Customer Reviews

Anthology

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This compilation of music by one of Canada's most important singers is presented in approximate chronological order, beginning in 1980 with Remember. The first Bryan Adams song that I became familiar with is Straight from the heart, which became his first top ten hit in America. It wasn't a hit for him in Britain but Bonnie Tyler covered it for her album, Faster than the speed of night. A hugely successful album that spawned a British and American number one hit, Total eclipse of the heart, it surely can't have harmed Bryan's career to have a cover of one of his songs on such a successful album, even though his name among the credits may not have meant anything to many Brits who bought the album at the time. Meanwhile in America, two follow-up singles to Straight from the heart (Cuts like a knife, This time) gained respectable top thirty chart placings.

It didn't take long before Bryan's singles started charting in Britain as well as America, although his British chart placings have generally (but not always) been lower than the corresponding American placings. By far the biggest hit of his career in either country is the Robin Hood movie theme, Everything I do. Number one in both countries, it spent sixteen consecutive weeks there in Britain. Bryan has returned to the number one spot in Britain just once, with Chicane on Don't give up. His other British top ten hits include Thought I'd died and gone to heaven, Please forgive me, All for love (with Rod Stewart and Sting), Have you ever really loved a woman?, The only thing that looks good on me is you, When you're gone (with Melanie C, a former member of the Spice Girls), Cloud number nine and Here I am. Most of these songs (and some others) also made the top ten in America.

Apart from the collaborations already mentioned, Bryan also teamed up with Tina Turner (It's only love) and Bonnie Raitt (Rock steady - though this is really a Bonnie Raitt solo for which Bryan wrote the song and provided instrumental backing). All the songs I've mentioned, along with many others, can be found on this wonderful double CD.

Bryan's mix of up-tempo rocking songs and slow romantic ballads doesn't please everybody but it pleases me immensely. His universal appeal cuts across many genres of music. Country singer T G Sheppard and Welsh opera singer Katherine Jenkins are among those who have covered Everything I do. Similarly, country group Highway 101 and the classical crossover group Il Divo both covered Have you ever really loved a woman?

In an age where musicians seemed to introduce complexity for its own sake, Bryan Adams opted for the simple approach. His music is raw rock'n'roll that has just enough embellishment to appeal to contemporary music fans, yet has a basic simplicity that appeals to older listeners. If you want just one collection of Bryan's music, this is surely the one to choose.

I am a very serious and knowledgable BA fan. You know what I noticed, it seems like the record companies enjoy to just keep pumping out same-ole same-ole compilations and hits collections just to cash in from newer fans or people who are only casual fans. After 1993's so far so good and 2002's best of me which covered the 90's and late 90's material as well as all bryan's under the radar 2000's albums and the commercial failure 11 you'd think we'd see some beefed up remasters of reckless, cuts like a knife, into the fire and last but not least.....his EARLY albums before he made it big. As well as the out of print unreleased "Diana" single...but that's not the case here. Anthology (2005) is just the same old hits we hear all over rock radio stations on the weekends. This compilation, like all the others, fails to give a decent overview of his early early hits before he went big in the US and UK. Songs like "Fits Ya Good", "Jealousy", "Best was Yet To Come", "Coming Home" and "Victim of Love" "Remember" "Give Me Your Love" are nowhere to be found. Hey A&M, here's a wake up call, remind people about his older albums and you might make some decent coin. Until then, all your compilations will be worthless.

I recommend everybody buy his early albums like "Bryan Adams", "Into The Fire" and "You Want It You Got It" so you can hear some good hard rock tunes from Bryan before Mutt Lange got ahold of him. I know everybody's heard Reckless and Cuts Like A Knife enough that you're ready to vomit from the radio overplay. Both are available right here on amazon for under $15 bucks each.

Most people probably have forgotten the song "Diana" which, I believe, was written as a smitten love song for Princess Di. Absolutely great song that was only put out on an EP. Probably one of his best rockers ever.

Glad to see a lot of positive reviews regarding this release. First, if you were lucky to get this when it first came out, you got a pretty awesome concert DVD with it, which makes this a pretty good value right off the bat. I was exposed to Bryan Adam's music driving up and down the east coast and watching MTV before it became Reality-TV. Let's face it, these are all songs you can sing to with a smile on your face, or sing while missing that special someone. Disc one has all the songs you know from the 80's: Straight From the Heart, Cuts Like a Knife, This Time, Run to You, Somebody, Summer of '69, One Night Love Affair. All songs that rock. Yes there are the ballads but you know you can sing along with them too and still be cool. Disc 2 covers his career from 1993 until 2005. This is when his career slowed down a bit, but allow yourself the pleasure of being introduced to some of these songs. Yes, the beat has slowed down, but the songs are still good: Please Forgive Me, All For Love (with Sting and Rod Stewart), Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?, Rock Steady (from the Bonnie Raitt CD "Road Tested", and "The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You", one of my favorites of his 1990's hits. Another bonus is the booklet which accompanies this CD, where Bryan gives the back story on every song on this CD, along with instrumental credits. If you don't own "So Far, So Good", pick this one up for a longer career overview, or if you do own it, pick this up anyway and get into Bryan's good songs from the 1990's. Oh, and sonically, the rockers rock out, and the ballads are smooth so you won't go wrong with this CD.

This album is like looking back to another age where life was more simple. About times past and how things were. Nostalgic almost.

This CD is great - we also saw him in concert and he was fantastic, terrific, so cute and really funny

Another fabulous CD from moviemars. Only trouble is -- I listen to it almost exclusively (And I have a lot of CDs). But I'm sure this will change in a few weeks. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the hell out of it. Oh yeah: It is in perfect condition and arrived promptly.

Before I was a fan and knew a lot about Bryan's music, I used to have this song I taped from the radio but it was only a beginning riff. This was way before Google, Amazon, and other pay download sites. Imagine a 13 year old walking into a record store with his Walkman asking them to listen to this 6 second guitar riff. The song was "This Time". And since then i've been a fan of Bryan Adams.

As far as the collection, I do really like the fact that they finally released a 2 disc set of ALL (and so i thought) of his best songs. The great songs are on here ("This Time", "Summer of '69", "Everything I Do", "All For Love" - from Three Musketeers, etc.) are all here. And for around $15 with free shipping it's definitely not a bad deal.

That being said I can't give the collection 5 stars because of the omission of a few songs. "Do I Have To Say The Words" which is a great ballad is not on here. It appears on the "So Far So Good" compilation but not on an Anthology? There were also 2 Holiday songs recorded by Bryan Adams on a double-sided 45 record. They were "Christmas Time" and "Reggae Christmas". "There Will Never Be Another Tonight" (great song but barely a hit) made this comp but "Do I Have To Say The Words" didn't?

All in all, this is a great compilation and I would recommend it to any fan of Bryan Adams or even those looking to discover his music. But As a DJ and collector, I like all of the best songs on 1 CD/Anthology which is why I can't give this 5 stars though I would really like to.

I didnt realize that Bryan Adams has so many great songs. But on this album you get them all! Its great!

I have love the music of Bryan Adams since I was in high school. There really is something for everybody on this album. I bought it because it contained my 3 favorite songs in one place on CD (up until now I only had one of the 3 on cassett)

Great love songs, great music to dance too, and fun.