Artist:
BRYAN ADAMS
Label:
MERCURY RECORDS
Video:
“THIS SIDE OF PARADISE”
Director:
Dick Carruthers
Add Date:
July 1st, 2005

A big hello to all of my esteemed programmer friends! It’s Andy Gesner and the staff here at HIP Video Promo with yet another cool video for you all. Maybe you rocked out to his records when you were a kid. Maybe you slow danced to “Heaven” or “Straight From The Heart” in junior high school or heard the chiming guitars of “Cuts Like A Knife” or “Run To You” slash out of a transistor speaker on a beach radio on a glorious summer day. Maybe you’re one of the listeners who helped make “Everything I Do (I Do It For You)” one of the biggest blockbuster hits in the history of commercial radio. If you’re a music fan, Bryan Adams is a part of your life. During a musical era dominated by artificiality, his chart-topping records had a gritty integrity that was, even by the standards of the most ardent devotees of the underground, undeniable. No matter how many albums he’s sold, here at HIP Video Promo we know that Adams has always been hip. We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Mercury Records to bring you the latest video from a rock n’ roll true believer.

How has Bryan Adams managed to remain so relevant and vital while so many of his peers now sound dated? Start with the songwriting. Adams matches timeless melodies tyo grand, perfectly elucidated romantic sentiment. An underrated lyricist, Adams has the knack for writing scenarios with universal dimensions, and carefully choosing images that resonate with those who, like the singer, are students of the rock and roll story: old-model cars, six-strings, dusty back streets, cigarettes, whiskey, and women. The flexibility of his songs is remarkable – the wildly popular trance reworking of “Heaven” by DJ Sammy and Yanou and the reinterpretation of “Everything I Do (I Do It For You)” by R&B star Brandy prove that when it comes to an Adams composition, genre is immaterial. His tunes may still sound best when bashed out by a rock band, but they’re so iconic that they can suffer translation into any style and still maintain their potency

Then there’s Adams’s apparent influence on a whole generation of rough-hewn acoustic guitar-singers. Howie Day, John Mayer, David Gray and more all bear the stamp of his inspiration. In fact, with so much heartland guitar rock garnering commercial attentiion lately, the radio sometimes seems to us to have been begging for a new Bryan Adams album.Room Service is that album, and it’s an exciting one with 11 new songs; the sound is one immediately familiar to long time fans, but edgier and more energetic than his late Nineties work. To capture a vital rawness and haunting road-weariness, Adams cut all of the vocals and overdubs in hotel rooms he occupied during his 2002-2003 world tour. It feels like a bit of a cliche to say it, but it’s true: Bryan Adams has never sung better. That golden gravel is still there in his voice, but it’s undergirded by notes of longing, regret, and wistful remembrance.

The video for “This Side of Paradise”, the first single from Room Service, is similarly expressive. Director Dick Carruthers captures Adams at a soundcheck, addressing the microphone with that mixture of enthusiasm and reserve recognizable to anybody who had MTV during its early years. The footage, though, is grainy – colors bleed and lights streak, and although the camera is almost never stationary, there is a melancholy that prevades the clip. “Paradise” is a defiant song for sure, but not one without its dark overtones: while Adams sings about black limosines and “69 Oldsmobiles (there’s that number again!) he also reflects on the funeral of a friend, the mystery of death, and the possibility that the version of the truth he’s been given is incomplete. It’s worth mentioning that Adams still looks terrific behind the mic: the t-shirt, the jeans, and the earnest everyman stance has not faded a bit during the last twenty years. Just like his music, the image of Bryan Adams is timeless.

We’re absolutely thrilled to be working with our friend Tom Lord and all the folks at Mercury Records to bring you this compelling video. Bryan Adams will be hitting the road with Def Leppard on their Rock n’ Roll Double Header Tour. They will be playing at Minor League Baseball stadiums across the country so be on the look out for when they come to your town. If you need more info call Andy Gesner at 732-613-1779, or email info@HIPVideoPromo.com . You can also visitwww.BryanAdams.com to find out more about Bryan Adams.