Reckless

Most fans will agree the original album is THE BEST Bryan Adams made. The original "10 songs version" (written after the fairly successful Cuts Like A Knife) came out way back in 1984. However, Reckless had no fillers as every song was great and resulted in six of them being released as singles. IMHO Run To You is the highlight on the superb original version but the other 9 give it a damn good run for its money! So 30 years go by and like so many albums these days, a deluxe version is released to celebrate/commemorate the original. The BIG question is.....do we get a true deluxe version? OMG yes we do! Having been a huge BA fan since hearing Run to You on the radio back in '84, seeing him numerous times live and buying everything before and after Reckless, I admit this will be a somewhat biased review. This fully deserves the description Deluxe Edition; On the first cd we have the original album plus 7 new songs. As stated earlier, the original 10 songs are BA at his best. One Night Love Affair starts us off, great song with both guitar and vocal hooks. Next arguably the weakest song on the album She's Only Happy...(and this is a good song too, just not as good as the rest!) We then get the mighty Run to You, IMHO one of the top 3 BA songs of all time. Next Heaven, a superb rock ballad. Then we get Somebody; another magnificent tune. Summer of 69 followed by Kids Wanna Rock followed by It's Only Love (with Tina Turner). 3 immense songs and there's no time to rest because he finishes off with Long Gone and Ain't Gonna Cry. Both great rock songs. But what of the 7 "new" songs? To my ears all 7 could easily have appeared on Cuts like a Knife, although I can see why perhaps 3 of them didn't make the original version of Reckless. The 4 songs I immediately enjoyed are "Teacher, Teacher", "Play to Win", "Too Hot to Handle" and "Reckless". All 4 are strong songs, each with a hook that BA so enjoyed writing back then, either guitar or vocal based. My only slightly negative comment is either there are little if any keyboards or they have been mixed VERY low in the production of these new songs. However, it's good to hear something from BA which proves he used to be a rocker, as there are no ballads amongst the 7 songs. Not that I mind a good rock ballad and it has to be said BA has written quite a few classics in his career. On the second cd we have a concert recorded by the BBC from 1984, BA making reference to the venue (Hammy Odeon) during the concert. I have to say it's so good to hear songs from his first 2 albums. He opens this cd with "Remember" and later on plays 2 songs from his second album ("Tonight" and the excellent "Lonely Nights"). The rest of the concert is understandably based around both Reckless and Cuts Like a Knife songs. I have to say I love the placing of "Best was yet to come", because he follows immediately with Heaven, Run to You and Somebody. The cd finishes with Summer of 69. It has to be said BA still regularly plays quite a number of this 84 set-list, proving the longevity, depth of talent and strength of his song writing skills. If you're a BA fan, I would urge you to get this Deluxe Version of one of the greatest albums of the 80's. It's worth every penny.

Is there any doubt that "Reckless", Canadian rocker Bryan Adams' fourth album, is the pinnacle of his career? OK, there was the massive success of that "Everything I Do" single, but do you know anybody who still likes that song after it was UK number one for around sixteen years? Yes, yes, I know it was sixteen weeks, but at the time it felt like years. I don't know what it is about "Reckless", but everything just seems to be right about it. The songs are fantastic (co-writer Jim Vallance brought the best out of Adams), the production perfect, the performances full of energy and the whole album has a confidence and joy that he'd never managed to capture before and struggled to regain afterwards. The singles (there were seven of them from the ten tracks, which gives it the feel of a greatest hits collection rather than a studio album) are amongst his best songs ever - the morally-dubious cheater's anthem "Run To You" is far better than the subject matter deserves (it's probably one of the greatest songs of the decade), "Summer Of '69" is a fist-poundingly joyous slice of nostalgia, "Heaven" is beautifully tender and, despite the power ballad bombast, is wonderfully romantic, passionate slice of soft rock, "One Night Love Affair" is a melodic rocker that kicks off the album with a sense of purpose, the duet with Tina Turner, "It's Only Love" has a fantastic opening riff and more balls than a sports equipment store and "Somebody" is a immensely catchy piece of pop-rock. The only single on the album I'm not overly keen on is "Kids Wanna Rock" as it seems to be the only cynically-written track to 'get the crowds going'. It's not bad, it's just not anywhere near as good as the rest of the material on the release. The other album tracks are also pretty good, "Long Gone", especially; if it had been on one of Bryan's weaker albums, it probably would have been a single. "She's Only Happy When She's Dancing" is a little throwaway and ordinary, but not too distracting from the overall quality of "Reckless". Altogether, it's not an over-exaggeration to call this a classic album, probably the only one that Adams has to his name, despite the longevity of his career and many hit singles. There are always going to be people who will sneer at a mainstream rock album like this, but for anyone who enjoys rock music, one listen to "Reckless" would probably be enough to convince those, apart from the biggest cynics, that this is a truly great piece of work. As George Michael would later title one of his albums, you really do need to listen without prejudice. Definitely one of the best albums of the 1980s.

