Bryan Adams' "11"

Last Saturday (May 17), I drove out in a jiffy to the Walmart on the Algonquin Rd. I parked the car and rushed into the store. Went straight to the Audio CDs section. Browsed through the wrong corner in the Rock section. Suddenly realized the new releases could be on the other side.

There I found it, the CD I wanted 4 days ago when it got released (May 13) but could not due to other obligations.

Bryan Adams has released his new album after 4 years. And this one, called "11", like the last one "Room Service" has been recorded during the time of his concerts, backstage and in hotels.

Usually as a big Bryan Adams fan, here are the top 3 best things I like about his songs:

3. acoustic and electric solo guitars (both BA and Keith Scott's)

2. vocals of BA...divine.

1. lyrics.

Well, there is a specific pattern in the lyrics of all BA songs, they are so meaningful. I have always found the BA songs so close to heart, simple, easy, and in some way magical.

When "Room Service" was released, all the songs were just typically BA songs, I liked all of them!!

However in "11", I am a little disappointed with the lyrics. The stories in the songs are also not so really Bryan Adamish....that "mysticism" is missing!! The vocals, of course, he is at his usual best.

There are some beautiful lines though:

"I thought I'd seen everything" : he croons "its just the way you are- that makes me feel so much"

"I ain't losin' the fight":

"how come the best ones are always taken

what i see when i see ya- is love in the makin'

something about timin', something about fate

gotta go with the feeling- not a moment to waste"

And again:

"cuz opposites attract this way

if day is night and night is day

if loving you is wrong then babe- wrong is right

and i ain't losin' the fight"

" We found what we were looking for" :

"we found our wings and now we fly above the wind..."

"Broken Wings":

"now i feel i can believe in anything

you taught me how to fly on broken wings"

" Mysterious Ways":

"the world is full of mysteries

full of magic and of wonder

there's so much more than what we see

can't explain the spell i'm under

everytime i look upon your face

i'm constantly amazed

and love moves through my days

in mysterious ways"

"She's got a way":

"she's got a way- of taming the wild in me

with patience and serenity

i'm drowning in her revery

and i can't run away she's got a way to make me stay"

The entire song of "Walk on by" has good lines in it.

Of course, none of the songs, in entirety are up to the standards of the usual Bryan Adams.

Hope to hear more from him in the next few years, in fact songs even with more deeper meaning like the "Open Road" or "Inside Out" or the all-time biggest hit single "Everything I do".

Siddartha Pamulaparty

May 19, 2008