Bryan Adams – O2 Arena, London. Saturday, November 22, 2014

Bryan Adams in London, “Reckless 30th Anniversary Tour”, on a Saturday? I HAD TO be there. So I grabbed the Mrs. and there we went.

It was my first time going to a concert in London. I took the tube. No sign of people going to the gig during the trip to the O2. As soon as I got out I saw its unmistakable external structure, kind of reminiscent of a circus.

Bought something to drink and in we went. To me, the main difference from other arenas I´d been to was how high it was. In fact, people suffering from vertigo or fear of heights was recommended to not buy a ticket in the highest areas; that´s how high it was.

The floor was filled with seats (I´ll NEVER understand seats at a rock concert, even Adams himself has commented about it several times during this tour). 

As for the crowd… I´d say the average age was late 40´s – early 50´s. Didn´t see a whole lot of BA t-shirts, and most of the ones I did see were the ones from this tour, which you could buy on the stands. One exception wore “18 ´Til I Die”´s ´96 tee. In fact, I saw a few guys with cotton trousers and jacket, as if they were going to a social event, instead of a rock concert. Rock´N´Roll and cotton? Gimme a break… Anyway, I wore my “Into The Fire” t-shirt, the one I´ve been wearing since my first Adams concert 26 years ago.

The stage had two big screens on each side and a huge one in the middle, which showed the name of the album: “Reckless”. When we were just minutes away from the start of the show that image disappeared and then the original album cover came… and I won´t say anything else. I don’t want to spoil any surprises for anyone going to the show in the future.

At 20:00 sharp the whole band came on stage to play for the next two hours and five minutes; that´s Norm Fisher on bass and Gary Breit on keyboards alongside the inseparable Mickey Curry on drums and maestro Keith Scott on lead guitar with, of course, boss Bryan on mighty vocals and rhythm guitar (also lead guitar sometimes during the show).

This tour could only begin with the rifftastic “Reckless”, an awesome track that didn´t go in the record in 1984 for just a matter of days but it has been included in the recently released “Deluxe” edition. It´s an amazing way to kickstart the show which, when the chorus came, made me yell “RECKLESS!” as if my life depended on it. 

Without stopping, the ending of the first song got almost intertwined with the recognizable drums of the second one and when the two guitarists played the riff in “One Night Love Affair”, a chill went from my neck down to my toes and the hair in my arms stood firm like a soldier. I was already on my own bubble and the rest of the O2 mattered nothing to me: it was just Adams and me singing in unison “You´re the silent type and you caught my eye…”. The heap of emotions and memories (many many years had passed since the last time I´d heard that song live) got to its peak during the last chorus when the band left the master alone with his voice and his electric guitar. The crescendo in “One Night, One Night, One Night…”, which began alone to be joined a little later by the rest of the band, reached its climax with the stunningly melodic solo by Keith and left me so helpless that I didn´t know whether to smile, cry or do both things at the same time.

There was no truce so the leader of the band shouted something I hadn´t heard for over two decades: “She´s Only Happyyyyy!!!”. Yup. It was “She´s Only Happy When She´s Dancin´”, the Party Song in capital letters, in which our friend displayed some lead guitar while he was interacting with the audience. 

“She´s Only Happy” was followed, just as in the album, by the great “Run To You”, sung by everybody as if that was the first time it had been played to us, after which our host talked to us for the very first time of the evening. He explained that the first part of the show would be about commemorating the 30 years of “Reckless” and, with that in mind, he introduced his co-writer Jim Vallance, who joined the band on stage on piano for a singalong of “Heaven”. My wife cried. Enough said.

It looked like they were going to play the album in order, from 1 to 10, but after “Heaven” they went into a great, although shorter than usual, “Kids Wanna Rock”, with less interplay between Adams and Scott. They followed it with “It´s Only Love”, with Keith stealing the show as he always does on this song, after which Bryan spoke in great terms about Tina Turner and thanked her for having him on her “Private Dancer Tour” as the opening act; quoting him: “probably thanks to that tour, you are all here today”.

