| 18 Til I Die | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Bryan Adams | ||||
| Released | June 4, 1996 | |||
| Recorded | 1995–96 | |||
| Genre | Rock, soft rock | |||
| Length | 51:48 | |||
| Label | A&M | |||
| Producer | Bryan Adams, Robert John "Mutt" Lange | |||
| Bryan Adams chronology | ||||
|
||||
| Singles from 18 til I Die | ||||
|
||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [1] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B-[2] |
18 til I Die is the seventh studio album by the Canadian rock artist Bryan Adams. Released on June 4, 1996 through A&M Records, the album became a commercial success peaking at #1 in United Kingdom and number two in his homeland Canada. It was recorded on different locations which included Jamaica and France. The album was panned by critics, saying he was trying to be youthful while sounding more like "having a mid-life crisis". While previous albums by Adams had all been quite consistent in terms of production and songwriting qualities, 18 Til I Die was somewhat of a patchwork, making up of schmalzy ballads (i.e., I'll Always Be Right There, I Think About You), blues orientated rock tunes (i.e., Black Pearl, Do To You), and soundtrack songs (Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?, Star). The album was poorly received by fans in the US and sold only about 1,000,000 copies there. It became his last platinum album in the USA. Adams launched a world tour, the "18 Til I Die" tour in May 1996 in Tallinn, Estonia. This is the first Adams album not to include a Jim Vallance song, who has occasionally been vocal on the record's lyrical content (specifically concerning the song (I Wanna Be) Your Underwear).
Five singles have been released from the album: "The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You (the album's first single, released May 28,)," "Let's Make a Night to Remember", "I'll Always Be Right There" (promotional release only, and as Mother's Day greeting card in 2000), "Star" and "18 til I Die." The album was released in June. To promote the album, Adams toured around North America and Europe. Perhaps the most memorable of these concerts was playing to more than 70,000 people at Wembley Stadium in July 1996.
The record sold over 5 million units worldwide.[3]
Contents |
The album was written and recorded and produced by Adams and R.J. 'Mutt' Lange in a house in Ocho Rios, Jamaica Winter 1994 - Summer 1995 and in two different houses in Provence, France Autumn 1995 - Spring 1996 using the Warehouse Studio Mobile Unit. Even the mix was done in a house in Provence, France March 1996 by Bob Clearmountain. Adams even played some of these songs live before release for example : He played "Lets Make A Night To Remember" at a soundcheck in a gig in 1993 during the "So Far So Good World Tour". Adams completed the 12 songs in 1995, but he felt that something was lacking in the album, and he went back and recorded 2 new songs : "The Only Thing" and "18 til i die". Adams named the album "18 til i die".
Bryan was under no pressure while recording this album, as he had no pressure of releasing a hit record, after the massive success of Waking Up the Neighbours and So Far So Good. Adams released "The Only Thing" in May and did promo's all round the world. He appeared on shows like "The Today Show" and "The David Letterman Show".
"18 Til I Die" was a massive commercial success during its release in Europe. It debuted at #1 on The UK album chart. It performed disappointingly in the US. Although 18 til I Die was officially released in June 1996, in the United States the album peaked at 31 on the Billboard 200 and held that position for three weeks. While in Canada 18 til I Die would reach number 4. The album was released in Australia, Europe and New Zealand in late June 1996. 18 til I Die reached the UK top five and peaked at number on 1 which would be Adams' second in a row. Although 18 til I Die reached the top ten in the Netherlands, Belgia, Switzerland, Finland, Norway, Austria, Sweden, Germany and Australian, it was a moderate top 20 success in France.
