Label: Bad Records
Release date: 8/29/2025
Production: Bryan Adams
Album length: 37:21 min
Genre: Hard Rock / Pop Rock
Rating: 8.5/10
Bryan Adams is one of those rockers who never go away. They’re just always there. With us. And they don’t age. Even when trends go their own way, Bryan keeps an unspoiled, heartfelt honesty well into his later years. The musical substance he serves up to the crowd stays fully tangible even in these new times. The guy, who turns 66 this November, has released his sixteenth studio album, the first on his own label, Bad Records.
Let’s get straight to the material. “Roll With The Punches” holds on to the rock form of its predecessor, “So Happy It Hurts”. On the new album Bryan kept his three core companions, who work with him on songwriting and arrangements: Mutt Lange, Tony Nilsson and Jim Vallance. For those who know their Adams, those names pretty much explain the whole deal, and there’s no need to read the review any further.
That’s why the kinship between the last two albums is far more pronounced than in comparisons between them and “Shine A Light” from 2019. “So Happy It Hurts” was an album born in the gloomy times of the p(l)andemic. What’s interesting is that it might be among the handful of albums from that period that can boast a summery lightness. Carefree. Full of optimism and sparkle. That’s Bryan’s trademark, and it may even be the deciding factor in why the Canadian singer-songwriter still counts among the hottest acts around in his later years. On a scene shaped by musicians who could be his grandkids. “Roll With The Punches” shines a fresh bag of bubbling optimism. As if Bryan were twenty and we were back somewhere just before 1980, before his debut album came out. The new album is also full of musings about memories of bygone days that are worth longing for. There’s plenty of romance, plenty of digging into what it means to believe in the light of all lights: love. Bryan remains a romantic of eternal youth. He doesn’t need a late bloom. He’s been in bloom the whole time.
“Roll With The Punches” has a bagful of wonderfully appealing variety, so it develops very dynamically. Bryan was never one for complications, but he’s always known how to balance that directness with high musical catchiness. The new album has some seriously captivating tracks that crawl under your skin in an instant, which means the old fox has once again nailed the main thing. Not only did he enjoy himself in the studio again, he’s definitely made happy everyone who’s looking for a clearly recognizable vibe tying back to the late eighties and early nineties, which are timeless for this musician’s followers. There are moments that blast you back to the “Waking Up The Neighbours” era, and the likeliest culprit is Mutt Lange’s return. The opening title track of the new album is exactly like that. It really opens up on the new record, and the magnificent Keith Scott shines on it with his magic guitar tricks. Bryan’s inseparable comrade keeps his guitar charisma, and at certain points his guitar gets lots of room to speak its mind!
If you own the vinyl, you’ll discover that the A side is more rock-leaning than the B side, where intimate, personal confession gains the upper hand. The A side has a run of four tracks that Bryan released as singles. So clearly, that’s a seriously strong part of the album. It’s hard to pick which one is catchier, but they’re all insanely captivating. One after another. That’s why the album keeps its hold on you. A Little More Understanding carries a distinct funky undertone, and the verse in Bryan’s vocal lines even draws a few connections to the tricks of good old Jeff Lynne and his Electric Light Orchestra (Evil Woman). A truly lovely trip into mid-seventies arena rock. Short, simple but punchy tricks that, in a harmoniously compatible dialogue of high conciliation, gravitate toward incredible listenability and catchiness. Exactly what we look for in Bryan. And there’s that warm, full, organic sound of the production itself!
Be The Reason has a boogie drive and is a very welcome addition in the final stretch of the album, since two acoustic ballads come right before it, and in those Bryan pulls off a superb performance, sparkling in all his glory on the interpretation front, which keeps the album’s flow at a satisfying level of interest. Be The Reason is also interesting for its use of harmonica. It’s fascinating how cleverly and slyly the instrument is woven into the arrangement, and in the chorus it works almost as a duet with Bryan’s vocal melody. The closing Will We Ever Be Friends Again, calm, moody and grabbing, melancholic, draws parallels with the recently released standalone single What If There Were No Sides At All, in vibe, definitely not in message. Yearning, and a superb way to close the album.
The old fox has proven once again that the veteran still has plenty of expressive firepower left and isn’t slowing down. The guy has delivered a new album that’s closely related to its predecessor and offers a lovely link to the times that are timeless for Adams, to the hits with which he built himself a monument long ago, while at the same time staying very successfully in step with the present. Even though he said it all a long time ago. At what he does, he’s once again the best. And Bryan needs nothing more than that.
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Track list:
1. Roll With The Punches
2. Make Up Your Mind
3. Never Ever Let You Go
4. A Little More Understanding
5. Life Is Beautiful
6. Love Is Stronger Than Hate
7. How’s That Workin’ For Ya
8. Two Arms To Hold You
9. Be The Reason
10. Will We Ever Be Friends Again
Lineup:
Bryan Adams – vocals, bass guitar, guitar, drums (tracks 1 and 4–10), piano (1, 6, 7), backing vocals (2–6, 8–10), keyboards (2, 4), percussion (2), organ (6, 7, 9), harmonica on track 7
Keith Scott – guitar (tracks 1, 2, 9 and 10)
Pat Steward – drums (tracks 1, 2 and 3)
Jim Vallance – backing vocals on track 4
Mutt Lange – backing vocals (tracks 1–6 and 8–10), keyboards (tracks 1, 3, 5, 8 and 10)
