18 Till I Die

If you've seen the South Park movie, you know that Canada has already apologized for sending us Bryan Adams. I don't know when exactly that was, but ...

18 Till I Die
18 Till I Die
Bryan Adams
A & M Records, 1996
REVIEW BY: Alfredo Narvaez
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 12/03/1999
If you've seen the South Park movie, you know that Canada has alreadyapologized for sending us Bryan Adams. I don't know when exactlythat was, but they probably were asked to apologize some more afterhe released this album. After years of released radio-ready hitsfor soundtracks, Adams got together with songwriter/producer RobertJohn "Mutt" Lange to craft this disc. Clearly Adams tries to provethat he is still capable of rocking and pleasing his fans in theera of Modern Rock and Hip-Hop. This is his attempt at getting withthe times and, at the same time, keep a well-placed finger right onwhat has kept his career going - his radio-friendliness.
18 Till I Die starts with the long-named "The Only ThingThat Looks Good On Me Is You." This song makes references to Gucciand Armani within its first verses to make certain that peoplerecognize Adams knows what is cool at the moment. Nevertheless,this pop/rock ditty is one of the more engaging to be found here.In fact, the better songs are easily engagable and acceptable. Inthat number you can count "Let's Make A Night To Remember" - apretty decent ballad - and "We're Gonna Win" - a quick rocker thatwould have been even better if the whoa-whoas at the end had beenremoved.
There's also some pretty decent tracks here. "You're StillBeautiful To Me" is another decent ballad. "I'll Always Be RightThere" is passable - wasn't this in a movie somewhere? "Star" washorrible the first time I heard it, but it gets better after a fewlistens. "You're Still Beautiful To Me" isn't great, but is betterthan others. And "(I Wanna Be Your) Underwear" is a like a cheap,thirteen-year-old's joke. So if you like that, you'll like this. (Ido).
Then, there's some songs that fall flat on their faces. "Do ToYou" is standard Adams/Lange fare and that isn't great. The titletrack makes me want to grab Adams and force him to admit that the1980s are over. "I Think About You" is a by-the-numbers ballad. "ItAin't A Party-If You Can't Come Around" mixes honky-tonk twang(probably a twang that got away from Shania Twain's albums), but itdoesn't improve the song. "Black Pearl," meanwhile, was alright thefirst time I heard it - when it was called "Brown Sugar." (Sorry,saw David Spade's Hollywood Minute skit on a Saturday Night Live repeat).

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