Please Forgive Me: The Anthology Reviews is a track-by-track in-depth analysis of Bryan Adams's legacy in 36 installments.
Disc 1 Track #5: "This Time" (Aug.'83)
Ok. I am trying in these not to "peek ahead" and see what song is next. I want to review each on merit without trying too hard to "lead into" the next, but Lord - it leads me occasionally to walk right into and get gobsmacked by the one I forgot about! All the praise I gave to "Cuts Like a Knife" was warranted. I want to emphasize that. It was a big cut above any previous songs of his, and on top of the song itself, the track was put together.
But yet even having said all that: "This Time" just crushes it. Flat out crushes it. "This Time" is built like a brick freight train that runs every day exactly on time (3:22 - shortest track so far!) and comes on like an entire house of gangbusters on fire. This song is one continuous hook. It's quite insane. It's quite insane.
The loopy recurring riff it starts with is just the right cross between joyous and mindless-in-a-good-way. It doesn't sound like a carnival ride it is one.
The verse - the beat dropping out to catch its breath for the soft part, the dramatic pauses in the vocal, the DOUBLE HAND CLAPS!, then the beat coming back in pow! - drum fills sweeter than a jelly center! And the unexpected bonus of pretty decent lyrics. The hook (the refrain, I mean - the whole damn song's a hook) is flawless, unmarred by left-field non sequitur or could've-been-a-little-better line.
I might as well stop observing, "...and Lord, he really sings the hell out of this one!" - because by this point, Bryan had hit his stride, and had pretty much decided to maintain that level of delivery each time out. But nothing perfunctory about it! Certainly not this early in the career, at least. And "This Time," - well, you can hear in his voice, there's something special on the way all through this one. It comes through in the voice, and in everything else, too.
Man. They mustn't've been able to keep a straight face in the studio recording this. Unstoppable grins all around!
Great job, guys.
4 comments:
I am feeling faint from a head-rush of excitement. The Bryan Adam’s review is back, as is the labels function. It’s too much. Like an ice-cream headache.
Well, the labels function isn't back per se. I can't leave a post half-labeled, it's a disservice to people who expect the full thing. Like me. So since I can't create new labels anymore I'm just largely doing without.
However I decided that for specific recurring features that already had a label I could use, I'd put that one label on there. So clickers could easily group it up in one go.
Sorry, big yawn here.
No worries, Eva! But there are 31 more to go, I should warn you.
Just wait until I get to "All For Love" with Bryan, Sting & Rod. Now that is some choice material to review.
But I have to do 'em in order! Can't just skip to the juicy ones.
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