Bryan Adams

Made up of brisk, pop-perky guitar fair, Bryan Adams' first album gained a considerate amount of airplay in Canada, but his notoriety abroad was still a couple of albums away. At 21, Adams' voice sounds a whole lot younger than his age, but the album itself holds up well, comprised of simple but buoyant pop songs. The better tracks stem from the brisk but amicable "Hiding from Love," the well-sung "Give Me Your Love," and from the staunch keyboard zing of "Remember." But the other tracks are in no way disappointing, with "Win Some, Lose Some," "Wastin' Time," and "Don't Ya Say It" all containing a pleasurable albeit rudimentary pop formula. In his late teens, Adams had worked with writer Jim Vallance, collaborating and writing songs for Prism (who Vallance was a member of at one time) and Bachman-Turner Overdrive before he was signed to A&M. This partnership had payed off for Adams, and his musicianship and writing skills became stronger with each release. Although his big break came with the release of 1983's Cuts Like a Knife, an album that gave him his first three Top 40 singles, Bryan Adams makes for an interesting and entertaining debut, especially from a retrospective standpoint. His tapered guitar punch may still have been in the making, but it's obvious by the cuts on this album that he was destined to be a successful radio rocker. ~ Mike DeGagne, All Music Guide