Not cheap but quality never is and for me this is money well spent. The disc comes in a clear case (with gold lettering) which is the same size as a blu-ray case. Inside is small booklet and a voucher for a digital download [that I haven't been able to get to download]. When played the disc gives you a fairly clunky menu and displays the cover image on your TV (assuming you have it switched on). You can play the disc in 5.1 surround or stereo and my preference was to play in 5.1 surround. The menu will show the last track selected even though it moves onto the next one which is all part of the clunky menu. The sound itself was very good, sharp and clear and preferable, in my experience to the CD I have of this album, which was itself impressively until hearing this.

I will never ever forget when i first heard and saw the film clip "Run To You" it was amazing, there are so many killer tracks on the album we have heard so many times over the past 30 years they are timeless, and what a great way to celebrate what i consider a legendary album an all time classic. Inclusive is a 74 page book with photos lyrics, Bryan Adam's own thoughts on the recording of the album as well as Jimmy Vallance and the Bob Ludwig's recording and remastering process for the new box set, there is so much to get through, the extra 7 studio tracks the BBC concert series, the movie Reckless and on bluray 2 editions of the album, the stereo 2014 remaster and the 5.1 mix of the album, a real gem.

what can i say about this album.. it’s a gem.. u shd own this album.. & ‘cuts like a knife’.. plus the legendary ‘waking up the neighbours’ .. frm the stomping rocker opener ‘one night love affair’.. to its closer ‘ain’t gonna cry’ (this is BA with punk attitude song).. u don’t skip any of the tracks here.. this is where u’ll draw out ur denim jacket frm the wardrobe n strum air guitar (if u don’t own an electric stratocaster.. 🤭) like crazy.. u’ll shout n scream .. sweat it all out.. till the last track.. press ‘play’ again.. grit ur teeth.. get more air to ur lung.. n repeat the steps.. 😅😅

