You Want It You Got It, by Bryan Adams

When he received a bit of fame at the tail end of the disco period with a dance remix of his early track “Let Me Take You Dancing,” Bryan Adams was quite correctly afraid of being typecast as a dance act when he most definitely was a straight-head rock act. That defensiveness colored his efforts on his early albums to prove his rock bona fides, to the extent that he wanted originally to title this album “Bryan Adams Hasn’t Heard Of You Either,” which I personally find to be an amazing sort of name for an album. Although this album was not a massive pop smash, this album is where the Bryan Adams experience for many rock listeners begins and so it is well worth covering in our look at the discography of one of rock’s most underestimated artists.

The album begins with “Lonely Nights,” which is a gorgeous song about the desire to avoid loneliness. “One Good Reason” features something other than a usual Bryan Adams voice on the lead vocals. “Don’t Look Now” shows Bryan Adams on the comeback trail with a sound that would be pretty familiar to his listeners. “Coming Home” is a surprisingly touching early example of a romantic ballad to a devoted partner. “Fits Ya Good” is a driving song about the struggle of dealing with people who refuse to think positively in their lives, and was a later release on his Unplugged album that I first heard there. “Jealousy” shows Bryan Adams struggling with his titular feelings that take control of him when he is dealing with a romantic problem. “Tonight” is a somewhat fierce call to leave aside an unprofitable argument with a partner that isn’t going anywhere. The title track “You Want It You Got It” has rather creative and interesting instrumentation and lyrics that show Adams’ characteristically schizoid approach to love and relationships. “Last Chance” shows a surprisingly unromantic take at someone offering a last chance to someone who has had a tough night at the bar along with a great 80’s sax solo. “No One Makes It Right” is a lovely piano ballad that manages to point to the cliches of love while also striving to honor them.

This is admittedly one of the more obscure Bryan Adams albums in his body of work, and as his breakthrough album in America it is obvious that the standouts “Lonely Nights” and “Fits Ya Good” deserve to be remembered fondly from this collection. For those who are fond of the career of Bryan Adams as a whole as I am, though, there are quite a few moments in this album that are worthy of listening to and enjoying, including romantic tracks like “Coming Home” and “No One Makes It Right” as well as tracks like “One Good Reason” and “You Want It You Got It,” and even the more unsympathetic looks at Bryan Adams as a narrator like “Last Chance” and “Jealousy” that show some struggling with honesty about less than praiseworthy aspects of his character. Not everyone is going to be a fan of this album, but this is a real neglected gem of an album that shows Bryan Adams working on music out of a love of music and a real sense of honesty and sincerity about his craft, and that is well worthy of appreciation.