It was so much fun to listen to “Long Gone” live, 23 years after the last time. A great song that really comes alive on stage. Then we went from Side Two of the vinyl to the end of Side One to listen to that anthem called “Somebody”, a song that got a massive response from the audience.

The next tune, humorously introduced by its writer, was one of the highlights: “Ain´t Gonna Cry”, a rockin´ joy that ended just like on the record: with Keith Scott screaming at the top of his voice. Hilarious.

So there went the whole album. Right? Had all the songs been played? Oh yeah, they still had to play some “Summer Of ´69”. Anyway, as you can imagine, that one got kind of a cold reception ;-).

After “´69”, Bryan stood alone onstage with an acoustic guitar and introduced the next tune with a funny, although vindicative, praise of vinyl. He explained that some of the songs didn´t make it into “Reckless” because 30 years ago there were only a limited amount of material you could fit into a record. Then he performed “Let Me Down Easy”, another track missing from the original LP but included in “Reckless Deluxe”. Different from what we can hear on the special edition of the record, but beautiful and enjoyable all the way. A pleasure for our ears.

That´s when the Canadian singer concluded his revision of “Reckless”, but just like he said: “the good news is I have made 12 more records” and carried on playing 15 more songs until the end of the concert. Among them, “Cuts Like A Knife”, the song he´s played the most times in his whole career; of course, that beautiful ballad, written when he was just 18, called “Straight From The Heart”, the always fun cover of Eddie Cochran´s “C´mon Everybody” and especially, an unexpected and awesome “Too Hot To Handle”, another bonus track off “Reckless”, which he performed to please a fan who had requested it via Twitter. The live version sounded like an improved take on “The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You”: it became my favorite of the whole concert, along with “One Night Love Affair”.

So to sum up: an unforgettable night. If you have the chance to catch this show, don´t waste it. You´ll regret it. I´m telling you.

SETLIST BRYAN ADAMS. 02 ARENA, LONDON. NOVEMBER 22, 2014.

1.     RECKLESS

2.     ONE NIGHT LOVE AFFAIR

3.     SHE´S ONLY HAPPY WHEN SHE´S DANCIN´

4.     RUN TO YOU

5.     HEAVEN

6.     KIDS WANNA ROCK

7.     IT´S ONLY LOVE

8.     LONG GONE

9.     SOMEBODY

10.   AIN´T GONNA CRY

11.   SUMMER OF ´69

12.   LET ME DOWN EASY

13.   EVERYTHING I DO, I DO IT FOR YOU

14.   IF YOU WANNA BE BAD, YOU GOTTA BE GOOD

15.   CUTS LIKE A KNIFE

16.   CAN´T STOP THIS THING WE STARTED

17.   PLEASE FORGIVE ME

18.   WHEN YOU´RE GONE

19.   18 ´TIL I DIE

20.   CLOUD NUMBER 9

21.   THE ONLY THING THAT LOOKS GOOD ON ME IS YOU

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22.   TOO HOT TO HANDLE

23.   YOU´VE BEEN A FRIEND TO ME

24.   C´MON EVERYBODY

25.   SHE KNOWS ME

26.   STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART

27.   ALL FOR LOVE

I´ll leave you now with a video of some of the best moments of the

show.

Bryan Adams – O2 Arena, Londres. Sábado 22 Noviembre 2014

¿Bryan Adams en Londres, un sábado, en la gira 30 aniversario de “Reckless”? Había que ir sí o sí. Y eso hice. Allí me planté, junto a mi mujer.

Antes de empezar, a cualquiera que lea esto, decirle que si tiene intención de acudir a alguno de los conciertos de la gira y quiere ser sorprendido, que deje de leer inmediatamente.

Era la primera vez que iba a un concierto en Londres y, por lo tanto, al O2. Hay diferentes medios de transporte para llegar al recinto. Yo opté por el metro. Durante el viaje no veía ninguna señal que indicara que alguno de los pasajeros fuera al concierto. Nada más salir divisé su inconfundible estructura externa, me recordaba a un circo.