The album has been certified platinum in the United States and is Adams last studio effort which has been certified by the RIAA. "18 Til I Die" was ignored by rock programmers in the US after the success of his ballads and radio stations ignored him too.[4] 18 til I Die was certified three times platinum in Canada and Australia and two times platinum in the UK.[5][6][7]
18 til I Die included the hit singles "The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You", "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman", "Let's Make a Night to Remember", "Star", and "18 'Til I Die", all of which had accompanying music videos. The album included the number one hit "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman" and "Let's Make a Night to Remember" was the third single from the album to chart in the United States peaking at 24 on the Billboard Hot 100, while the other singles became big hits in Europe. "The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You" was the most successful song from 18 til I Die on the rock charts, reaching number 5 on the UK Singles Chart and number 1 on the Canadian Singles Chart. "The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You" has arguably become one of Adams' most popular songs. Its music video received heavy airplay on music television.
The Australian version of 18 til I Die featured the song "I Finally Found Someone" (a duet with Barbra Streisand) in place of "You're Still Beautiful to Me" and had an alternative Cover with a purple background and a different track order, while the Japanese version contained the bonus song "Hey Elvis".
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You" | Adams, Lange | 3:37 |
| 2. | "Do to You" | Adams, Lange | 4:11 |
| 3. | "Let's Make a Night to Remember" | Adams, Lange | 6:19 |
| 4. | "18 til I Die" | Adams, Lange | 3:30 |
| 5. | "Star" | Adams, Lange, Kamen | 3:42 |
| 6. | "(I Wanna Be) Your Underwear" | Adams, Lange | 3:18 |
| 7. | "We're Gonna Win" | Adams, Lange | 2:27 |
| 8. | "I Think About You" | Adams, Peters | 3:36 |
| 9. | "I'll Always Be Right There" | Adams, Kennedy | 3:17 |
| 10. | "It Ain't a Party... If You Can't Come 'Round" | Adams, Lange | 3:47 |
| 11. | "Black Pearl" | Adams, Lange | 4:00 |
| 12. | "You're Still Beautiful to Me" | Adams, Lange | 5:14 |
| 13. | "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" | Adams, Lange, Kamen | 4:48 |
| 14. | "Hey Elvis [Japanese Bonus Track]" | Adams, Peters | 3:22 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You" | Adams, Lange | 3:37 |
| 2. | "Do to You" | Adams, Lange | 4:11 |
| 3. | "Let's Make a Night to Remember" | Adams, Lange | 6:19 |
| 4. | "18 til I Die" | Adams, Lange | 3:30 |
| 5. | "Star" | Adams, Lange, Kamen | 3:42 |
| 6. | "(I Wanna Be) Your Underwear" | Adams, Lange | 3:18 |
| 7. | "I Think About You" | Adams, Peters | 3:36 |
| 8. | "I'll Always Be Right There" | Adams, Kennedy | 3:17 |
| 9. | "It Ain't a Party If Ya Can't Come 'Round" | Adams, Lange | 3:47 |
| 10. | "Black Pearl" | Adams, Lange | 4:00 |
| 11. | "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" | Adams, Lange, Kamen | 4:48 |
| 12. | "I Finally Found Someone" (with Barbra Streisand)" | Adams, Lange, Streisand, Hamlisch | 3:43 |
| 13. | "We're Gonna Win" | Adams, Lange | 2:27 |
| Country | Peak Position | Certification (If Any) | Sales/shipments | ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | 1 | 2× Platinum | +600,000 | [5][8] |
| Australia | 2 | 3× Platinum | +210,000 | [7][9] |
| Austria | 2 | Gold | +10,000 | [10][11] |
| Switzerland | 2 | Platinum | +120,000 | [12][13] |
| Finland | 3 | [14] | ||
| Germany | 4 | Gold | +250,000 | [15][16] |
| Canada | 4 | 3× Platinum | +300,000 | [6][17] |
| Sweden | 5 | [18] | ||
| Belgium | 5 | [19] | ||
| Norway | 7 | [20] | ||
| Hungary | 8 | [21] | ||
| Netherland | 9 | [22] | ||
| New Zealand | 13 | [23] | ||
| France | 15 | [24] | ||
| United States | 31 | Platinum | +1,000,000 | [4][25] |
| Preceded by Load by Metallica |
UK number one album June 22–28, 1996 |
Succeeded by Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morissette |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||