Bryan Adams

With the release of ON A DAY LIKE TODAY, Bryan Adams’ tenth studio record, the artist whose stellar career encompasses over two dozen hit singles more than 55 million records sold worldwide, is still approaching his music with the same single-minded mission. “I just think of it as sort of a musical journey,” he says. “I’m into this for music. I’m into this for songs. If I was to say, ‘when I was 18, that I was still going to be doing it 18 years later and have all these things behind me,’ I would’ve just laughed. I never would’ve been able to conceive it. But as the days go by and these things develop and the opportunities come your way, I’ve always found things that interest me and allow me to move forward.”

With its blend of surefooted rockers, tender balladry and uplifting pop, ON A DAY LIKE TODAY — co-produced by Adams and Bob Rock (Metallica) and recorded at The Warehouse Studio in Vancouver and on its Mobile Unit in Jamaica–is a crucial addition to Adams’ catalog and to a career now spanning two decades as one of rock’s preeminent recording and touring forces. “It’s not a desire for fame or celebrity status that drives me,” explains Adams. “I suppose I’ve tried once again to make a record that will have a good flow and be totally listenable from track one to track twelve.”

The infectious first single from the new album, “On A Day Like Today,” is a feel-good rock track co-produced by Adams and Phil Thornalley (former bassist of The Cure and producer of Natalie Imbruglia’s hit single, “Torn”). Recorded in Jamaica by The Warehouse Studio Mobile Unit and mixed in Vancouver by Bob Clearmountain at The Warehouse Studio, a state-of-the art recording facility which Adams opened in 1997, ON A DAY LIKE TODAY is the first album Adams has recorded in his new studio. Adams created The Warehouse Studio in the oldest brick building in Vancouver which once housed a Klondike supply company during the gold rush of the 1800’s. He designed the studio himself with a technical consultant and local architectural firm and has been rewarded for his efforts by the City of Vancouver with a Heritage Award for the renovation.

One of the album’s biggest surprises is Adams duet with a certain spicy female superstar. Though Adams has recorded with greats of all walks, including Barbra Streisand, Lucianno Pavarotti, Tina Turner, Celine Dion, Rod Stewart, Sting and Smokey Robinson, the song “When You’re Gone” shows the singer at his sportiest. Melanie C. (a.k.a. Sporty Spice) of the uberpop sensations, The Spice Girls, joins Adams on this rollicking blockbuster tune. Adams says, “Mel seemed like the right girl because it’s a fun song and I wanted to work with someone who was up for it.”

The gifted Adams, who has garnered five annual ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) awards for most performed song, wrote “On A Day Like Today” shortly after 1997’s BRYAN ADAMS MTV UNPLUGGED performance and recording. Says Adams about his craft, “In many ways songwriting is a sort of exorcism. In that, I mean that I’m able to say things in my songs that I wouldn’t normally say or talk about. Sometimes the things that surround us have a far greater influence than we care to acknowledge. I’ve noticed this in my songs over the years.”

Adams’ songs have achieved #1 status in over 30 countries around the world, resulting in overwhelming record sales internationally. He has been awarded the Order of Canada from the country he was born in (he now resides in London), as well as the Artist Of The Decade in 1990, signifying his position as Canada’s #1 musical ambassador. He holds the record for the longest running #1 single in British music history with “(Eveything I Do) I Do It For You ” his smash from the movie “Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves”. In fact, Adams has topped the Billboard charts four times with soundtrack hits; “Heaven,” (from “A Night In Heaven” as well as RECKLESS), “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You,” “All For Love” (with Rod Stewart and Sting from “The Three Musketeers”) and “Have You Ever Really, Loved A Woman?” (from “Don Juan DeMarco”).

Adams’s live performances have benefited His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales’ Prince’s Trust, Live Aid, The Concert For Freedom for Nelson Mandela, Greenpeace, Amnesty International and others with campaigns that have saved rainforests, freed prisoners of conscience, provided food and comfort for the needy and created whale sanctuaries. Most recently, Adams contributed a song to an album and campaign to help find a cure for breast cancer. He has received countless industry and songwriting awards and accolades include three Academy Award nominations for his work on film soundtracks.

“I think that, no matter who you listen to, whether your influences are from the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s or ’90s, the thread of you as an artist is always going to be your own personal thing,” Adams explains. “For me, it’s my voice, so no matter what happens, whatever comes out of my voice will be my signature. I think the melodies are what I’m most interested in now, harmony and melody.”