Customer Reviews

Reckless

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I darn near shredded my tender vocal cords trying to sound like the protagonist of "Summer of '69." That was the epic summer of '85. Nineteen years later, I'm still happy when this song comes on the radio. Of course I get a lump in my throat over that final "and now the times are changin'/look at everything that's come and gone" stanza...this coming of age masterpiece is made all the better by the fact that Bryan Adams still had his baby teeth in 1969, putting "Summer" smack in the middle of the nowhere rock geography shared by Journey's "south Detroit" and Kim Wylde's "east California."

At this point, the tracks are imprinted on my DNA. "Heaven" is an evergreen, "One Night Love Affair" is a tasty opener, "Run To You" is a dark ode to having a l'il teen something something on the side. Yep, Reckless is prime sanitized Telecaster flannel rock. I love every song on this record. And anyone who loves Reckless as much as I do tends to keep it to herself. But you're gonna buy this CD, even though you already have it on vinyl and cassette, so you're equally busted.

I know Bryan Adams is considered a light weight in the music business, but the facts remain that he is able to continually make good pop standards. Reckless is a great disc--it has 6 hits "One Night Love Affair", "Run To You", "Heaven", "Somebody", Summer of '69" and "It's Only Love." How many records today can boast that many hits? The music on Reckless has a nice, airy feel to it. It's uplifting even when the messages are downbeat. It holds a place in my childhood because I was 12 when it was released in 1984. However, it has stood the test of time too. Reckless is a great addition to any rock collector's music collection.

If you don't like rock and roll, don't bother with this album. For those of you who only know the later Bryan Adams (the guy who sang with Barbara Streisand and is a darling of the "lite FM" genre),this album may be a little shocking -- it is honest, straight up, occasionally guitar crunching rock and roll. All the promise of his earlier "Cuts Like A Knife" is fullfilled in this album. "Ain't Gonna Cry" is a terrific song for that significant other you were relieved to see go. "It's Only Love" features Tina Turner in all her soulful glory. "Run to You" is still a (cheating)classic, as are "Somebody" and "Summer of 69" (all of which still get regular airplay on rock radio). I first bought this on cassette in 1987, and once CD's became common, it was the first CD I ever bought. It's been many years since the release of these songs, but I put it on the other day, and it still stands up. Not only is this Bryan Adams' best album, but it's one of the most underrated albums of all time.

This is undoubtediy his most popular album (with 1991's Waking

up the neighbours in 2 place. This has all the best songs of his

1980's career. It has the power ballad Heaven, which was his first #1 single. It has the rocking side with Run to you, Summer

of '69, and Kids wanna rock. He also sings duet with Tina Turner

on It's only love. I really wish he would try to recapture the

essence of this time, instead of the work he's putting out now.

If you only buy one B.A. album. Make it this one.

"Reckless" by Bryan Adams is an essential addition to anyone who grew up in the 80's and still loves to rock. I downloaded this album for under $2 and since buying the hit songs individually would have cost me at least double what I paid, I'm a happy girl!

The entire album became a hit in 1985 and 24 years later, it's still a hit...at least with me.

Yup, it was summer of 1984 (not '69). And this album pretty much had one hit after another. "It's Only Love" with Tina Turner rocks your socks off. Even the ballads are cool. Prior to this, "Cuts Like a Knife" was all I really knew of Bryan Adams. But this album is the pinnacle of his career. And always will be, for 10 good reasons: the songs.

Bryan Adams' 1984 album "Reckless" has really become his signature album for his career. Although "Everything I Do, I Do It For You" was his most successful single, that was found on the "Waking Up the Neighbours". The album "Reckless" really was a monster hit. It spawned 6 Top 40 singles including the #1 hit "Heaven" (the other songs were "Run to You", "Somebody", "Summer of 69", "One Night Love Affair", and "It's Only Love". "Reckless" was released at a time when the music and pop industry was in one of its peak periods for the decade. The fact that "Reckless" had multi-platnium sales and 6 Top 40 singles during a very competitive time in the industry speaks volumes for this particular piece of work. Bryan also came out when Canadian musicians was making an impact. Rush was continuing to be a major force in progressive Rock while Corey Hart had some success on the Pop circuit. Adams would soon pass them and become Canada's #1 music act in terms of commerical sales.

The Title "Reckless" says it all. "Reckless" is actually a reference in to a line in the final song "Aint Gonna Cry" in which Adams sings "I got Reckless baby". The album was made when Adams was in his mid 20s and really does a great job at telling tales from a young male's perspective of someone this age. The songs from the album were all collaborations between Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance. Many people say when the Adams/Vallance duo split from songwriting in the 90s that Adams career went into decline. But it was Vallance who contributed some of the strongest songwriting in Bryan's career.

