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Room Service

Bryan Adams - Room Service Audio CD

A fair review of the Bryan Adams "Room Service" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Bryan Adams reviews here, or go back to the Bryan Adams tabs.

Band: Bryan Adams
Title: Room Service
Rating:

Release Date: 2005-05-10
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: East Side Story 2: This Side Of Paradise 3: Not Romeo Not Juliet 4: Flying 5: She's A Little Too Good For Me 6: Open Road 7: Room Service 8: I Was Only Dreamin' 9: Right Back Where I Started From 10: Nowhere Fast 11: Why Do You Have To Be So Hard To Love

Grows on you
Usually instantly likeable his other albums contained all the elements great rock albums need. While not an instant classic, Room Service grows on you like other BA albums haven't. Most of these elements are pulled back or non existant on this album - a refreshing change. Don't get me wrong, I love BA at his loudest and rockiest as much as anyone, but Room Service is the change that we needed.

The album, for some reason, was released in 2004 in Australia - a year before the US. I got this that same day as Greenday's American Idiot and I must say, for that reason it didn't get the instant airplay it deserved. AI is a gem right from the go, where this one took more time to get into.

The melodies aren't in your face, the subject matter is at times depressing but it's classy work from a man that rarely misfires. There's only one track that reaches the 4 miniute mark (only just at 4:04). There's no "Whoa!'s", "Yeah!'s" or "C'Mon!'s". There's smooth (yet gravelly) vocals, unobtrusive guitar solos and straight forward arrangements. It's all still familiar though. To compare it's probably mostly like Into The Fire - in cover also.

For me, Waking Up The Neighbours was BA's peak. The follow up, 18 Till I Die, while great, wasn't loud enough and On A Day Like Today, while also great, had too many fillers. Room Service is short - a touch under 37 minutes - and while not solid throughout, there's enough classics to keep a high standard as with all his releases since You Want It, You got It.

Best tracks:
The opener, East Side Story on first listen is a stand out and remains one. You can imagine yourself sitting in that cafe and seeing that girl getting on that bus.
Open Road, the first single is a nice rocker in the vein of Run To You. Standard stuff but catchy.
I Was Only Dreamin' is the standout track for me. Sad and melodic the only track to feature orchestral work.
Nowhere Fast is a great track. Nice slow rocker, almost the best track on the album.
Right Back Where I Started From is the best of the four faster paced tracks. Classic BA.
She's A Little Too Good For Me is a nice rocker. Reminds me of She's Only Happy When She's Dancing.

Room Service and Why Do You Have To Be So Hard To Love are good tracks without rising to greatness like the above ones.
The other three tracks; Flying, Not Romeo, Not Juliet and This Side Of Paradise while lyrically good, are nice but don't have much bite to them.

Well worth a listen. If you're not a fan (then you probably won't be reading this) give it a try and you might be surprised. There's nothing sappy here, no lovey-dovely love songs to gross you out.

Despite some shortcomings, his best effort since "Waking Up the Neighbours"
With the exception of the soundtrack "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron", it would be seven years before Adams would release his next album - 2005's "Room Service". Following 1998's "On a Day Like Today", Bryan Adams would embark on the longest hiatus' in his career in terms of releasing new material. This comes more than two decades after Bryan Adams hit the apex of his career. In the 80s, Bryan did some great work on albums such as "Cuts Like a Knife", his signature album "Reckless", his deep album "Into the Fire", and his commercially successful "Waking Up The Neighbours". Following that string of 4 albums, Bryan released "18 Til I Die" and "On a Day Like Today". While these albums kept Adams' core fans happy, for the most part they did not achieve the glory of those past albums. Overall, Adams' "Room Service" is a better album than "18 Til I Die" and "On a Day Like Today", but it still doesn't reach the levels of Adams' hey-day.

Throughout his career, Adams has always surrounded himself with a top band of musicians. These musicians have included Keith Scott (guitar), Mickey Curry (drums), Dave Taylor (bass), and Tommy Mandel (keyboards). For "On a Day Like Today", Mandel would no longer be a part of the band. For "Room Service", Dave Taylor was dropped - leaving Scott and Curry as the only mainstays. Adams takes over the bass playing duties himself - along with guitar, piano, and harmonica. From a songwriting perspective, Adams brings back many of the songwriters who worked with him following his split with longtime songwriting collaborator Jim Vallance. These songwriters include Robert "Mutt" Lange, Phil Thornalley, Gretchen Peters, and Eliot Kennedy. While the Adams/Vallance combination might be one of the all-time greatest collaborations, this album might have some of the best lyrics since the days of Vallance. Finally from a production standpoint, Adams produces the album solo with minimal help from Thornalley. Normally I think a co-producer is important when an artist wants to produce himself because the co-producer will often challenge the artist to get the most out of him. However Adams still does a creditable job.

