Into the Fire (CD - 1987)

Personnel: Bryan Adams (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); Keith Scott (guitar, background vocals); Jim Vallance (piano, synthesizer, percussion); Dave Pickell (piano); Tom Mandel (organ, keyboards); Robbie King (organ); Ian Stanley (keyboards); Dave Taylor (bass); Mickey Curry (drums).

Recorded at Cliffhanger Studios, Vancouver, Canada.

Personnel: Bryan Adams (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); Keith Scott (vocals, guitar, electric guitar, slide guitar, background vocals); Jim Vallance (vocals, piano, keyboards, synthesizer, percussion, sequencer); Dave Pickell (piano); Tom Mandel (organ, keyboards); Robbie King (organ); John Hannah, Ian Stanley (keyboards); Mickey Curry (drums).

Audio Mixer: Bob Clearmountain.

Recording information: Cliffhanger Studios, Vancouver, Canada; Clifhanger Studios, Vancover, Canada.

Photographers: Hans Sipma; Anton Corbijn.

When he released INTO THE FIRE, Bryan Adams was an established and extremely successful rock & roller. Styles had changed over the decade, but Adams's brand of melodic hard rock was still very much in vogue, and even flourishing, as bands from Guns & Roses and Aerosmith to the so-called hair-metal bands made the power ballad a genre unto itself.

Teaming up with longtime producer Bob Clearmountain and songwriting partner Jim Vallance, Adams sticks with this approach. Clearmountain brings his trademark ultra-clear, '80s-style production to the proceedings, especially evident on the gleaming title track. And the songs continue to mine the basic rock idiom. Yet Adams shows a desire to evolve. He looks at the lives of the working class a la Bruce Springsteen on "Another Day" and "Rebel," while "Remembrance Day" is a homage to World War Two soldiers. He even addresses Native American issues in "Native Son." Although the record doesn't feature what could be called a signature Bryan Adams song, the collection offers what any Bryan Adams record has: big drums, big guitars, lots of strong and memorable hooks, and that voice. minimize