Tras aprovisionarnos debidamente, entramos en el pabellón. La gran diferencia respecto a otros era la altura. La longitud y anchura podían ser similares a las del BEC, por ejemplo, pero las gradas llegaban a un nivel muy alto, hasta el punto de que la organización recomendaba a las personas que sufrieran de vértigo que se abstuvieran de comprar su entrada en esa ubicación.

Las entradas de suelo estaban ocupadas por asientos (nunca entenderé los asientos en un concierto de rock, incluso el propio Adams lo ha comentado varias veces en lo que llevamos de gira). 

En cuanto al público asistente… la media de edad superaba los 50 años, abundaban las calvas y las canas. Vi muy poca gente con camisetas del canadiense, y los pocos que las llevaban eran las conmemorativas del aniversario, con la foto de promoción actual y la leyenda “1984-2014”. Alguna excepción llevaba camiseta del ´96, de la gira de “18 ´Til I Die”. Es más, a mi alrededor había más de uno de punta en blanco con chaqueta y pantalón de algodón, más habituales de un evento social que de un concierto de rock. En fin. Yo llevé mi camiseta de “Into The Fire”, la que llevo portando en cada concierto desde el primero, hace 26 años.

El escenario estaba coronado por tres pantallas, una a cada lado y la central, la cual lucía el nombre del disco “Reckless”. Según se acercaba el comienzo del espectáculo esta imagen cambió por la de la cara del rubio cantante, tal como aparece en la portada original… y no voy a desvelar más de momento. Sólo avanzar que cada canción va acompañada de un vídeo personalizado.

A las 20:00 en punto apareció la banda al completo para desgranar su repertorio durante las siguientes dos horas y cinco minutos. Los habituales en los últimos años Norm Fisher al bajo y Gary Breit a los teclados junto a los inseparables Mickey Curry a la batería, el mítico Keith Scott a la guitarra y, cómo no, el jefe Bryan, a la poderosa voz y guitarra rítmica, solista en determinados momentos.

Esta gira sólo podía empezar de una forma y es con la poderosa “Reckless”, temazo que no entró en el disco del 84 por poco, aunque sí ha sido incluido en la edición “Deluxe” recientemente publicada. Es un comienzo acojonante, que al llegar al estribillo, me impulsó a gritar “RECKLESS!” como si me fuera la vida en ello. 

Sin pausa, el final de la primera canción enlazó con la reconocible batería de la segunda y cuando empezó a sonar el riff de “One Night Love Affair” se me pusieron los pelos como putas escarpias. Yo ya estaba en mi mundo y el resto del O2 me daba igual: éramos sólo Adams y yo cantando al unísono “You´re the silent type and you caught my eye…”. El cúmulo de emociones y recuerdos (hacía muchos años que no tenía la oportunidad de escucharla en directo) alcanzó su cénit en el último estribillo cuando la banda se calló y continuó el maestro en solitario con su voz y su guitarra eléctrica. El crescendo de “One Night, One Night, One Night…” en el que empezó solo para después unirse el resto del grupo y alcanzar el clímax con el impresionante solo de Keith me dejó tan anonadado que no sabía si sonreir, llorar o las dos cosas a la vez.

No había tregua y entonces volví a escuchar ese grito que no había oído desde hace dos décadas: “She´s Only Happyyyyy”. En efecto, era “She´s Only Happy When She´s Dancin´”, la fiesta hecha canción, en la que nuestro héroe aprovechó para lanzarse a un pequeño solo mientras interactuaba con el público. 

“She´s Only Happy” fue seguida, al igual que en el disco, por la gran “Run To You”, no por mil veces escuchada menos coreada, tras la cual el anfitrión se dirigió por primera vez a los invitados. Explicó que la primera parte del show consistiría en conmemorar los 30 años de “Reckless” y a continuación presentó nada menos que a Jim Vallance, su co-compositor, quien apareció para tocar el piano en la coreadísima “Heaven”. Mi mujer lloró. No tengo nada más que añadir.

