Blast From the Past

As an avid music fan, I constantly have a CD playing.  I have a “library” of almost 700 CDs to choose from.  I do have a certain rotation of artists that I listen to frequently, but I do listen to a fairly diverse amount of musical styles.  I recently decided to listen to all of my CDs, in alphabetical order.  The logic behind the decision to undertake this huge task was that I have CDs that I haven’t listened to in a long time.  My CD collecting obsession started in roughly 1990. 

     The next CD, alphabetically, was somewhat daunting.  There must be, after all, a reason that I had not listened to this CD in 15 years.  I had confided in my wife that I did not anticipate enjoying this particular listening experience.  She valiantly tried to console me by informing me that “He is a legend in Canada.”

     The Canadian legend was Bryan Adams.  The CD was So Far, So Good. That CD is Bryan Adams’ greatest hits collection. The bulk of the CD is two eras of Adams’ career. The mid-1980’s album Reckless makes a considerable contribution with about six songs. A few other songs are pulled from the early 1990’s album Waking up the Neighbors. All 14 songs on this CD were actually hits for Bryan Adams at one point or another, which is refreshing. One of the reasons for buying a greatest hits CD is to hear the radio hits of the artist. Often, a greatest hits package contains at least a couple of songs that the listener hasn’t heard before. All 14 of the tracks on So Far, So Good were at the very least familiar. Most were full-fledged sing-alongs.

     The interesting thing about Bryan Adams’ career is the collaborations he has done with other musicians. For an artist with a 1980’s stigma attached to his name, Adams has worked with some industry heavyweights. The most known, of course, is “It’s Only Love” (Tina Turner) and “All For Love” (Rod Stewart and Sting). He has also performed with Elton John, Joe Cocker, Bonnie Raitt, and Barbara Streisand, among others. That is fairly impressive company. For the past decade or so, I have been guilty of dismissing Bryan Adams’ work as frivolous 1980’s pop. I suppose, for the most part, that’s what it is, but his resume is a lot more impressive than the bulk of his contemporaries. Although his debut album was released in 1980, his success started in the mid 1980’s. Reckless was released in 1984. Other artists releasing successful albums in 1984 were Frankie Goes to Hollywood, A Flock of Seagulls, Nena, Quiet Riot, and Simple Minds. Those bands all have the 1980’s stigma firmly attached to their names. In retrospect, the only reason that Bryan Adams has that same stigma is his ability to write and play radio-friendly music. He definitely has more credibility than a lot of the musicians that were popular during the time of his musical success. Canadian Legend Bryan Adams, I have unjustly ignored you for far too long. For this, please forgive me. I know not what I do.