Reckless (Bryan Adams album)

Reckless
Studio album by Bryan Adams
Released	5 November 1984
Recorded	March–August 1984 ("Heaven" was recorded in June 1983)
Genre	Pop rock, hard rock
Length	37:58
Label	A&M
Producer	Bryan Adams, Bob Clearmountain
Bryan Adams chronology
Cuts Like a Knife (1983) Reckless (1984) Into the Fire (1987)
Singles from Reckless
"Run to You" Released: 18 October 1984 "Kids Wanna Rock" "Somebody" Released: 1985 "Heaven" Released: 1985 "Summer of '69" Released: 1985 "One Night Love Affair" Released: 1985 "It's Only Love" Released: 1985

Reckless is the fourth studio album by Canadian rock recording artist Bryan Adams. Co-produced by Adams and Bob Clearmountain, it was one of Adams' most successful albums. Released on 5 November 1984 through A&M Records, the album was a huge international hit, selling over 5 million units in the United States alone. It was the first Canadian album to sell more than one million units within Canada. The album peaked at number 1 on the Billboard 200 and reached high positions in charts worldwide.^[1] The album has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide.

Six singles were released from the album: "Run to You", "Somebody", "Heaven", "Summer of '69", "One Night Love Affair", and "It's Only Love". All six singles made the top 15 on the US Billboard Hot 100, a feat that at the time had been accomplished previously only by Michael Jackson's Thriller and Bruce Springsteen's Born In The USA. The album was ranked No. 49 on Kerrang!s "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time"^[2], 99th Greatest Rock Album of All Time by Classic rock and was named the #12 Greatest Canadian Album of All Time by Bob Mersereau in his book The Top 100 Canadian Albums. The album was recorded at Little Mountain Sound Studios, Vancouver, Canada. On 12 December 2009 the syndicated radio program In the Studio celebrated the 25th anniversary of the album.

Music

Recording and production

In March 1984, recording for Reckless began after extensive touring for the support of Cuts Like a Knife. However, unhappy with the recording process, Adams decided to take a month off.^[3] In August Adams headed back to the studio with Tina Turner for the track "It's Only Love"; he also returned with more new songs and started re-recording songs which would lead to the development of such tracks as "Run to You", Summer of '69", and "Heaven".^[3]

"Run to You" was recorded after a tour in Asia.^[4] The recording for "Run to You" started on 27 March 1984 and went through the summer at Little Mountain Sound Studios, Vancouver. It was mixed in New York by Bob Clearmountain, with mixing of the song completed on 21 September.^[4] The recording of "Heaven", co-written by Adams and Jim Vallance, started on 6 June and lasted only two days, ending on 7 June.^[4] The song was recorded for the film A Night in Heaven, and was mixed by Bob Clearmountain on 16 June 1984 .^[4] "Summer of '69" was written on 25 January 1984 with Jim Vallance. The recording took place at Little Mountain Sound Studios where the song was recorded three times over the winter. It was mixed in New York by Bob Clearmountain on 22 November 1984.^[4]

Songs

"Run to You" was released as the debut single from Reckless on 18 October 1984 in Canada and the U.S. and became one of the most successful songs from the album on the American rock charts; it would become arguably one of Adams' most recognizable and popular songs.^[4] The song was Adams' first number one hit on the Mainstream Rock Tracks and reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100.^[1] It reached the top 20 on the Canadian singles chart and remained in the top 20 for seven weeks. With "Run to You", Adams reached the highest Canadian chart position in his career to that time; it was his second top 20 hit single in Canada.^[5] "Run to You" was released in November 1984 in Europe where it peaked at the top ten in Ireland at number 8 and reached number 11 on the UK Singles Chart; it was his second single to chart in Europe.^[6][7]

"Somebody" was released in the winter of 1985 and became one of the most successful songs from Reckless on the American rock charts.^[4] The song was Adams' second number one hit on the Mainstream Rock Tracks. It reached number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100^[1] and was in the top 20 on the Canadian singles chart where it remained for six weeks. "Somebody" was Adams' third top 20 hit on the Canadian chart.^[1] "Somebody" was released the following month in Europe and peaked at the top 20 in Ireland at number 20 and reached the top 40 on the UK Singles Chart at 35; it was his third single to chart in Europe.^[6][7]

	Bryan Adams's "Heaven" Adams's first number 1 hit single in the U.S.
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"Heaven" was the third single from Reckless. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart and peaked at number 9 on the Billboard mainstream rock tracks.^[1] The song has appeared on all of Adams' compilation albums with the exception of The Best of Me. The single was certified Gold in Canada in 1985.^[8]

"Summer of '69" was officially released to US radio in 1984 and it appeared on the Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart at 5 and 40 on the mainstream rock tracks.^[1] In Canada, "Summer of '69" was officially released to radio on November 1984.^[4] The song reached the top twenty on the Canadian Singles Chart and remained in the top 20 for another month. "Summer of '69" was the highest charting single from Reckless with "Heaven".^[1]

The song was released in Australia, Europe and New Zealand in 1985. "Heaven" reached the UK top 40, while "Summer of '69" peaked at the top 40.^[6] "Summer of '69" continued the trend of higher-charting singles when it debuted and peaked at top 20 in most of the European countries it charted. Adams' previous singles had charted much weaker in Europe and "Summer of '69" would be Adams' second single to chart in mainland Europe.