Summer Of '69 ist mittlerweile ein Song, den man nur noch heimlich hört, da ihn jeder kennt, er nahezu zu Tode gespielt wurde und der einem daher fast peinlich ist, wenn man ihn immer noch gut findet. Über die Qualität des Songs lässt sich aber trotzdem nicht streiten, da das ein nahezu perfekter Rocksong ist, der im Konzert und auf jeder Party funktioniert. Er hat ein einprägsames Riff, eine markante Gitarren- sowie Keyboardmelodie und kommt dabei ohne Refrain aus. Die Zeile "Those Were The Best Days Of My Life" kann auch jeder mitgrölen und wer erinnert sich nicht gern wie der Songprotagonist an seine Jugend oder bessere Zeiten zurück. Das 1984er Album Reckless von dem Summer '69 stammt, ist eines der wenigen perfekten AOR-Alben aus den 80ern, das man komplett ohne große Aussetzer durchhören kann und dazu massig Hits bietet. Es steht in etwa auf einer Stufe mit AC/DCs Back In Black, Bon Jovis Slippery When Wet, Foreigners 4, Def Leppards Pyromania/Hysteria oder Journeys Escape. Das waren auch alles unfassbar erfolgreiche härter rockende Mainstream-Alben mit ein paar sparsam eingestreuten Powerballaden (Ausnahme AC/DC). Das im selben Jahr wie Reckless erschienene Born In The USA von Bruce Springsteen ist musikalisch nicht ganz vergleichbar, da es nicht so hart rockt. Reckless hatte 6 Single-Auskopplungen, wovon nur der Midtempo-Opener One Night Love Affair kein größerer Chart- bzw. Radio-Hit war. Die oben genannten Alben hatten bis auf Born In The USA alle weniger Hits zu bieten. Mit Kids Wanna Rock bietet Reckless dazu noch einen späteren Konzert-Standard von Adams, der zwar keine Single war und trotzdem sehr bekannt ist. Die 5 großen Hits des Albums sind Allgemeingut. Neben Summer Of '69 sind da noch der Song übers Fremdgehen (Run To You), der Mitgröl-Rocker Somebody, das Duett mit Tina Turner It's Only Love und die Powerballade Heaven, die fast ohne den für Adams später so typischen Kitsch auskommt. Mit She's Only Happy When She's Dancing und Long Gone hat das Album zwei weitere Songs, die Bryan Adams später immer noch gern im Konzert gespielt hat. Reckless endet nach knackigen 37 Minuten mit Ain't Gonna Cry, dem neben Kids Wanna Rock härtesten Song. Die Songs verfasste Adams damals alle -genauso wie auf dem Vorgänger Cuts Like A Knife und dem Nachfolger Into The Fire- mit seinem Songwriting-Partner Jim Vallance. Auf diesen 3 Alben hatte Bryan Adams noch so etwas wie einen eigenen Stil, der ihm 1991 auf Waking Up The Neighbours durch die Produktion und das Co-Songwriting von Mutt Lange schon etwas und auf weiteren Alben komplett abhanden ging. Auf Reckless ist Vieles um einfache, sehr eingängige und effektive Gitarrenriffs aufgebaut. Die Doppel-CD-Deluxe-Edition von Reckless bietet zusätzlich 7 Album-Outtakes. Teilweise hören sich die Songs wie Demos an. Der Großteil rockt ganz gut. Die 10 Original-Songs gefallen mir aber trotzdem besser. Einzig der etwas düstere titelgebende-Song Reckless sticht hervor, der aber von der Stimmung nicht auf das eigentliche Album gepasst hätte. Let Me Down Easy klingt mit seinen Gitarrenakkorden und der Gesangsmelodie wie eine Vorstudie von Somebody. Weiterhin bietet die zweite CD noch 15 Songs von einem Konzert aus London aus dem Jahr 1985. Einen Wermutstropfen bieten die Bonus-Tracks aber, da die B-Seite Diana fehlt, die auf der Single/Maxi von Heaven zu finden war. Das nicht zu übertriebene Remastering gefällt mir gut. Erwähnenswert ist noch der mehrseitige Text im Booklet mit Hintergründen zum Album und den Bonustracks. Teilweise waren die Songs für andere Künstler gedacht. Diesbezüglich gehen einem durch die Erklärungen vor allem zu Run To You die Augen auf und es wird klar, wieso der Song so klingt wie er klingt. Fazit: Es sagt schon einiges über den Stellenwert des Albums aus, wenn Bryan Adams 2014 ein Album mit größtenteils Cover-Versionen veröffentlicht, aber seine aktuelle Tour aus Anlass des 30jährigen Jubiläums von Reckless danach benennt. Bezüglich Reckless stimmt auch die schon erwähnte Songzeile mit den Best Years Of My Life, da es danach bei Bryan Adams musikalisch nicht mehr besser wurde. Die Alben Cuts Like A Knife, Reckless und Into The Fire sind aber immer noch empfehlenswert.

Didn't realize I was getting the 30th anniversary edition. Was a double LP, I may have not been paying attention when I ordered. But cool, got some extra tracks and some live songs. Am happy cause it was in good condition ie no factory damage or quality control issues that is common now days. Sounds excellent, no issue 5 star.

This came out when I was 18 so it gives an idea of my age - this remains by far my favourite Bryan Adams album, only winner tracks, no fillers, some classic anthems since powerful today. In my view he has not done anything so perfect since but he is still there, hats off to him. Love the Keith Scott guitar on this album, I have the vinyl so I had to buy the CD to preserve the former. One of my 20 best records ever (among hundreds).

Excelente LP de los 80s y remasterizado. Vale la pena.