“Into The Fire” by Bryan Adams

Bryan Adams is no stranger to the music charts. He made his first appearance on the Billboard charts in 1982 with “Lonely Nights” reaching #84, and his second appearance with the top 10 classic, “Straight From The Heart”. His trademark rasp and brand of no-nonsense melodic rock made him one of the biggest artists in the 80s. However, some critics argue that he hit a speed bump with his 5^th album, “Into The Fire”.

“Into The Fire” was released in 1986 and reached #7 on the Billboard album chart.

It is hard to follow-up a mega success. His previous effort was the monster album, “Reckless”, which spent 2 weeks at #1 and went on to sell over 5 million copies in the US and over 12 million worldwide.

Adams admits he was at a crossroads after the phenomenal success of “Reckless”, and these feelings provided the inspiration behind the album’s terrific title track.

“Into The Fire” is my favorite cut off this darker, moodier album. Adams was going for more lyrical depth on this record and wrestled with social and political issues in his songs. Many of the songs plod along and clock in over 5 minutes. In other words, not the type of album that made Bryan Adams a household name, and certainly not the type of record radio and fans expected from him.

An artist always takes a risk when he/she tries something different, and that should be respected. But many consider this album to be a failure as it yielded only one top 10 hit (“Heat Of The Night”), and two other songs that barely made the top 40. It still sold over a million copies in the US alone, but that pales in comparison to what “Reckless” had achieved.

No worries for Bryan Adams, though. He went right back to the party rock anthems and grandiose power ballads to come back in a big way with the smash, “Waking Up The Neighbours” in 1991.