FIVE REASONS WHY BRYAN ADAMS SHOULD BE IN THE HALL OF FAME

 The news about the backlash against the politics surrounding the Rock N' Roll Hall Of Fame is already familiar to many people who were following the organization.Even questioning some credibilities on how some artists have managed to "push through" adding the fact that the guidelines for eligibility is well presented.

If you are wondering why in the world are those rappers inducted in the first place then you are not alone.There are many musicians who were left behind and was basically passed on and ignored,while other inductees-some of which has nothing to do with rock music were honored and were given statuettes despite protests from angry followers and loyal fans of the said genre.

One rock artist that has been ignored is Bryan Adams who in the past decades have been writing both rockers and ballads and has mesmerized audiences around the world.Here are the five reasons this artist should be in the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame:

1.BRYAN ADAMS' DEBUT ALBUM IS MORE THAN TWENTY FIVE YEARS OLD

 Adams released his self titled debut album in 1980,though the said effort has spawned only minor hits,at least in his native Canada and the rest of North America,the songs on this debut already presented a promising 21 year old singer/songwriter that two of its singles were covered by other artists and has reached the US top 40.

Referring to the guidelines and standards of the Hall Of Fame committee,an artist eligible for nomination and induction should at least have a debut album released 25 years ago, so logic suggests that Bryan Adams is more than just qualified considering his stature in the rock music biz.





2.BRYAN ADAMS WROTE SONGS FOR OTHER ARTISTS

Randy Meisner, Kiss, Uriah Heep, Tina Turner and Barbra Streisand to name a few.Bryan has wrote songs that other artists had made popular,whether it be a rocker or a ballad.


3.BRYAN IS MORE THAN JUST A HITMAKER

As impressive as it may sound, Bryan has written his own songs and has proven from the very beginning that he is not merely a one hit wonder.With 46 songs in the charts between 1979 and 2002,  nine of those singles went to the number one spot on both sides of the Atlantic.

4. BRYAN HAS COOL COLLABORATIONS

 Apart from writing songs for other artists,Bryan Adams has opened and played with the most prominent bands and artists in rock music. He has played a number of charity concerts including the Prince's Trust alongside Paul McCartney,Eric Clapton,Elton John,The Who among others. 



5. BRYAN IS THE BEST SONGWRITER AND IS AN AWESOME LIVE PERFORMER


Judging from the quality of his songs Bryan Adams is one of the best songwriters ever.His live performances are magical and is very sharp on the subject of stadium rock prowess.




(c) 2016 Keith Vernon Adagio

Remembering Scott Weiland, A Year Later

Scott Weiland circa 1994 credit: MTV Unplugged

One can hardly believe its been a year since Scott Weiland's passing.I remember hearing the news around night time.The news about his death in which it took around 12 hours to determine what was the real cause.

Stone Temple Pilots have ruled the airwaves and sold millions of records locally and around the world.With eight songs peaking at number one,the band that started off as Mighty Joe Young in 1985 took about a decade to savor the pennacles of rock success.

And of course,the band's triumph owes a great deal with the band's lead vocalist.It's very unimaginable a kid in the 90s who doesn't own a Stone Temple Pilots CD.Personally,I  consider Scott as one of my heroes being the young boy I was in that decade.Though I gotta admit that I have never been to an STP gig[counting the fact that I was too young to go and the monetary factor of course],their albums somewhat became a soundtrack of my everyday life.

Scott's voice defined that unique grunge sound of the 90s alongside Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vedder. When the genre died down after the former's death,STP reinvented themselves,gathering inspiration from 60s rock particularly the Beatles with whom they openly admitted the fab four being such a huge influence. The band changed their sound,adopting from psychedelia with Weiland changing the course of his singing voice as well from deep baritone to a high pitch Beatlesque similar to that of John Lennon's.Their music,just like their idols' became somewhat more adventurous.Paying tribute to what would be the 30th anniversary of the summer of love at the time, and making the last decade of the 20th Century a parallel twin of an era that was christened as the cultural revolution of rock music.Sadly, STP broke up bitterly in 2002.

