JOIN USCliched rock
Bryan Adams, one of the most popular rock stars in India, is back with his 13th studio album, Get Up. The album features nine new songs and four acoustic versions. On an average, most songs are about three minutes, altogether clocking about 25 minutes, not counting the four acoustic versions. The acoustic version of four songs — “Don’t Even Try”, “We Did It All”, “You Belong To Me” and “Brand New Day” — highlights Adams’s unique gravelly voice.
The lyrics are cliched and pedantic using worn out phrases — “What goes around comes around/ You gotta keep both feet on the ground (Do What Ya Gotta Do)” or “Tomorrow’s comin — it won’t be long/ Yesterday is here and gone (Yesterday Was Just A Dream)” or “Two hearts are better than one (We Did It All).”
The opening track, “You Belong To Me”, indicates that Adams has mellowed down, showing his softer self. “We Did It All” is a nice ballad. “Go Down Rocking” and “That’s Rock N Roll” has elements of the rocking style of Adams, but does not have the energetic tempo of the past. The lyrics of the former track (If I’m gonna go down, I’m gonna go down rockin’/ I ain’t gonna slow down, I’m gonna go down rockin’) looks as if he’s trying to bring the philosophical spirit of the song, “18 till I die.”
“Brand New Day” is a catchy song. While attempting to be a melodic rocker, it is not in the same league as his past rockers. “Thunderbolt” attempts to be another rocker, but falls short of standards set by Adams himself. “Yesterday Was Just A Dream” is an average power ballad.
“Get Up” does not match with some of his successful albums of the past with hard-core melodic rock, yet a few songs do stand out.