Released: December 8
Bryan Adams brings to life three of his classic albums for a new live release direct from London’s Royal Albert Hall.
Recorded in spring 2022, the set captures ‘Cuts Like A Knife’ (1983), ‘Into The Fire’ (1987) and ‘Waking Up The Neighbours’ (1991) in their entirety, featuring classic hits such as Straight From The Heart, Heat Of The Night, Everything I Do (I Do It For You) and Can’t Stop This Thing We Started.
From the off, the Canadian rocker turns the heat up to 11 as he powers through each set, sticking faithfully to songs from each record while altering the sequence occasionally as befits the demands of the live space.
Vocally, Adams’ tone is largely unchanged from the time of each album’s original release and he maintains the necessary gousto to belt out anthems like I’m Ready and All I Want Is You, with the energy of the crowd often bleeding into the recordings, particularly when the chorus hits.
The tightness of the production comes as no surprise, given Adams has spent much of the past two years on the road, but the passion in his delivery is commendable for a musician 45 years into his recording career.
If there’s one downside to the release it’s that the Blu-Ray counterpart includes only 10 songs – presumably the full concert footage exists and will materialise at some point down the line – but it would have been the cherry on top of an already sweet cake to relive each night on screen too.
There is a 32-page photo book, however, and most exciting of all is that he’s returning to the venue in 2024 for another trio of shows, which will no doubt get similar treatment this time next year!
