Mr Mike's High School Record Collection: Bryan Adams - Into The Fire (1987)

Aaayyyyy! Did Bryan Adams once know how to rock? Correctomundo!

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A few months back on the finale of American Idol, a craggy Bryan Adams came running out during the male singer medley section to sing a slew of his hits. Adams, guitar in hand, led a sing along of his early and mid 80's rock hits-even dishing out one of his medium sized hits "Somebody". What was notable about this and other recent Adams appearances is an attempt to return to his Arena Rock roots. The memory of Pop music is often brief and for what seems like eons now Bryan Adams name has been synonymous with mushy movie soundtrack ballads.

But there was a time when Adams was not mushy. A time when he was a meat and potatoes pop rocker. He sang guitar based rock with pop hooks big enough for Arenas and instrumentation plain enough for the Springsteen / Petty crowd. He was young, but his pockmarked visage made him seem older too. All the while, his Rod Stewart style rasp commanded attention. Teaming up with songwriter Jim Vallance, Adams released a steady stream of rousing, inoffensive rock that culminated in the monster success of Reckless (1984). By the mid 80's, Adams was one of the biggest rock stars on the planet. A multitude of chart hits, sold out tours, platinum records and a slot on Live Aid placed Adams in that upper echelon of Pop Rock. He had millions of fans and I was one of them.

Yet something was missing for Bryan Adams: Respect. Adams had none, no respect from critics who slammed his hamfisted anthems and Stewart-lite voice. Adams dressed in blue jeans, white shirt and black leather jacket wherever he went making him the equivalent of Fonzie. He was a rock and roll rebel, he was cool - if cool is someone who rebelled through food fights and chaste kisses with your daughter. Sure, Adams would puff up his chest and talk about the "Summer of '69" but I'm sure he returned every car he borrowed with a full tank of gas. Probably cleaned the windows too.

So Adams and Vallance teamed up for what would become the last album to have Vallance's full participation. Bryan Adams was going to be serious. He had...stuff...on his mind that he was going to tell you about. He was going to bring the party down and take you to school. Bryan Adams = deep thinker, he was going to solve the worlds problems and rewrite the theory of relativity. Or at least write a song about it. Bryan Adams was going Into The Fire and you were going with him!

1. Heat of the Night - The first cassingle I can ever remember, it had a simple red, black and white design and a sticker that said Bryan Adams Heat of the Night. "Night" had all that Reckless momentum going in and it pushed this lumbering, bluesy rock number into the Top 10. Featuring one of Adams' most memorable guitar licks, his band lays down a thick groove thanks to bassist Dave Taylor and drummer Mickey Curry. It had a claustrophobic fever dream atmosphere to get the record off to a tense start.

2. Into The Fire - A mission statement for the record, there was a sort of U2 quality to it with the smooth strumming guitars and worldly tone. "Fire" is about putting yourself and your beliefs on the line. About the same time, U2 was conquering the world with The Joshua Tree so Adam's commercial instincts weren't too far off. On an unrelated note, I usually associate this song with living at my Aunt's house that summer while working a summer job. She lived in a beautiful glass house on the California coast. This song sounded great on her stereo system.

3. Victim Of Love - Adams was going to be so serious, even his love songs were going to be sad. "Victim" was all about being broken hearted and had one of Adam's best vocals-there's a part of the bridge where his voice intentionally cracks to display emotion. When I saw Adams live on this tour, this song was my favorite part as he gave a committed vocal. I like the glassy keyboards on this as well. Lead guitarist Keith Scott tears it up at the end of the track. This was the third single from the album. The anti - "Heaven".

4. Another Day - In Paradise, Adams beat Phil Collins to the punch by singing about the plight of the homeless here. But Adams couched his concerns in a fast blues rock song making it entirely noncommercial. Pretty good song, but not terribly memorable.

5. Native Sons - Not only was Adams concerned about the homeless, but he apparently felt badly about the plight of Native Americans too. Predictably, lyrics about Great Spirits, Hearts beating like a drum, wagons, broken promises and Eagles flying abound. The problem when an artist of Adam's Arena Rock style tackles weighty subjects is a lack of subtlety. I'll say it again, A LACK OF SUBTLETY. "Native Sons" pretty much eulogizes the Native American race - it's well intentioned but doesn't really go anywhere.