Parecía que iba a seguir el orden del disco de la 1 a la 10, pero tras “Heaven” atacaron con una gran “Kids Wanna Rock”, aunque más corta de lo habitual, con menos intercambio de solos entre ambos guitarristas. Siguieron con “It´s Only Love”, con el protagonismo y lucimiento habitual de Keith Scott, tras la cual Bryan habló en términos muy elogiosos y sobre todo de agradecimiento a Tina Turner, por lo que supuso para su carrera que la americana le llevara como telonero en su “Private Dancer Tour”; citando sus propias palabras “probablemente gracias a esa gira, vosotros estáis hoy aquí”.

Fue una gozada escuchar en directo “Long Gone”, 23 años después de la última vez. Una gran canción que gana mucho en directo. Entonces pasamos de la Side Two del vinilo al final de la Side One para escuchar ese himno que es “Somebody”, cuyo estribillo fue coreado en masa.

Entonces vino uno de los momentos estrella, previa presentación jocosa por parte del compositor: “Ain´t Gonna Cry”, gozada rockera que acabó hilarantemente al igual que en el disco: con el desgarrador grito de Keith Scott.

Ya estaba tocado todo el disco. ¿O no? ¿Faltaba alguna? Ah sí, una tal “Summer Of ´69”. Bueno, sin más. Como os podéis imaginar, pasó sin pena ni gloria ;-).

Tras “´69”, Bryan se quedó solo en el escenario con una acústica y presentó el próximo tema con una graciosa, aunque reivindicativa, defensa del vinilo. Explicó que algunas canciones se quedaron fuera de “Reckless” porque 30 años atrás podías meter sólo un número determinado de canciones en un vinilo, y entonces tocó “Let Me Down Easy”, otro de los temas que no salieron en el original pero sí en la versión especial 30 aniversario del disco. Nada que ver con lo que encontramos en “Reckless Deluxe”, pero preciosa, una gozada para los oídos.

En ese momento dio por concluido el repaso a “Reckless”, pero como dijo: “la buena noticia es que tengo otros 12 discos” y continuó tocando 15 temas más hasta el final. Entre lo más destacable, “Cuts Like A Knife”, la canción que más veces ha interpretado a lo largo de su carrera; por supuesto, ese baladón compuesto a los 18 años que es “Straight From The Heart”, la siempre gratificante “C´mon Everybody” de Eddie Cochran y sobre todo, una inesperada y acojonante “Too Hot To Handle”, otro de los extras de “Reckless” que interpretó exclusivamente porque se lo habían pedido por Twitter y que en directo sonó a una versión mejorada de “The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You”: mi favorita de todo el concierto junto a “One Night Love Affair”.

Resumiendo, simplemente por tener la oportunidad de escuchar “Reckless” al completo en directo (junto a alguna de las inéditas), os recomiendo encarecidamente que si tenéis la oportunidad de presenciar un concierto de esta gira, no la desaprovechéis.

SETLIST BRYAN ADAMS, 02 ARENA LONDRES. 22 NOVIEMBRE 2014.

1.     RECKLESS

2.     ONE NIGHT LOVE AFFAIR

3.     SHE´S ONLY HAPPY WHEN SHE´S DANCIN´

4.     RUN TO YOU

5.     HEAVEN

6.     KIDS WANNA ROCK

7.     IT´S ONLY LOVE

8.     LONG GONE

9.     SOMEBODY

10.   AIN´T GONNA CRY

11.   SUMMER OF ´69

12.   LET ME DOWN EASY

13.   EVERYTHING I DO, I DO IT FOR YOU

14.   IF YOU WANNA BE BAD, YOU GOTTA BE GOOD

15.   CUTS LIKE A KNIFE

16.   CAN´T STOP THIS THING WE STARTED

17.   PLEASE FORGIVE ME

18.   WHEN YOU´RE GONE

19.   18 ´TIL I DIE

20.   CLOUD NUMBER 9

21.   THE ONLY THING THAT LOOKS GOOD ON ME IS YOU

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22.   TOO HOT TO HANDLE

23.   YOU´VE BEEN A FRIEND TO ME

24.   C´MON EVERYBODY

25.   SHE KNOWS ME

26.   STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART

27.   ALL FOR LOVE

Os dejo con un vídeo resumen de los mejores momentos del concierto:

Bryan Adams – Reckless. 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition

On November 5, 1984, Bryan Adams celebrated his 25th birthday releasing the album for which he will always be remembered: his fourth record “Reckless”. In order to commemorate its 30th anniversary, he has just put out a special Deluxe and SuperDeluxe edition of the LP.