I dont know,but even though Velvet Revolver sold a million albums and won numerous awards,I just couldn't help but think of it as a Guns N Roses/ STP mash up which is in fact the truth.The band sounded good and of course had the good hype but every now and then its still STP where most people would identify Scott with.

Booze and drugs were a common thing for rock stars, even Paul McCartney had the same problems with drug busts during his youth and we kept on hearing about Scott Weiland getting arrested over a few pounds of dope in one way or the other and somehow lived through it.I guess everyone won't think that it would end that way the night of December 3rd 2015.

 Music has changed a lot and unfortunately not for the better.But as Ringo Starr had said,bands will always come through-well,hopefully.I suppose there will always be kids who's gonna be pissed off with what's going on in today's music and would eventually form a band or two so that everything will be alright again.Dave Grohl once described the same thing in an interview what their thoughts of 1990 would've been.Nevertheless,grunge rockers like Scott Weiland has put his mark on it.A mark that will stand the test of time.


(c) 2016 Keith Vernon Adagio

MY TOP 10 SONGS BY THE CURE

Premiere rock mag Rolling Stone published just recently their top 10 Cure songs which were utterly described as reader's polls.Though some will agree and some will not(like yours truly),the concept of having a top ten and not seeing your favorites make it on the list is perhaps the most annoying part of it.But nevertheless making your own top ten as a music blogger is the greatest revenge you can ever get.

So hang tight and here are my top 10 songs from the Cure.


1. BOYS DON'T CRY

This is perhaps the most famous and the band's signature song,originally released in 1979,the track didn't achieve international fame until it was re-issued in 1984 and was released in the US on the album of the same name.

2. IN BETWEEN DAYS

 Released in 1985,this is actually the band's first song to chart in the US.I always thought of this one as the ultimate clown song because of its funny intro.Though the genius of the tortured soul lyrics lies behind its writer,none other than the band's leader himself Robert Smith.

3. LOVESONG

 These are one of the best tracks from the band that Rolling Stone failed to recognize on their top 10.or should I say the readers poll failed to recognize.Released in 1989,the track boasts a cool,hypnotic feel along with a weird music video with the band filmed inside a cave.
The track was covered by nu metal band 311.

4. FRIDAY I'M IN LOVE

Again,one of the tracks that didn't make it on RS's top 10.Released in 1993,this track was somewhat a remisniscent of In Between Days.A cool,catchy song about falling in love and didn't care about anything else.

5. KILLING AN ARAB

 One of the earliest songs from the band dating back in 1978 and best describes the band at its peak on the post-punk scene.This track typically describes the band's alternative rock persona,that would resonate nearly twenty years later in the early and mid 1990s

6. BURN

 The band's leader/singer/guitarist/songwriter Robert Smith wrote this for the 1993 film The Crow after being asked by the book's author James O' Barr. O' Barr was said to have been thrilled to find out that his idol(being a Cure fan) managed to give time and effort to write a song for the film.The track's sound is a typical Cure song that boasts certain symbolic lyrics fit for a movie that was marred with morbidity and darkness.

7. THE HANGING GARDEN

Again,this song's lyrics graced the book written by James O' Barr.Though the sound is somewhat new wave-the song's words is filled with dark lyrics fit for the agony of a man who lost a loved one and using the pen as his outlet.

8.Lullaby

Another cool track from the band describing one's personal nightmare.

9. The Lovecats

This track of the band is somewhat Beatlesque and would show how the Beatles had an impact for Smith.The Cure would later cover "Hello Goodbye" which was included on the album The Art Of McCartney.

10.  JUST LIKE HEAVEN

 One of the best alternative rock tracks from the band released in 1987.