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6. Only The Strong Survive - The second fast paced blues rocker, this track moves quickly with a jumpy beat. There's a strong "live band" feel to this track. I gravitated toward "Strong" after it became the theme of San Francisco Giants commercials at the time, I started to associate the song with baseball highlights. When you've got the weight of the world on you, only the strong survive.

7. Rebel - It's probably unfair to make this comparison, but I'll do it anyway. A film critic, I think it was Richard Roeper, said if a character has to say in dialogue that he / she "lives on the edge and is dangerous" it immediately makes them not so. Show don't tell in other words. "Rebel" sort of tells a story about a, uh, rebel who leaves his town and family with some kind of military background behind him. Why? Because he's a rebel, no other reason is needed. In my bizarre mind, I picture this song backing the end of some C level 80's movie where an actor like Judd Nelson has beaten the odds after returning to his small home town that he wasn't initially wanted in to prove he is...The Rebel! And yes, Ally Sheedy is by his side. You mess with the bull, you get the horns!

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8. Remembrance Day - We're almost out the woods, Adams salutes the Canadian soldiers of World War I on "Remembrance Day" (aka Veterans Day in the U.S.-I just learned this. Thank you Wikipedia!). So, to summarize so far be a Rebel, feed the hungry, feel sad for Native Americans and remember War Veterans because Only The Strong Survive. Nothing to really argue against, but it doesn't really pose a point of view that is new or interesting either. Sort of the equivalent to sleeping in history class.

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9. Heart's On Fire - Finally, Adams loosens up with a chunky guitar heavy rock anthem. This was the second single from the album. "Heart's On Fire" is my favorite Bryan Adams song period. More cowbell please!

10. Home Again - The closing number finds Adams wishing to go "Home Again". Can you blame him? It's a big bad world out there. I shouldn't be so strident, the song ends the record well following the serious topics that shake out of going "Into The Fire". Pensive with ominous bell sounds, "Home Again" takes the listener back to the security of home.

Released in 1987, Bryan Adams saw his career grind to a near halt with the release of this album. Even though it went Platinum and had three Top 40 singles, it wasn't Reckless. Fans couldn't handle or (if like me) were a little bored with the new Bryan Adams. All of the good times seemed to go out the window, even live on this tour the music was played with dry sincerity. Though Adams does deserve credit for trying something different, the Adams juggernaut was temporarily suspended.

And in reaction, Adams stopped working with Jim Vallance and hooked up with producer Mutt Lange to record basically a Def Leppard album (Waking Up The Neighbors in 1991). A power ballad for a Kevin Costner movie became a massive best selling hit, starting Adams on the path to becoming the Kenny Loggins of the 90's with one syrupy movie love song after another. The continued weakening of Adams rock image eroded completely after he dueted with Barbara Streisand.

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Just think, if we had embraced Into The Fire all of this could have been avoided. Or maybe not, maybe I just like to imagine it could have been. Once "Have You Ever Loved A Woman" from the Don Juan De Marco soundtrack became a huge smash, I stopped caring. It wasn't that the song was bad, it's a good song, it just neutered Adams to the point I didn't want to hear him anymore. If he had started out wussy that would have been fine but its sort of like when The Fonz stopped protecting Richie Cunningham and started helping out Ted McGinley while taking ownership of Arnolds. It's OK to hit the jukebox now because he owns part of it. Any pretense of cool had been dropped and all that was left was a soft hearted dude with a haircut.

Lewd and Crue 'd

I was going to say Saints & Sinners but I think that's a Whitesnake album title.

Before I weigh in on Motley Crue's new CD, I should probably say what I think of the band in general. I like Motley Crue but consider myself a fair weather fan. When it comes to one of the best hair bands of the 80's I mainly like the hits. There are people who grew up on the Crue and see them as their band, the music they had the time of their life to and represented the ultimate in 80's teen rebellion. I'm not one of those people, no logical reason for it, for some reason I prefer many hair bands I consider less talented on an objective level (like Ratt or Whitesnake). Maybe it was the sleaze factor or the hypocracy of seeing Vince Neil do R.A.D. commercials while higher than a kite. Either way, I've been listening to the new disc streaming online and do like them so here it goes!

The new disc is Saints of Los Angeles and is the first concept album I can recall in their career. It traces their story as a band based on their best selling biography The Dirt. As far as big money reunion cash in's go, Saints is pretty good. Motley Crue try hard to reconnect on a musical level with each other as their performance avoids coming across stiff or wooden (sometimes these type of reunions sound like a bunch of people e-mailing their recorded parts to each other from separate locations) and show they still have some chemistry together. Having a concept allows them to write with a newfound perspective on their favorite topics (which is their debauched lifestyle and girls, girls, girls).