The Deluxe version includes a remastered CD (or vinyl) with its 10 original songs plus 7 bonus tracks: six tunes that were recorded by other artists and one never released. What we´ll hear are Bryan´s original demos, which have a surprising great quality considering they are exactly that: demos. Also included is a live concert recorded by the BBC in London´s Hammersmith Odeon in April 1985 during that year´s world tour to promote the album.

Inside the SuperDeluxe version you´ll find both CDs as well as a DVD with the original 1984 “Reckless - The Movie” (almost all the singles forming a sort of an intertwined story), and the video for “It´s Only Love”, which couldn´t be in the movie since it was recorded in 1985. Lastly, there is a Blu-Ray with the original LP and the seven bonus tracks, as well as a great booklet with never before seen pictures of the recording sessions, all the lyrics, a conversation between Adams and co-writer Jim Vallance talking about the songs and their memories about the project, etc.

This box set is amazing. A must. Before I start talking about it, here is the link to the interview I did with Bryan a little more than a month ago talking about “Reckless Deluxe”:

http://rockntalk1.blogspot.com.es/2014/10/bryan-adams-interview-part-2-talks.html

The writing of the album began in December of ´83 and finished in March of ´84. It was interrupted in February when B.A. and the band had the chance to open for The Police in Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii, in their last concerts before they called it quits. “Reckless” was recorded between March and August ´84 and turned the young rocker into a superstar.

“One night love affair” is a great song with an anecdote: to make his guitarist Keith Scott laugh, the first time Bryan played it to him, he sang: “if the night was made for love, it ain´t for KEITH”. On the record you can see and hear the original lyric (“it ain´t for keeps”), but when they play it live, most times he sings it like that. The song was road tested in the Australian tour with The Police to check the audience reaction and see if it was worth including on the album. We know the answer.

The lyrics on “She´s Only Happy When She´s Dancin´” are inspired by “Another Day”, Paul McCartney´s first solo single. They both talk about a day in the life of some girl, only Adams/Vallance´s has a better time. Lou Gramm, singer of Foreigner, adds background vocals.

“Run To You” was written for Blue Oyster Cult, but they passed on it. In fact, the arpeggio riff in the beginning is inspired on “Don´t Fear The Reaper”. It´s a one take, which is not very usual. The organ in the chorus was supposed to serve as a guide for the background vocals but Bryan didn´t like them and they were left out. If you think about it, “Run To You” is one of the very few songs in the Adams catalogue that has no background vocals. It was the first single and his favorite on the whole album. He said: “It´s about three people. You, the one you love, and the one you fancy.”

Some people didn´t want “Heaven” to be on “Reckless”, since it had gone unnoticed when it had been released on the soundtrack of the movie for which it had been written the year before: well, it was his first number 1 in June of ´85.

“Somebody” was the second single. Little to comment about except what Bryan said: “That was me trying to sound like Nile Rogers”.

“Summer of ´69” was the most complicated song to record. Neither Adams nor Vallance could find an arrangement they were totally happy with. They recorded it three times until settling on what we know. At first, the track began with the middle section arpeggio, it was also slower… they even considered leaving it off the album. Nowadays, when they hear it on the radio, they can´t seem to understand what they didn´t like about it. The original title was “Best Days Of My Life”. It has become a rock´n´roll classic and it´s the song Bryan is always identified with.

In 2003, Bryan talked about every line of the song for his fanclub. Here we go:

I GOT MY FIRST REAL SIX-STRING: I wanted this song start out about what it was like to start a band, even though the song is really about having sex in the summer. I was really into Bob Seger´s songs at that time (still am)… songs like “Night Moves” and “Hollywood Nights”. Great stuff. I wanted a song that had that kind of sexual tension lyrically, this was my attempt at that.

