Bryan Adams

2008 release from the Canadian rocker, his 11th studio album overall. The album is packed full of unmistakable rockers and signature ballads including the lead single ‘I Thought I’d Seen Everything', a rocky, mid-tempo track that has already gone onto radio playlists on both side of the Atlantic. 11 was recorded largely in hotel rooms and backstage dressing rooms around the world during the past two years and features the return of his long time collaborator Jim Vallance on three cuts. The Adams/Vallance partnership was responsible for many of Bryan’s classic hits including ‘Heaven’,’ Summer of 69’ and ‘Run To You.’. Universal.

Canada's ultimate Renaissance man has bounced from grizzled heartland rock to soft-focus middle-of-the-road pop without employing a safety net--or even a consultant to warn him that his legion of fans is definitely split between the two genres. For the most part, Adams steers clear of his later power ballads on this acoustic (but hardly stripped-down) set, instead reaching back to concentrate on such choogling classics as "Summer of '69." Yes, he tugs at the ol' heartstrings with tunes like "Cuts Like a Knife" (which is given a new twist via the uillean pipes of Davy Spillane), but if it's out-and-out schmaltz you're craving, there's little to be had here. --David Sprague

Japanese only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD - playable on all CD players) pressing. Universal. 2008.

Japanese only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD - playable on all CD players) pressing. Universal. 2008.

If Bryan Adams's no-frills, blue-collar image evokes a Canadian take on Springsteen, his voice--and especially his pop sensibility--recalls Rod Stewart during his post-Faces Top 40 years. There's a deceptively effortless sincerity that masks the sometimes mundane themes of the infectious hits (the cheap nostalgia of "Summer of '69" and the various romantic concerns of "Run to You," "The Best of Me," and "Please Forgive Me") gathered on this updated hits collection. (Just five of the tracks appear on his previous So Far, So Good anthology.) It's hardly surprising to learn that Adams began his career as a tunesmith covered by everyone from BTO and Loverboy to Kiss and Bonnie Tyler. That eclecticism bubbles up throughout this modern compilation, from the flamenco flavors of Don Juan De Marco's "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman" to the MTV Unplugged classical-strings-backed rendition of "I'm Ready" and the surprisingly effective electronica of "Cloud Number Nine." This collection chronicles Adams's rise from '80s AOR (album-oriented-rock) contender to '90s MOR (middle-of-the-road) superstar, thanks to his Grammy- and Oscar-winning hit "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" from Robin Hood and harmonizing with Sting and Stewart on Three Musketeers' "All for Love." --Jerry McCulley