Jeff Lynne

Fri
16
Oct

BRYAN ADAMS - Get Up (Review)

information persons: 
content: 
40%
Produced By: 
Jeff Lynne
Running Time: 
25
Release Date: 
2015
Released: 
Worldwide
Musical Style: 
Wilburys
Label: 
Universal
Artist: 
Score: 
40
Release Year: 
2015
Friday, October 16, 2015
Categories: 
Reviews
 
Canadian rock legend Bryan Adams claimed recently that this new album of his was so classic in style that he could play the entire album in concert and his fans would think he was actually playing tracks from one of his earlier masterpieces.
I counter that ridiculous claim by suggesting his fans (that’s me included), would instead be struggling to stay awake, wondering who this hillbilly Jeff Lynne wannabe is and wishing he’d hurry up and get off so the real Bryan Adams could take the stage.
 
The gap between Adams the rockstar, the working class hero, the monster live performer and the man who wrote some of the best anthems in rock history and the guy who releases records under the Bryan Adams name these days is more pronounced than ever.
His latest album Get Up is produced by ELO and Travelling WilburysJeff Lynne. The result is not a classic BA album as promised, but rather a hybrid of Adams’ recent era forgettable solo material and Lynne’s own laid back acoustic driven Midwestern rockabilly.
 
Yet again, we’re fooled into thinking Adams might return to his roots that delivered such classic albums as You Want It You Got It, Cuts Like A Knife, Reckless and the underrated perfection of Into The Fire.
No such luck. Instead the snoozefest of Room Service, 11 and last year’s horrible covers album continues.
If I wanted to listen to the Travelling Wilburys, I’d play that. If I wanted Lynne’s Armchair Theater, I have the recent re-issue to get out.
I don’t need Bryan Adams channeling that sound with so little of his own personality shining through.
What’s worse is that the album was almost entirely co-written by the great Jim Vallance.
I can’t understand what went wrong.
Thankfully the new tracks number just 9 and the album lasts all of 25 minutes. That’s just a little longer than one new Iron Maiden tune!
 
The opening track You Belong To Me may be impossibly catchy, but when its used to kick off an album, you know rocking isn’t a priority here.
Go Down Rocking and That’s Rock N Roll have traces of Adams of old, but the clichés sadly distract as does the hokey production style.
We Did It and Don’t Even Try are jangly, boring ballads that go nowhere.
Do What You Gotta Do is one of the few decent tracks with a wonderful chorus, but so removed from Adams’ sound, I kept waiting for Roy Orbison and Tom Petty to have their turn on vocals.
The attempted rocker Thunderbolt is just atrocious. How can an album of only 9 tracks have room for such a lemon as this?
That’s followed by another forgettable slow ballad and the best track of the album, the current single Brand New Day, which even then sounds like a B-Side at best from the glory days.
 
Adams then attempts to pad out the album with 4 shitty solo acoustic versions of songs already featured. Pointless and boring as bat shit.
 
Adams has willfully allowed Jeff Lynne’s production and writing style to infiltrate his thinking, the production style and the whole energy of this record.
How can the minds that crafted songs like Native Son, Into The Fire and one of the greatest melodic rock songs of all time - One Night Love Affair – all be a part of this mess?
Please explain Mr. Adams, Mr. Vallance and Mr. Scott!

I hate what Adams has become. He is suffering old man syndrome and along with John Mellencamp, Bob Seger and Tom Cochrane, has forgotten what to do in the studio to capture the energy of their live shows.
 
Tue
11
Aug

BRYAN ADAMS Announces 'I Get Up' Album & 'You Belong To Me' Single

Artist: 
Friday, October 16, 2015
Categories: 
News Feed
 
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Multi-platinum recording artist Bryan Adams is set to release his thirteenth studio album, Get Up (UMe), on October 16. Produced by famed ELO frontman Jeff Lynne and co-written with his long-time collaborator Jim Vallance, the album features nine new songs and four acoustic versions, tracklisting below.  Get Up is available for pre-order now via all digital partners and includes instant-grat track "You Belong To Me," followed by lead track "Brand New Day" available September 7, and the final early download, "Don't Even Try" prior to street date.  Preorder link: http://smarturl.it/BryanAdamsGetUp.
 
A performance clip will be released to accompany the first download "You Belong To Me," and  fans can look forward to the official music video for "Brand New Day" directed by Adams featuring BAFTA Award-winning actress, Helena Bonham Carter, and musician Theo Hutchcraft from acclaimed synth-pop duo Hurts. 
 
Get Up is a solid collection of beautifully-crafted rock songs, from the fast and furious up-tempo tracks such as lead song "Brand New Day," "You Belong To Me" and "Thunderbolt," to the gentler songs such as "Don't Even Try" and "We Did It All," plus the alternative Adams-produced acoustic versions, highlighting Adams' unique voice and depth.. 
 
Get Up is a body of work that Adams is truly proud of and with multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer Jeff Lynne - whose credits include The Beatles, Paul McCartney, Randy Newman and Tom Petty, as well as being the co-founder, producer and member of the Traveling Wilburys - at the helm shaping the record, Get Up will sit nicely alongside Adams' earlier classics.
 
"It came together quite organically," recalls Adams, "song by song, working with Jeff producing over the past couple of years whenever he had time. It was a great partnership as it gave me plenty of time to write the songs, most of which are a collaboration with Jim Vallance. We all worked primarily over the internet from Canada, Europe and LA, sending demos and parts of songs until we got it right."
 
"I've always been a big fan of Bryan so getting to work with him was a great pleasure," says Jeff  Lynne.  "Bryan would send me a demo across the internet, then I would play most of the instruments to make a finished backing track and send it back to him in England. There he would put the lead vocal on to the song and send it back to me in California, 5,400 miles apart! And it's turned out to be a rockin' album!"
"There is a carefree feeling about this album," adds Adams,"and in many ways it is the album I wish I'd been able to make 25 years ago."
 
Adams continues to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of his critically-acclaimed album Reckless last year, with a sold-out global headlining tour – upcoming North American dates below. This summer, Adams will be co-headlining with Rod Stewart at BBC Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park Festival on September 13.
 
Get Up Tracklisting:
  • You Belong To Me
  • Go Down Rockin'
  • We Did It All
  • That's Rock and Roll
  • Don't Even Try
  • Do What Ya Gotta Do
  • Thunderbolt
  • Yesterday Was Just A Dream
  • Brand New Day
  • Don't Even Try – Acoustic
  • We Did It All – Acoustic 
  • You Belong To Me – Acoustic
  • Brand New Day – Acoustic
Upcoming tour dates:
Friday, September 18       
Us Cellular Centre           
Bloomington, IL
Saturday, September 19      
Rogers Amphitheater        
Fayetteville, AR
Sunday, September 20         
Snowden Amphitheater
Memphis, TN
Monday, September 21       
Events Centre           
Springfield, MO           
Wednesday, September 23  
Northrup Auditorium   
Minneapolis, MN
Thursday, September 24       
Sanford Centre          
Bemdji, MN

 
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