BOUGHT IT AT THE FIVE-AND-DIME: I bought my first imitation Les Paul at a pawn shop in Ottawa in 1972, that is where that line comes from.

PLAYED IT TIL MY FINGERS BLED: Any guitarist will testify to this problem and in my case it was fact! When I started at age 10, the only time I put the guitar down was when my fingers were in shreads.

IT WAS THE SUMMER OF ´69: The oblique reference to making love. Over the years, Vallance had mentioned the film “Summer of ´42” at some point during our early writing years and it stuck with me. This is where the reference “Summer of…”comes from. I added 69 to the end of it and then worked backwards – writing the song, telling an imaginary tale of sex and summertime, using some of our own personal references.

ME AND SOME GUYS FROM SCHOOL HAD A BAND AND WE TRIED REAL HARD: That´s for sure. I spent years in my basement waiting for a singer to answer the ad we put in and no one answered the ad. So I became the singer. I met Vallance in 1978 and we spent years in his basement and mine writing songs. It´s all about the basement if you are a rock musician.

JIMMY QUIT AND JODY GOT MARRIED – I SHOULDA KNOWN WE´D NEVER GET FAR: Jimmy was a temporary drummer I had worked with on the first live solo tour I did in Canada, and Jody is my soundman – and still is more than thirty years later. Jimmy had some other references to people but I wanted it to be about real people in my life. Ironically Jim Vallance quit too, but I don´t think of him when I sing that bit.

OH WHEN I LOOK BACK NOW, THAT SUMMER SEEMED TO LAST FOREVER. AND IF I HAD THE CHOICE, YA I´D ALWAYS WANNA BE THERE – THOSE WERE THE BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE. Until I blurted out “summer of ´69!” the song was called “Best Days Of My Life”, which isn´t a bad title really, just the other one was more interesting. Much more could be read into “´69” and I think that is part of the song´s success.

AIN´T NO USE IN COMPLAININ´ WHEN YOU GOT A JOB TO DO. Ain´t that the truth? I had a job digging a ditch for minimum wage until I got a job stripping forms off concrete foundations. Then I hit the big time as a dishwasher in 1974 working for 2,10 $ an hour at a place called The Tomahawk Barbeque in North Vancouver. I did that for a year until I earned enough money to buy myself a proper guitar – a Fender Strat. The moment I had that guitar, I quit the kitchen career, joined a band and went on the road. I was 15.

SPENT MY EVENINS DOWN AT THE DRIVE-IN – AND THAT´S WHEN I MET YOU. Nostalgic imagery. I think Vallance mentioned the drive-in: it paints the picture of summer time and what it was like in Canada growing up – and getting it together with someone.

STANDIN´ ON YOUR MAMA´S PORCH. I loved the Mid-Western references that Springsteen, Seger and Cougar used. This is a nod to that. To tell the story it needed to have an innocence, the idea of dating someone, taking her home. The tenderness of a first kiss… all that stuff.

YOU TOLD ME THAT YOU´D WAIT FOREVER. OH AND WHEN YOU HELD MY HAND I KNEW THAT IT WAS NOW OR NEVER. THOSE WERE THE BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE. BACK IN THE SUMMER OF ´69. I´m glad she didn´t wait forever cuz she´d have waited a long time.

MAN WE WERE KILLIN´ TIME- WE WERE YOUNG AND RESTLESS-WE NEEDED TO UNWIND-I GUESS NOTHIN´ CAN LAST FOREVER. I was thinking about Bob Seger´s “Night Moves” in this section. The idea of sexually unwinding, not much of a care in the world other than that moment.

AND NOW THE TIMES ARE CHANGIN´. Bob Dylan reference here. I ended up touring with Dylan once in France. He´s incredible live – it was tough having to go up and sing my songs after his. It was embarrassing in fact.

LOOK AT EVERYTHING THAT´S COME AND GONE. SOMETIMES WHEN I PLAY THAT OLD SIX-STRING I THINK ABOUT YOU WONDER WHAT WENT WRONG. Pure nostalgia. You had a great summer, and when summer ended, it was all different. How come?

ME AND MY BABY IN A ´69. Need I say more?