Highlights include the "Shout At The Devil"ish title cut and the modern rock style ballad "The Animal In Me". And when it comes to Motley Crue, it's hard not to appreciate a song called "Chicks = Trouble" because it has them written all over it. It seems wrong to hear a Motley Crue album without a song title like that one. The burnt out fast beat of "Welcome To The Machine" makes an impression as well. Thankfully, the Crue don't overdo their attempt for a modern edge this time around (unlike Generation Swine) leaving it at roughed up guitar sounds and no synthesizers to make them current.

There are some drawbacks, mostly stemming from the concept of the album. The first five songs are really descriptive and place you in the middle of their hunger for success and dirt poor existence with the rampaging "Face Down In The Dirt" or the swanky "What's It Gonna Take". But when the band hits the big time, the story gets lost. Parts of the bands hey day get addressed (girls, career burn out) but some parts are missing (enjoying success, explicit drug addiction) and lacks a song to tie everything together for this part of the story. It ends well with "White Trash Circus" and "Goin' Out Swingin" to bring you to the present. Sequencing also becomes a problem because while the individual tracks are strong they don't flow together well musically. The transitioning from the beat of one song to the next is awkward and doesn't let the album gel as a whole.

Saints of Los Angeles isn't quite the triumphant return most would like to see from this group, but it does put their best foot forward and comes across as an earnest effort to rawk. All of the members contribute and seem dedicated to putting on a good show. There is some creative growth in the songwriting and anything that gets vastly underrated guitarist Mick Mars out of the house is a good thing. Saints lacks a killer cut to seal the deal, but has other strengths to make it worthwhile.

July 4th Weekend Closes With A Bang In Die Hard 4

I see dead people: Bruce Willis racks up the body count again as John McClane in Live Free or Die Hard.

Now, if it seems like this Blog post is a year too late, that's because it is. I'm a huge fan of the Die Hard series and like about one of every four movies Bruce Willis makes so when Live Free or Die Hard was released last year it seemed like a slam dunk that I would see it. But, for some reason I kept forgetting about it. Even at Christmas time, I meant to get the DVD and watch it but I forgot again. So finally, I sat down this weekend and saw the fourth installment in the John McClane saga.

Willis reprises his role of hard nosed cop John McClane being the wrong guy at the wrong time with all the right moves. Still in good shape and believable in his action sequences, Willis brings back the smart ass wisecracks and lived in downtrodden feel to his signature character. Both Willis and the writers add a few grace notes to underscore how McClane's life tends to be crappy between Die Hard events. McClane is as easy to relate to as the first movie thanks to Willis performance and willingness to age the character with the audience. The "analog cop against the digital age" angle is worked in nicely as well.

But no ones going to confuse Live Free or Die Hard with Macbeth, so how good does stuff blow up? Particularly now that the series has gone on long enough to graduate from exploding minatures and matte shots to full blown CGI. Pretty well, actually. The plot follows McClane as he brings in a cyber geek (an energized Justin Long) for questioning as terrorists take over all of America's financial, security and public services via computer. McClane and the cyber geek try to track down the terrorists while the government is overloaded dealing with a panciked public. To make it timely, the "fire sale" (an attack pattern of disabling the support structures listed before) happens on the 4th of July. The terrorists, led by a guy that looks like Ryan Seacrest and the Asian girl from Mission Impossible 3, have a small army of mercenaries and other computer geniuses to pull off their plan.

This is all just an excuse to see our favorite unwitting anti terrorist expert to get bloodied and bruised while pulling off impossible stunts. Die Hard 4 delivers with a tense pace and overblown action sequences that include ground battles with helicopters or fighter planes, elevator shaft mayhem and-being a modern movie-lots of people typing on keypads furiously. McClane jumps the shark one time after another, but the filmmakers know if plausibility was a factor they wouldn't have gotten past the first movie, so it's not that relevant. The supporting actors are all strong including a cameo by Kevin Smith (Clerks). Live Free or Die Hard is a successful dust off of classic Action film strategies and credit is due to director Len Wiseman for moving the story fast enough to avoid deep thought or boredom. A pure adrenalin rush, i'm definitely going to watch this one again.