(Universal/A&M)
It was just before Christmas 1984 when I received a phone call from Bruce Allen asking if I was interested in writing a Music Express feature story on Bryan Adams who was conducting his first headline U.S tour in support of his fourth album, Reckless. The album had just been released in October and, based on the strength of the record’s debut single “Run To You” was making a dent in the Billboard Hot 100 charts, eventually topping out at No 6.
It was a brief tour (Honeymoon Suite opened) starting in Chicago on Boxing Day followed by Detroit, Cleveland, and Philadelphia before hitting New Jersey on New Year’s Eve. These were early days for the album, some of the reviews were a little tepid and “ Run To You” was starting to run out of steam on the charts. The Adams’ brain trust had decided on “Somebody” as the second single, but when I was asked what song I thought should be the third single, my suggestion of “Heaven” was criticized by both Adams and Allen because that song had been featured in a really bad movie; “One Night In Heaven”. “Yes, the movie was bad but I still think the song is the best track on the album,” said I. Five months later, “Heaven”, the album’s third single, became Adams’ first ever No1 single on Billboard triggering three more hits; “Summer Of 69”, “One Night Love Affair” and Adams’ duet with the then blistering hot Tina Turner on “It’s Only Love”.
Recorded at Vancouver’s Little Mountain Sound, co-produced by Bob Clearmountain and co-written with Jim Vallance, Reckless would go on to sell 5 million copies in the U.S, over one million copies in Canada, top both U.S and Canadian charts and set the foundation for a historic global recording and performing career which still carries on to this day.
With Adams planning another major North American tour in February, it is only fitting that Universal Music (which bought out his original label A&M) have marked the 30th anniversary of Reckless by reissuing the record in five different formats.
The super deluxe format features a totally re-mastered copy of the original 10 songs along with seven additional tracks which include “Teacher Teacher” that was covered by 38 Special, and the title track, “Reckless” which was deleted from the original release. CD number two is a live concert recording from an April 1985 show Adams played at London’s Hammersmith Odeon and features 15 tracks from Reckless, Cuts Like A Knife and the You Want It You Got It albums. Also included is a copy of the long form video shot by noted director Steve Barron (A-Ha, Dire Straits, Michael Jackson) which spins a story connecting various videos from the recording and a Blue Ray pure audio disc of the record.
These discs are contained in a package featuring a hard back book which contains interviews with Adams and Vallance, a technical interview with engineer Bob Ludwig plus photos, notes, spreadsheets and other memorabilia connected with Reckless. Other formats include a deluxe 2 CD package, a re-mastered original CD, a 2-LP vinyl set plus a Blue Ray pure audio DVD.
When it comes to compiling the greatest popular records every recorded by a Canadian artist, Bryan Adams’s Reckless release is an almost automatic selection on these lists. A truly phenomenal record which featured six singles and still stands as a benchmark for recording excellence. And to finally have those additional seven tracks is a definite bonus for any Adams fan.
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