me as a pre-quel to another Adams classic called 'This Time' that will follow on the third album. The original version of "Fits Ya Good" is on this album which is more uptempo and harder edged than the version found on the 1997 'Unplugged' album. The song "Jealousy" is also something a little different than you will hear on many Adams albums. Curry and Mandel's drumming and keyboards really shine on it this song. Nice bass work followed by some cool guitars mark the start of "Tonight" and some bold lyrics that say "Who you gonna run to now that your (butt) is on the line..." followed by some great range in Adams' vocals.

It is also worth noting that I think Clearmountain and Adams do a great job at ordering the tracks on the album. "Lonely Nights" is the perfect opening song. "No One Makes It Right" is the perfect finale to the album. "One Good Reason" has that feel of being a #2 track. Even "Last Chance" is perfectly slotted as the next to last track on the album. I wouldn't change a thing in terms of the ordering of the tracks. The first and last songs are the best 2 on the album - especially "No One Makes It Right" - which might sound like that emotional song you would hear at a teenage prom, but I still never get tired of it.

The disappointments are the title track (kind of weak by my standards). The liner notes are very thin - they contain no lyrics and do match up the credits to the song very nicely.

Most fans starting to build a Bryan Adams collection probably won't start with this album, but I would say why not? This album will also give you many great singles that have been omitted on the greatest hits and live albums. Highly recommended!

I have to tell you that in college, we wore out this Bryan Adams (then)album. Little did we know in '81/82, that in a few years, he would be a superstar. Little did we know he would become a Michael Bolton ballad singing, adult contemporary chart topper, with the likes of Sting and Barbra Steisand! Little did we know that "Coming Home" on "You Want It, You Got It" was more like what we would hear in the future, not the rocking "Lonely Nights".

This album was before all that, before the buzzards were flying around his musical body of work. Bryan Adams rocks on this CD! All are good tunes, yes, even "Coming Home".

I had the chance to see Bryan on this tour as well, and these songs were great live. Obviously, hard core Bryan fans want this to fill out the collection. This is also a chance for a few of us to listen back and think what might have been.

The title track along with "Don't Look Now' are stand outs.

There are other tunes from some of Bryan's other CD's that are good, please don't get me wrong. I even own a lot of them. I just think this one is an excellent example of some of his better musical output.

Bryan has had what?... about 25 top 40 hits? My guess is about half of those hits were ballads. My hope is one day, Bryan will pop in this CD, and think about making something along the lines of "You Want It, You Got It". There are some rockin' tunes on the disc that some folks have not been exposed to. It's worth the time to listen to this one.

Don't hate me Bryan, I just like this one the best.