Although "Summer of '69" reached the top ten in Norway and then the top 20 in the Austria, Ireland and Sweden, it was a moderate top 100 success in Germany where it peaked at 62.^{[7][9][10][11][12]}

In 2008, Adams was quoted as saying:

"'Summer of '69' - I think it's timeless because it's about making love in the summertime. There is a slight misconception it's about a year, but it's not. '69' has nothing to do about a year, it has to do with a sexual position ... At the end of the song the lyric says that it's me and my baby in a 69. You'd have to be pretty thick in the ears if you couldn't get that lyric."^[13]

Co-writer Jim Vallance has always gone for the more conventional interpretation of the title being a reference to a year. He notes Jackson Browne's "Running on Empty", which contains references to 1965 and 1969, as his own influence, and recalls that Adams cited the film Summer of '42 as his.^[14]

Although "One Night Love Affair" was officially released to US radio in 1985, it appeared on the Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart at 13 and 7 on the mainstream rock tracks.^[1] In Canada, "One Night Love Affair" was officially released to radio in February 1985.^[4] The song reached the top 20 on the Canadian Singles Chart and remained in the top twenty for another month. "One Night Love Affair" was the lowest charting single from Reckless.^[1]

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[15]
Robert Christgau	C-[16]
Rolling Stone	[17]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[18]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[19]
Martin C. Strong	[20]
Le Guide du CD	[19]
Blogcritics	(positive)[21]
Teen Ink	(positive)[22]
Daily Vault	A-[23]

Reckless peaked at number one on the Billboard 200. It reached #6 on the Billboard 200 in January 1985 before dropping out of the top ten. The success of the singles "Heaven" and "Summer of '69" renewed interest in the album and it began climbing back up the chart, eventually reaching #1 in August 1985.

Reckless included the hit singles "Run to You", "Heaven", "Summer of '69", "One Night Love Affair","Somebody", and "It's Only Love". All the singles had accompanying music videos, and each one charted on the Billboard Hot 100, with "Run to You", "Summer of '69", and "Heaven" peaking in the top ten. "Heaven" would become the most successful single from Reckless at the time of its release on the US music charts, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and number nine on the mainstream rock chart.

The single "It's Only Love" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. In 1986, the song won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Stage Performance. The album is Adams best-selling album in the United States and was certified five times platinum.

Reckless tour

In December 1984, Adams and his touring band which consists of Keith Scott, Dave Taylor, Pat Steward and Johnny Blitz played concerts in Chicago, Detroit, New York City and Philadelphia.^[3] In early 1985, Adams' started a tour throughout the United States and later in Japan, Australia, Europe and finally Canada after winning four Juno Awards.^[3] Later he headed south towards the American West Coast, culminating with two dates at the Paladium in Los Angeles.^[3]

After the tour in the United States Adams traveled to Ethiopia to aid famine relief efforts there.^[3] Adams later went to Europe for a fifty-city concert tour with Tina Turner, culminating in April with his return to London to headline three sold-out shows at the Hammersmith Odeon.^[3] Adams began the first leg of his tour entitled "World Wide in 85" which started in Oklahoma.^[3] The tour ended in October.^[3] Adams would later visit Vancouver, and afterwards he returned to the American East Coast to play two sold-out concerts in New York.^[3]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance. 

No.	Title	Length
1.	"One Night Love Affair"	4:32
2.	"She's Only Happy When She's Dancin'"	3:14
3.	"Run to You"	3:54
4.	"Heaven"	4:03
5.	"Somebody"	4:44
6.	"Summer of '69"	3:35
7.	"Kids Wanna Rock"	2:36
8.	"It's Only Love" (w/ Tina Turner)	3:15
9.	"Long Gone"	3:57
10.	"Ain't Gonna Cry"	4:06

Japan 2012 SHM-CD Bonus Tracks
No.	Title	Length
11.	"Diana" (B-Side from "Heaven" UK Single.)	3:55
12.	"Christmas Time"	4:10
13.	"Reggae Christmas" (featuring Pee Wee Herman)	2:52

Personnel

• Bryan Adams - rhythm guitars, handclaps, lead vocals, lead guitars, piano, harmonica, co-producer
• Keith Scott - lead guitars, rhythm guitars, backing vocals
• Jim Vallance - percussion, associate producer
• Dave Taylor - bass guitar
• Pat Steward - drums and background vocals
• Tommy Mandel - keyboards
• Jody Perpick - backgrounds sounds and vocals
• Mickey Curry - drums
• Tina Turner - lead vocals on "It's Only Love"
• Steve Smith - drums on "Heaven"
• Mike Fraser, Michael Sauvage - Engineering, Mixing
• Bob Ludwig - Mastering

Chart positions

Country	Peak Position	Certification (If Any)	Sales/shipments	ref.
Canada	1	Diamond	+1,000,000	[5][8]
Australian ARIA Album Chart	2	Platinum	70,000+	[24][25]
Germany	19	Gold	+250,000	[11][26]
UK	7	3× Platinum	+900,000	[6][27]
Norway	2			[9]
Sweden	5	Gold	10,000	[3][10]
Switzerland	10	Platinum	+15,000	[28][29]
United States	1	5× Platinum	+5,000,000	[1][30]
New Zealand	1			[31]

Preceded by Songs from the Big Chair by Tears for Fears	Billboard 200 number-one album 10–23 August 1985	Succeeded by Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits

See also

• List of diamond-certified albums in Canada

References

v t e Bryan Adams Albums and singles Videos Awards Backing band Co-writers Studio albums Bryan Adams You Want It You Got It Cuts Like a Knife Reckless Into the Fire Waking Up the Neighbours 18 til I Die On a Day Like Today Room Service 11 Live albums Live! Live! Live! MTV Unplugged Live at the Budokan Bare Bones Soundtracks Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron Colour Me Kubrick Compilations So Far So Good The Best of Me Anthology Icon Videography Reckless (video) Waking Up The Neighbours (video) So Far So Good (And More) MTV Unplugged Live at Slane Castle Live at the Budokan Live in Lisbon Book Category Portal Template