(c) 2016 Keith Vernon Adagio

Back On Track: Reviewing Bryan Adams' album Get Up!

Bryan Adams' new album Get Up released 10/02/2015

For the first time in 25 years Bryan Adams managed to release a strong album since 1991's Waking Up The Neighbours.Though I wouldn't say it was as big as the one I mentioned and his colossal Reckless back in the eighties,Get Up features a back-to-roots sound for the Canadian rocker.Released shortly after his covers album Tracks Of My Years(2014) came out,Get Up is still graced with 'influences' by rock n roll standards like the opening track "You Belong To Me" that features some Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins guitar riffs.Teaming up with his long time songwriting partner Jim Vallance plus the genius of producer Jeff Lynne,the album has a blend of  ELO(Electric Light Orchestra-Lynne's former band),Beatles,Stones, and early rock n' roll fused together,not to mention the incredible string arrangements and some synthesizers.Adams has also been known to work with different producers,hence,giving his albums that unique distinction from each other.

Let's face it,not everyone likes rock music and some of the artists don't rely much on chart singles but rather on album sales.Though Adams has a history of being a hitmaker in the eighties and early nineties,his career started to wane in the mid nineties when he changed his sound and seemed to have abandoned his stadium rock persona and went to a more mellow/adult contemporary type.But this album rather had Adams got back on track by revisiting what he has been known for and making the best out of it.

The album has 13 tracks, nine of which were original compositions written by Adams,Vallance and Jeff Lynne and four acoustic versions on several songs.Perhaps the strongest track there rockwise is "Go Down Rockin'" and "That's Rock And Roll" that is somewhat a reminiscence of eighties and early nineties Bryan Adams fused with Rolling Stones style riffings.Oh,who would not point out "Do What Ya Gotta Do" co-written by Jeff Lynne and featuring the ELO frontman on backing vocals and the Beatlesque "Don't Even Try".But personally,I think the acoustic version of the latter was far better than the electric version.Though I'm not saying that this album is as strong as "Reckless" and "Waking Up The Neighbours",its nice to see Bryan Adams writing about rock again and bringing the good times back.

As a whole,Get Up is best recommended for the rock purist,devoted Bryan Adams fan and simply one disenfranchised bloke who's tired of 21st Century's bitches,spoiled rappers and autotunes.Get Up is simply for a person who is hungry for rock music,something that this era has a shortage of.

OVERALL RATING: 8/1O

TRACK LISTING:

1. You Belong To Me (Adams/Vallance)
2.Go Down Rockin' (Adams/Vallance)
3.We Did It All (Adams/Vallance)
4.That's Rock And Roll (Adams/Vallance/Thornalley)
5.Don't Even Try (Adams/Vallance)
6.Do What Ya Gotta Do (Adams/Lynne)
7.Thunderbolt (Adams/Vallance)
8.Yesterday Was Just A Dream (Adams/Vallance)
9.Brand New Day (Adams/Vallance)
Acoustic versions:
10.Don't Even Try
11.We Did It All
12.You Belong To Me
13.Brand New Day

(c) 2016 Keith Vernon Adagio

David Bowie's Haunting Last Album Reviewed

Blackstar album cover released January 8,2016

A lot of people were shocked to hear the untimely passing of David Bowie.The multi instrumentalist and songwriter had a well known reputation of being the 'chameleon' of rock spanning five decades of music.Bowie died of cancer which he hid from the public eye for a while just two days after his 69th birthday.

So Im going to write something about his last album which many have encountered as morbid and eerie perhaps.But really it is a typical David Bowie album uncannily similar to his releases back in the sixties and seventies.The only contrast that made the album different from the rest is that his demise came along with it that would've made the  listener feel it in a different manner or attitude.