Bryan Adams has always been blessed with working with some of the most talented studio musicians in the business. Many of these musicians have stayed with Bryan for the past 20 years. Keith Scott and Dave Taylor have been long time guitarists. Vallance makes percussion contributions. Mickey Curry and Pat Steward are the drummers while Tommy Mandel plays keyboards. The producer of this album is Bob Clearmountain known to be one of the best studio mixers in the business. Clearmountain did a great job at working the right sound on this album.

The content of the album is first rate all the way. As for the packaging, the cover features what has become a trademark black and white picture of Bryan Adams with a classic 80s haircut and a leather jacket. The liner notes contain all of the lyrics to all of the songs as well as the band credits and contributions on each song. There are also 3 notable guests on the album. The most famous of the 3 is Tina Turner who actually shares lead vocals with Bryan on the Top 40 hit "It's Only Love". Her contribution on this album actually coincided with her big comeback in 1984. The chemistry between Bryan and Tina in this song is incredible and passionate (so much there were actually romantic rumors between the two). Lou Gramm of Foreigner does some background vocals on "She's Only Happy When She's Dancing" which wasn't a Top 40 hit, but could have easily have been one. Steve Smith of Journey does Drums on the hit Heaven.

The album is arranged perfectly. I couldn't think of a better song to kick off the "Reckless" album than "One Night Love Affair" and I couldn't think of a better song to wrap the album up with than "Aint Gonna Cry". All of the songs are harder edge Rock songs except for "Heaven" which was the lone ballad. The best song on the album is probably the song "Run To You". This was the first single released from the album and it really put Bryan Adams on the music landscape. I never grow tired of that song. What also is worth noting are the non Top 40 songs that are on this album "Aint Gonna Cry", "Long Gone", and "She's Only Happy When She's Dancing" all merit as solid hits. The 4th song "Kids Wanna Rock" is a fan favorite, but not a personal favorite of mine - yet it too could have been a solid hit based on its popularity.

I was very surprised this album didn't get consideration for "Album of the Year". There is a lot of great lyrics and great music to back this up. After this album, Adams would release "Into The Fire" which might not have been the commerical monster that "Reckless" was, but would continue to the path of Adams becoming one of the premier musicians in the industry.

I have all of Brayn Adams albums (apart from his first two) and I can safely say that this one is definately his rockiest, catchiest and his best one. Every song is basically a hit. This album is the best one to get if you're starting a BA collection.

The songs:

1. One night love affair - This is a fairly catchy song. It isn't hard and rock, but it's fun to sing, but it gets boring after a while. 9/10

2. She's only happy when she's dancing - This is really fun and catchy. It's faster than "One night..." and it's definately better. 9/10

3. Run to you - One of his bigger hits from the album. The guitar playing is very dark. Again, it's catchy but not as hard and after loads of listens it gets kinda boring. 9/10

4. Heaven - The only slow song on the album, but it's one of my favourites. Good piano, with cool lead guitar in the background and a sweet solo. Slow, but catchy. 10/10

5. Somebody - This is another favourite. You can really feel the 80s sond in it. 10/10

6. Summer of 69 - By far the best song on the album. Everyone in my family loves and why shouldn't they? Really catchy and just completely fun. The lyrics are easy to remember. 10+/10

7. Kids wanna rock - The hardest song on the album. Really enjoyable to listen to. A real air guitar song. 10/10

8. It's only love - This is my least favourite on the album, but that's only because Tina Turner sings the most of it. It's a catchy song, but I'd prefer Bryan to sing the most of it, but he does good guitar in it. 8/10

9. Long gone - Good opening riff. This is kinda hard too. Sounds brilliant load. But, not the best track. 8.5/10

10. Ain't goanna cry - The most underrated song on the album. I love this track, but most people I know hate it. It's hard again, but it's really fun. Great riffs, lots of shouting. A great way to end the album. 10/10

If you love other 80s people like Bon Jovi, Springsteen, and... all those other rokers then get this. You will love it!

Being that I hear most of the music i like from dad and the radio I tend to give most albums he has a listen to, just to see what i think.

Gotta say this is a great rock album, lots of catchy tunes and some nice guitar riffs all throughout this one.

My fav song on the album is summer of 69, i love the lyrics on that one alot.

Anyone that likes good rock tunes with a nice upbeat rythem to them should defintely give this one a listen to, you won't be dissapointed

RECKLESS was Bryan Adams' second great album in a row, and it also defined 80s mainstream rock. The perfect blend of Springsteen/Seger heartland rock, Allmans/Outlaws guitar rock, and Eagles/Steve Miller/Fleetwood Mac pop, topped with Adams' own Joe Cocker/Ray Charles-influenced rasp, this album featured great hooks and hot guitars. Although no one knew it at the time, this provided the template for bands like Warrant and Firehouse. This album contains everything from powerful rockers to beautiful ballads. Some people call it bubblegum, but I totally disagree, especially considering that Adams currently advocates sanctions against Indonesia in retaliation for that country's trumped-up drug-smuggling conviction of a young Australian tourist. Adams would make records as good as this one, but he never made one better.