Bryan Adams
Into The Fire

THE REVIEW

I wanted to dedicate my first review on this site to an artist I know very well and to what I consider one of my favorite music albums.

"Into The Fire" is the fifth album by the Canadian artist, released in 1987, four years after the great success of the album "Reckless" and it had significantly less commercial success. It's a less immediate album than its predecessor, addressing deeper themes and featuring more elaborate and refined arrangements.

Bryan Adams, we can say, as a musician has invented nothing, and as a writer, he has never stood out with excellent or original lyrics. In this album, which I consider his best, you can see the attempt to create a more committed product, both musically and lyrically. Even the voice here is at its best. The themes tackled are ambitious, and the lyrics more studied, although they often fall into avoidable banalities and clichés.
Influencing this "turn" was surely participation in the proliferating beneficial musical initiatives of those years (Live Aid, Conspiracy of Hope…). It's a pity that all this was concentrated for a commercial purpose.

The music, to me, is pure emotion. It starts with "Heat of the Night", the most famous single of the album, a track that goes very well with its video which renders the somewhat dark sensation that then unfolds in the chorus. Notably, the lead guitar here is played by Adams himself, who normally focuses on rhythm.
The title track opens with suggestive echoes, then proceeds with an intense rhythm with clean rhythms and distorted solos. A nervous track, managing to convey a sense of unease, then provides a breather in the short rhythmic solo before bursting into the finale. "Victim of Love" is a track built on piano chords and a single lead guitar played by a Keith Scott in splendid form. It’s a crescendo of emotion that culminates in a long and powerful final solo.

"Another Day" is a track I've always considered minor, but definitely enjoyable, and here too Adams takes up the lead guitar. And here we arrive at the gem of the album and for me the entire discography of the artist: "Native Son", a song that even after 13 years of listening still manages to move me for 6 minutes. I would have too many words to spend. The final solo gives me chills.
"Only The Strong Survive" is an energetic and engaging rock track (200bpm!). It is followed by “Rebel”, a track of great pathos where the piano plays the main role, but it’s everything but a ballad. "Remembrance Day" bursts in, a song about war. Lots of bass work and unusual drum timing. The chorus is very incisive in the refrain.

"Hearts On Fire" is perhaps the only somewhat foreign element of the album, where the more “lighthearted” Bryan Adams makes a return, but it has a great riff that strongly recalls that of "House Arrest" from the next album.
It concludes with the exciting "Home Again", which beautifully wraps up the album, to the point that you feel a sense of disappointment when the music fades away.

"Into The Fire" is an album to get to know a less known side of the Canadian rocker, it is not the usual album with an alternation of slow tracks and pseudo-rock, of banal love songs but authentic "rock emotions", played and arranged very well.