One unique thing about "Room Service" is that the vocals were recorded in hotel rooms throughout the world (thus the album's name, "Room Service"). The tracks were recorded in both concert halls and recording studios. While I think this is a great thing that Adams took an unorthodox approach to recording this album, I don't really see the difference. However I give super "mixer" Bob Clearmountain a lot of credit for helping engineer a smooth product. Overall I wouldn't view this recording approach as negative - just a non-factor. For the most part Adams plays it very safe. He doesn't venture into uncharted territory on this album. He uses a guitar-laden sound that is basically in step with the music of the mid 2000s. While Adams has always had a hard edge to his guitar sound, no doubt he is mellowing with age - and it reflects on this album. From a vocals standpoint, you still get the classic raspy style Bryan Adams vocals.

Here is a track by track review:

East Side Story: This is one of the album's underrated tracks. This song discusses the interactions of what goes on in the big city. It focuses on one interaction where Adams sees a woman from a window in a coffee shop and wonders how his life would change if he met that woman. Unfortunately as soon as he sees the woman, she gets on a bus and takes off.

This Side of Paradise: This is probably the best song on the collection. It is destined to be an classic among his fans. The world flies by and you have no control - so all you can hang on to is the constant.

Not Romeo Not Juliet: This is a song about two lost souls who won't admit that they are in love. I found this to be a very catchy song.

Flying: This is one of the weaker tracks on this collection. Although not a bad song, it didn't do much for me.

She's a Little Too Good for Me: This is a song that talks about a girl who is intimidating and presents a challenge to a man.

Open Road: This is another terrific track and easily will be up there as an Adams classic. The use of the "road" is a symbolic for making choices to go in one direction or another.

Room Service: As mentioned above, this song is symbolic for the way this album was constructed. However it discusses, all what it is like to be behind closed doors and alone.

I Was Only Dreamin: This song deals with someone who was in love with a woman who is now long gone, but still is clinging on to the memories.

Right Back Where I Started From: This song had a bit of a feel of "Back to You" when the song opens up. It also had a feel from some of Adams' older songs - thus the title.

No Where Fast: This song talks about how life passes one by so fast while taking someone you care about for granted.

Why Do You Have to Be So Hard to Love: This is a song that deals with the a person in love with someone who is difficult to love.

The liner notes contain all of the lyrics to each of the tracks. The songwriting and production credits are included. The names of the hotels, halls, and studios where this album was recorded are also listed - however there is not a track by track correlation with the locations. There is also some of Adams amateur photography included in the liner notes. Overall, despite some of the shortcomings, this is a very good album by Bryan Adams - certainly his best full studio album since "Waking Up the Neighbours". Highly recommended.

Grows on you
Still, it took me a long while to get this album. First of all, I have to warn: I love Bryan Adams' music. The first time i heard all the songs, only one stood out - 'Eastside story'. Its a fabulous, eternal song that everyone - and I mean everyone - can identify with. Then I had to listen a few more times and I started to like 'Not Romeo, not Juliet' and 'So hard to love'. They are lovely everyday songs thats so BA's style, but so unique no matter how many others of his you have listened to. There is one other song that is special to me 'I was only dreaming'. Thats a haunting, soft song that takes hold of your thoughts for entire days at a time. The only thing that I noticed is that somehow all the songs are short, but it doesnt matter when you are a fan, does it? :).

Laid back music
I think it's because his band is still a trio w/ only guitar, bass, and drums. The songs on this album are more laid back sounding. Gone are the slick keyboard melodies and extra dimensions from other instruments he used in the past (violin, flute, etc). I wish he would bring back the keyboard, but the songs are now simpler, even if the meanings are deeper. .

Just Excellent!
This whole album is packed with great new music, East Side Story is a great song with a good beat,NotRomeo Not Juliette is the song I listen to on my way to work in the morning and Flying could very well be the song that you start to hear at weddings soon. It's been a long time coming but it was worth the wait. I am very happy with this purchase. .

You can see a complete list of all Bryan Adams discography, or go back to the Bryan Adams tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.