Reckless (Bryan Adams album)


Reckless is the fourth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams. Released on 5 November 1984 by A&M Records, the album was co-produced by Adams and Bob Clearmountain, and it was arguably Adams' most successful solo album. The album has reached 12 million album sales worldwide. It was the first Canadian album to sell more than a million copies within Canada. The album reached number 1 on the Billboard 200 and reached high positions on album charts worldwide.
Six singles were released from the album: "Run to You", "Somebody", "Heaven", "Summer of '69", "One Night Love Affair", and "It's Only Love". All six singles made the top 15 on the US Billboard Hot 100, which until that time had been accomplished previously only by Michael Jackson's Thriller and Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA. The album was ranked No. 49 on Kerrang!s "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time" in 1989, and 99th Greatest Rock Album of All Time by Classic Rock and was also named the number 12 Greatest Canadian Album of All Time by Bob Mersereau in his book The Top 100 Canadian Albums. The album was recorded at Little Mountain Sound Studios, Vancouver, Canada. On 12 December 2009 the syndicated radio program In the Studio celebrated the 25th anniversary of the album.
A 30th Anniversary edition of the album, featuring previously unreleased material and a brand new 5.1 surround mix, was released on 10 November 2014 in both four and two-disc editions. The Reckless 30th Anniversary Tour also took place in November 2014, consisting of eleven exclusive arena shows in the UK.

Music

Recording and production

The first song recorded was "Heaven", which had been co-written by Adams and Jim Vallance for the film A Night in Heaven. The song was recorded at the Power Station in New York on 6-7 June 1983 and was mixed on 16 June 1983, with Bob Clearmountain co-producing and engineering. Despite having been released on the film's soundtrack album, the song was initially not considered suitable for Reckless, only being included at the last minute.
In March 1984, recording for Reckless began after extensive touring for the support of Cuts Like a Knife. However, unhappy with the recording process, Adams decided to take a month off. In August, Adams headed back to the studio with Tina Turner for the track "It's Only Love"; he also returned with more new songs and started re-recording songs which would lead to the development of such tracks as "Run to You", "Summer of '69", and "Heaven".
"Run to You" was recorded after a tour in Asia. The recording for "Run to You" started on 27 March 1984 and went through the summer at Little Mountain Sound Studios, Vancouver. It was mixed in New York by Bob Clearmountain, with mixing of the song completed on 21 September. "Summer of '69" was written on 25 January 1984 with Jim Vallance. The recording took place at Little Mountain Sound Studios where the song was recorded three times over the winter. It was mixed in New York by Bob Clearmountain on 22 November 1984.

Songs

"Run to You" was released as the debut single from Reckless on 18 October 1984 in Canada and the U.S. and became one of the most successful songs from the album on the American pop and rock charts; it would become arguably one of Adams' most recognizable and popular songs. The song was Adams' first number one hit on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart, a position it held for four weeks, and reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100. It reached the top 20 on the Canadian singles chart and remained in the top 20 for seven weeks, peaking at number 4. With "Run to You", Adams reached the highest Canadian chart position in his career to that time; it was his third top 20 hit single in Canada. "Run to You" was released in November 1984 in Europe where it peaked at the top ten in Ireland at number 8 and reached number 11 on the UK Singles Chart; it was his second single to chart in Europe.
"Somebody" was released as a single in January 1985 and became one of the most successful songs from Reckless on the American rock charts. The song was Adams' second number one hit on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart. It reached number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was in the top 20 on the Canadian singles chart for six weeks. "Somebody" was Adams' fourth top 20 hit on the Canadian chart. "Somebody" was released the following month in Europe and peaked at the top 20 in Ireland at number 20 and reached the top 40 on the UK Singles Chart at 35; it was his third single to chart in Europe.
"Heaven" was the third single from Reckless. The single topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for two weeks in June 1985. The song previously peaked at number nine on the Billboard Top Tracks chart from the A Night in Heaven soundtrack album in February 1984. The song has appeared on all of Adams' compilation albums with the exception of The Best of Me. The single was certified Gold in Canada in 1985.
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Upon the release of the album in November 1984, "Summer of '69" received some airplay on album-oriented rock radio stations but was mostly overshadowed by the tracks "Run to You" and "It's Only Love", only managing to reach number 40 on Billboard's Top Rock Tracks chart. After it was released as a single in June 1985, "Summer of '69" reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The song was released in Australia, Europe and New Zealand in 1985. "Heaven" reached the UK top 40, while "Summer of '69" peaked at the top 40. "Summer of '69" continued the trend of higher-charting singles when it debuted and peaked at top 20 in most of the European countries it charted. Adams' previous singles had charted much weaker in Europe and "Summer of '69" would be Adams' second single to chart in mainland Europe.
Although "Summer of '69" reached the top ten in Norway and then the top 20 in the Austria, Ireland and Sweden, it was a moderate top 100 success in Germany, where it peaked at 62.
Co-writer Jim Vallance has always gone for the more conventional interpretation of the title being a reference to a year. He notes Jackson Browne's "Running on Empty", which contains references to 1965 and 1969, as his own influence, and recalls that Adams cited the film Summer of '42 as his.
Released as the fifth single from the album in September 1985, "One Night Love Affair" peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at number 13 and at number 7 on the Top Rock Tracks chart. In Canada, "One Night Love Affair" was officially released to radio in February 1985. The song reached the top 20 on the Canadian Singles Chart and remained in the top twenty for another month. "One Night Love Affair" was the lowest charting single from Reckless.
While never released as a single, "Kids Wanna Rock" received airplay on album-oriented rock stations in Canada and the United States enabling it to chart on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart, where it peaked at number 42. Due to its popularity in concert, it was included on the greatest hits collection "So Far So Good".