Bowie has been known to be writing songs about darkness,evil and insanity.He is well fond of such compositions that he became an expert on fusing it with avant garde sound that made him unique from the rest of his peers.His 1969 hit,the so-called 'death in a capsule' song "Space Oddity" is one example of this and one strange album he had in 1971 called The Man Who Sold the World wherein he was wearing a dress on the cover with a deck of cards on his hand.Born David Robert Jones in 1947,he made his screen name so as not to confuse him with another singer Davy Jones which was also his contemporary in the sixties.

According to popular belief his main "inspiration" for writing such compositions about insanity was his aunt who had a case of Schizophrenia which prompted him to alienate himself from the rest of his family.In an interview he admitted of being petrified of using LSD back in the sixties for its ability to alter the mind though he was well known to have abused cocaine later on.

Going back to the album,Blackstar is a well produced artifact of rock eccentricity which has fused elements of darkness,death,evil and insanity.Many would've believed his knowledge of his own death could've contributed to his work[as depicted in the song "Lazarus"] but I won't say that this was his magnum opus for there's an older album of his that I could've preferred better.I would say that this album is a perfect tongue in cheek au revoir epitaph to the genius that is David Bowie.


Overall rating: 7/10

TRACK LISTING:

1.Blackstar
2.'Tis A Pity She Was A Whore
3.Lazarus
4.Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime)
5.Girl Loves Me
6.Dollar Days
7.I Can't Give Everything Away

(c) 2016 Keith Vernon Adagio

THE UNDERRATED KEITH

Keith Scott, late 1980s(photo credit:AP)

A lot of great rock singers were known through their one of a kind style of singing and songwriting but what makes a solo rock artist stand above the rest are the sidemen particularly the lead guitarist who makes those trademark guitar solos along with the cool riffs he is making with the artist. These so-called sidemen usually turns out to be guitar heroes to both rock n'roll fans and budding guitar players alike though some would be marked as underrated-overshadowed perhaps by the extreme popularity of the artist they usually play with.Some examples include Randy Rhoads who played a short stint with Ozzy Osbourne before prematurely leaving our world at the tender age of only twenty five and David Bowie's awesome lead guitarist Mick Ronson who played mostly on both the Ziggy Stardust album and concert tour.

One of the most underrated guitar players of our time would be Keith Scott,who has been playing with Bryan Adams since the late 1970s. Scott played lead guitar on all of Adams' twelve albums and has been touring with him since.Having seen them last May 23 I,too,am a witness on how [and still] awesome a guitarist Keith is.

Scott was born in Vancouver over a family of musicians with his dad being a jazz pianist and his mom being an occasional singer so his musical genes came out naturally.He revealed in a later interview that his first guitar was a 1967 Fender Stratocaster.He used it mostly on his concert tours particularly in the late 1980s during Adams' career peak.

Keith's gear: a 1967 Fender Stratocaster

Citing his influences in the likes of Eric Clapton,Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix,Scott moved far ahead and also mentioned the fact that he often wing his solos everytime he goes out on tour with the full blessing of Adams who often referred to him as his "best friend".

Scott's other gears would be a telecaster and the vintage Gretsch electric guitar which he famously used on the classic rock ballad "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You"

Keith's other gear: a Gretsch G5420T

A lot of these supporting musicians weren't really interested in the limelight and most of them just prefer to crouch on their respective instruments perhaps just for the love of music. Most of them just want to show their craft then go aloof from the attention of the press.I guess they just leave it all to the hands of the band's leader.Marking more than thirty years of his career as a touring musician supporting Bryan Adams,we'll definitely see more of Keith Scott!!

Trading solos:Keith(right) with Bryan Adams[photo credit:Hiwatt UK]

(c) Keith Vernon Adagio


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Bryan Adams Saves Rock Music With Reckless 30th Anniversary Tour

BRYAN ADAMS SAVES ROCK MUSIC WITH RECKLESS 30TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR

Promo poster,(photo credit:Bryan Adams fb page)

SHORELINE AMPHITHEATRE
Mountain View, CA 
May 23, 2015

The crowd started cheering up as Bryan Adams opened his set with "Reckless",an unreleased track from the album of the same title.At age 55,Bryan still looked fresh and his voice sounded a lot younger wearing a tight,long sleeved black shirt and tight black pants.His self penned songs with its awesome guitar riffs made it seem like 30 years hasn't passed since the said album was released,topped the charts and made Adams an international star.