In June ´84 B.A. decided he still didn´t have the album he wanted and decided to take a month off to cool out and try to write something new… and came back to the studio with “Kids Wanna Rock”, probably the hardest rocking song he´s ever written. “It was the one thing I thought this album really needed. And I can´t imagine it without it” , said Bryan. The title was an expression they´d been using for some time, but the idea took shape that summer of ´84 when they went to a Thomas Dolby concert… and walked out after a few minutes. That´s where lines like “This computerized crap ain´t gettin´ me off, everywhere I go the kids wanna rock” originated.

Little to say about “It´s Only Love”, the awesome duet he recorded with Tina Turner, that hasn´t been said. Pure rockin´ chemistry.

“Long Gone” is a humorous song about divorce that could have been included on “Cuts Like A Knife”, but it took them a while to find the right lyric. The song took a life of its own in concert due to the audience participation.

The record ends with “Ain´t Gonna Cry”, a hard rocking ditty which serves as an introduction to Keith Scott´s vocal chords: he´s the one screaming at the very end of the song. He was playing the guitar lying on the floor of the studio with the headphones taped to his head with gaffer´s tape so they wouldn´t fall off.

There go the 10 original songs. Let´s review the bonus tracks now:

“Let Me Down Easy”, although written for Stevie Nicks, was finally recorded by Roger Daltrey for his “Under A Raging Moon” solo LP. Bryan even appeared on the video. Good song. Adams sings it in a slightly different way and his version is somewhat reminiscent of “Somebody”.

“Teacher Teacher” is a catchy rocker that was recorded by 38 Special for the movie “Teachers”. Bryan said: “I had always wanted to write a song that had a word repeated twice, that was my inspiration”.

“Boys Night Out” is a great rocker that was supposed to go on “Reckless”, but the band Krokus asked for it and B.A. gave it away, which didn´t make Vallance very happy and made manager Bruce Allen downright angry: he loved the song and wanted it on the album. Now we have the chance to know the author´s version, which is a bit slower.

“Draw The Line” was recorded, among others, by Ted Nugent and it´s another rockin´ tune we´ll now enjoy on Adams´ unmistakable voice.

“Play To Win” is another great rocker with another equally great vocal by Bryan.

“Too Hot To Handle” is the unreleased song on this box set. It had not been recorded by anybody until now. It´s an awesome track that sounds like the ZZ TOP of the “Eliminator” era. It´s hard to believe it wasn´t included on “Reckless” or any other album. It´s worth pointing out that Mr. Adams takes care of both rhythm and lead guitar on this tune.

The last unreleased song by the Canadian is the title track: “Reckless”. It didn´t make the album since it was written around the same time it hit the shops so they gave it away to Loverboy, who recorded it and changed the title to “Dangerous” to avoid comparisons with their hometown buddy. According to what I´ve heard in recent interviews, I think it´s Bryan´s favorite among the bonus tracks. No surprise: it´s a really cool tune.

Other songs written for the LP that haven´t been included in this box set were “Diana”, about the Princess of Wales, which ended up on the b-side of the “Heaven” single, and “Edge of A Dream”, recorded by Joe Cocker for the soundtrack of the movie “Teachers”.

The second CD is a live concert recorded in London in April 1985. The best thing for fans of that era is the live version of “Long Gone”, hard to find in bootlegs of that tour.

I do want to rescue one of my favorite songs: “The Only One”, the opening track on his previous album "Cuts Like A Knife".

The "Reckless - The Movie" DVD contains the videos for

“This time”

“Summer of ´69”

“Somebody”

“Kids Wanna Rock”

“Heaven”

and “Run To You”

as well as “It´s Only Love”, which was recorded live a few months after it was released.

To sum up, Adams brings us a box set with his best compositions of ´84-´85. Indispensable. Personally, I would love it if he did something similar with “Into The Fire”.

Finally, I´d like to point out that Bryan has just began a “Reckless 30th Anniversary Tour”, with dates confirmed in the UK, Europe and Canada until February 2015 which will probably continue throughout the rest of the year. If it comes to your town, don´t you dare miss it!