Release and critical reception

Soon after its release, Reckless peaked at number six on the Billboard 200 in January 1985 before dropping out of the top ten. The success of the singles "Heaven" and "Summer of '69" renewed interest in the album and it began climbing back up the chart, eventually reaching number one in August 1985. "Reckless" also reached number one in Canada and New Zealand, number two in Norway and Australia while reaching the top ten in the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Sweden. In Canada, Reckless's chart pattern was somewhat similar to its pattern in the US - it entered the top ten shortly after its release peaking at number one in February the dropping out of the top ten for three months between May and July 1985. It re-entered the top ten in August 1985 staying there until February 1986 with the peak of its second top ten run being at number four; it dropped out of the top ten in its 67th week on the Canadian chart|
Reckless included the hit singles "Run to You", "Somebody", "Heaven", "Summer of '69", "One Night Love Affair", and "It's Only Love". All the singles had accompanying music videos, and each one charted on the Billboard Hot 100, with "Run to You", "Summer of '69", and "Heaven" peaking in the top 10. "Heaven" would become the most successful single from Reckless in the United States at the time of its release, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and number 27 on the album rock chart, although "Run to You" was a larger hit at album-oriented rock radio peaking at number 1 on the Top Rock Tracks chart for four weeks, and spending an additional five weeks at number 2, while reaching number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The single "It's Only Love" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. In 1986, the song won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Stage Performance.
In June 2008, the original master tape for Reckless was destroyed in a backlot fire at Universal Studios. In 2014, Adams planned on remastering the album for a box set. He contacted Universal Music Group, only to find that Universal had lost all the artwork and master tapes. Adams managed to find a backup copy of Reckless at his home, which he used for the remaster. Many point to Adams' search for answers to being the first step in uncovering the scope of the loss of Universal Music's catalog due to the fire.

Reckless tour

In December 1984, Adams and his touring band which consists of Keith Scott, Dave Taylor, Pat Steward and Johnny Blitz played concerts in Chicago, Detroit, New York City and Philadelphia. In early 1985, Adams' started a tour throughout the United States with opening act and Canadian musician Kim Mitchell and later in Japan, Australia, Europe and finally Canada after winning four Juno Awards. Later he headed south towards the American West Coast, culminating with two dates at the Paladium in Los Angeles.
After the tour in the United States Adams traveled to Ethiopia to aid famine relief efforts there. Adams later went to Europe for a fifty-city concert tour with Tina Turner, culminating in April with his return to London to headline three sold-out shows at the Hammersmith Odeon. Adams began the first leg of his tour entitled "World Wide in 85" which started in Oklahoma. The tour ended in October. Adams would later visit Vancouver, and afterwards he returned to the American East Coast to play two sold-out concerts in New York.

Track listing

30th Anniversary Edition

;Disc One
  2. "Let Me Down Easy" - 03:40
  3. "Teacher, Teacher" - 03:48
  4. "The Boys Night Out" - 03:53
  5. "Draw The Line" - 03:26
  6. "Play To Win" - 03:28
  7. "Too Hot To Handle" - 04:02
  8. "Reckless" - 04:01
;Disc Two - Live in Hammersmith Odeon 1985
  1. "Remember" - 04:32
  2. "The Only One" - 04:39
  3. "It's Only Love" - 03:50
  4. "Kids Wanna Rock" - 03:16
  5. "Long Gone" - 06:21
  6. "Cuts Like A Knife" - 05:40
  7. "Lonely Nights" - 03:55
  8. "Tonight" - 06:13
  9. "This Time" - 03:37
  10. "The Best Was Yet To Come" - 02:43
  11. "Heaven" - 04:04
  12. "Run To You" - 04:30
  13. "Somebody" - 04:20
  14. "Straight From The Heart" - 03:17
  15. "Summer Of '69" - 04:40

    Super Deluxe Edition Box-set

;DVD - Reckless - The Movie
  1. "Run To You"
  2. "This Time" - 3:17
  3. "Summer Of ’69" - 3:42
  4. "Somebody" - 4:45
  5. "Kids Wanna Rock" - 2:47
  6. "Heaven" - 4:11
  7. "Run To You" - 3:49
  8. "One Night Love Affair" - 4:35
  9. "It’s Only Love" - 6:55
;Blu-ray
  • The original album in Blu-ray edition

    Personnel

  • Bryan Adams – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, backing vocals, handclaps, lead guitar, percussion, piano, harmony vocals, gang vocals, harmonica, producer
  • Keith Scott – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, backing vocals, handclaps, guitar, gang vocals
  • Tommy Mandel – keyboards
  • Rob Sabino – keyboards
  • Dave Taylor – bass guitar
  • Pat Steward – drums, gang vocals
  • Mickey Curry – drums
  • Steve Smith – drums
  • Jim Vallance – percussion, associate producer
  • Jody Perpick – handclaps, gang vocals
  • Lou Gramm – backing vocals
  • Gerry Berg – gang vocals
  • John Eddie – backing vocals
  • Bob Clearmountain – gang vocals, producer
  • Tina Turner – lead vocals
;Engineering
  • Bob Clearmountain – engineer, mixing
  • Mike Fraser – assistant engineer
  • Michael Sauvage – assistant engineer
  • Bruce Lampcov – assistant engineer
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering at Masterdisk.
;Additional credits
  • Chuck Beeson – art direction, design
  • Richard Frankel – art direction
  • Hiro – front cover photo
  • James O’Mara – inner sleeve photo
  • Bruce Allen – management

    Certifications

Certification Table Bottom