11 (2008) Review by Steven Stanley

Reviewing this album is kind of a strange thing. It's the album where I felt more distanced from Bryan and his music than ever I have before, and to be honest I really can't get into it... mainly because of the song order but we'll come to that later. That being said it has some brilliant individual songs, which tend to appear in my ipod playlists randomly rather than to listen to the album as a whole. Truth be told I haven't listened to the 'album' since around release time around a year ago. Infact, listening to the album now to get in the zone while I write this... I'd forgotten how good some of the songs are.

As Karl has probably already mentioned, the song order on the album isn't great. 'Way Of The World' is arguably the best song he's done in 10 years rock wise (which is what Bryan Adams is all about for me)... yet it was only released as a UK bonus track. An absolute crime. It should have been slammed into the middle of the album to liven things up... maybe replacing Broken Wings which wouldn't be missed. 'Miss America' was another great song of many only released as a b-side and not replacing more inferior song on the album. Bryan just doesn't know his own strengths and what works for him.

Most of this record originally was going to be an acoustic record called 'Stripped' to complement the 'Room Service' album. It shows. Even 'Oxygen', one of the few that rocks on this album is acoustically driven. Listening to the acoustic shows, tracks like 'I Thought I'd Seen Everything' sounded much better stripped down acoustically, much more raw and had a greater sense of identity than the acoustic/pop mush that resulted in most of the songs. The majority of these songs would have worked far better acoustically and should have been left well alone like that.

Having said that I'm a rock fan and knowing that Bryan doesn't know his own strengths I'd dearly love him to just take time off touring and get in the studio with a producer like Bob Rock or Mutt Lange again. Somebody who will bring the best out of him. Of course it must be said the highlights of this album are the Adams/Vallance tracks. 'Tonight We Have The Stars' has 'Reckless' quality written all over it... too bad he never gave it the full rock treatment to open his shows for the tour. The dirty hammond organ works brilliantly and gives it the edge that takes it into exceptional territory.

'11' just doesn't give a feeling of excitement, it feels like a Bryan Adams safety blanket. Nothing is new here and apart from the aforementioned 'Tonight We Have The Stars' and 'Oxygen' it just plods along. Take 80% of the songs out of the album context though, and they are brilliant. As an album it doesn't say anything to me. The edge and fashion outlandishness of 18, the rockouts of 'Waking', Brit vibe of 'On A Day Like Today' or the political views of 'Into The Fire'. '11' has none of these, so although some songs are brilliant... the whole package is a bit underwhelming.

All that said, I don't feel Bryan should try to emulate his past albums, as its always good to look forwards and not backwards. For me, the first choice of the single is always such an important first impression of an album. It should try to encapsulate the vibe of the album in one song... 'The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You' from the '18' album is a classic example. It said "Hey I'm Bryan Adams... I'm back, my guitars are as loud as my shirts and I'm going to be bringing a hot show to a stadium near you". 'I Thought I'd Seen Everything' just said to me, it's a middle of the road Bryan Adams song... and thats why every radio station in the country kept playing 'Summer Of '69' instead. At this point I must stress there is absolutely nothing wrong with a middle of the road Bryan Adams song, but it won't get any vast public interest.

He could have gone down the road of putting 'Way Of The World' as the first single... afterall it's a very apt song for these volatile times. It would have told the public BA was back, he was rocking his ass off and he finally had something to say again - something which everybody could relate too. People would be surprised he still had it in him to produce such a quality song... you have to remember the general public probably can't remember anything past 'When You're Gone'.

You remember earlier when I said '11' feels a bit underwhelming? Well everytime I see him live nowadays I get the same feeling. Great individual moments.... but in total leaves me underwhelmed because all the amazing ingredients are there... but for me it could have felt fresher (setlists play a large part but we won't go into that here).

That said, a Bryan Adams show that leaves you anything but underwhelmed are his solo acoustic shows. He mixes the setlists, takes risks and even engages in full on conversation with the audience... something he doesn't do in the full band show... there, no risks are taken and he uses the same old tried and tested formula that works. Something he's also done with '11'.

Dont get me wrong a Bryan Adams rocker can be a beautiful thing, but '11' doesn't fill me with anything new. If the tracklist were altered and 'Way Of The World' been given full album status mid way through it could have been a different story... re-works of 'Shes Got A Way' proved to be great but too little too late to save this being anything other than a run of the mill Bryan Adams album.

A safe album gets a safe review so I'll give it a safety blanket 3 out of 5.

Key Tracks:
Tonight We Have The Stars
The Way Of The World *
* - even though it's technically not on the album and only a UK bonus track, it's far too good to ignore.

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