Most of the tracks on Bryan's setlist were [definitely] from the said album thus celebrating the third decade of its release though Adams still managed to pick a few songs from his other albums such as Waking Up The Neighbours,18 Till I Die,Cuts Like A Knife and his newest album comprising mostly of standard covers Tracks Of My Years.

The show's highlights were his live renditions of his trademark songs such as "Heaven" and "(Everything I Do)I Do It For You" where Bryan had his timeless and awesome talent of mesmerizing the crowd and allowing all of us to do a sing along with him.

The audience,comprising of people of all ages gave only proof on how enduring Bryan Adams is and his charisma has never waned in the past three decades.Adams,even made his party more exciting by choosing a girl from the audience to dance along with him while singing the blues inspired "If Ya Wanna Be Bad Ya Gotta Be Good".Asking the woman's name Adams even blurted a joke or two by intentionally mistaking the dame's boyfriend as her dad.This middle aged rocker made it clear that he ain't gonna put down his laurels by telling the other girl "to get the fuck out there" as to give way to the woman he chose to dance alone for him.

photo credit: Keith Vernon Adagio

Going to the gig with my two cousins where we witnessed Bryan's tight schedule as his show started on time with no opening acts.And the night just started heating up with all these faster rocking tunes until Bryan and the rest of the band said "Thank you" and bowed to the audience.They then returned to the stage expecting perhaps an encore from the crowd,he played another acoustic set which he started with the Mexican-flavored "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman" which was the theme song from the film Don Juan De Marco starring Johnny Depp.The mentioned song was I think the show's lowest point coz I personally disliked that song among others and it could've been better if he had sung "Hearts On Fire" or "Please Forgive Me" instead of that doodled spanish guitar track.

Bryan closed the show with the acoustic rendition of "Straight From The Heart" and  said "Good night,you've been a great audience",then off he go and disappeared behind the curtains backstage.Everyone of us were expecting a "second encore" perhaps but then the lights in the venue went up telling everybody that the show is finally over.

We didn't get to the backstage as we don't have any passes to do so and I suddenly felt a little sad knowing that we were all back in the "real world" after a two hour spectacle.Perhaps Bryan felt it too from the tone of his voice when he said good night to all of us.

 BRYAN ADAMS'S SET LIST
SHORELINE AMPHITHEATRE MOUNTAIN VIEW,CA

1.RECKLESS
2.ONE NIGHT LOVE AFFAIR
3.SHE'S ONLY HAPPY WHEN SHE'S DANCIN'
4.RUN TO YOU
5.BOYS NIGHT OUT
6.HEAVEN
7.KIDS WANNA ROCK
8.ITS ONLY LOVE
9.LONG GONE
10.SOMEBODY
11.AIN'T GONNA CRY
12. SUMMER OF '69
13.LET ME DOWN EASY
14.(EVERYTHING I DO) I DO IT FOR YOU
15.IF YA WANNA BE BAD YA GOTTA BE GOOD
16.THIS TIME
17.CANT STOP THIS THING WE STARTED
18.HAVE YOU EVER REALLY LOVED A WOMAN
19.18 TILL I DIE
20.CUTS LIKE A KNIFE
21.THE ONLY THING THAT LOOKS GOOD ON ME IS YOU
22.C'MON EVERYBODY
23.SHE KNOWS ME
24.STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART


(c)  Keith Vernon Adagio

Author's note:

This blog article is dedicated to my cousins Jenny and Joan who were with me in the gig.Love you guys,thank you for sharing such wonderful music with me