18 Til I Die Review

07/18/2005 5:48 PM, AMG


Adams and Robert "Mutt" Lange (Def Leppard, Shania Twain) appended the corporate vision "forever young" to the songwriting/production duo's carefully-crafted, 13-point wrinkle cream product line. The team has worked hard to strip the sessions of the most overt Lange-isms, and there's a tougher variety of material here than your typical Adams chart singles. In particular, "Do to You" fuses a startling, ear-bending phased effect to its rockin' R&B structure.

Still, there's nothing here that would risk quaking Adams' granite fan base, and his 18 'Til I Die quest is driven by a tone of calculated desperation. No complaints with the basic sentiment itself, the desire to maintain a youthful perspective which many of us can relate with. Rather, it's disappointment that the best investment Adams can think of making with his fountain of youth is "gonna have a ball -- yea gonna have a blast." It's that when he spends some meaningful time with his girl on "Let's Make A Night to Remember," the most depth he can muster is "cause I've never touched somebody like the way I touch your body/Now I never want to let your body go." ~ Roch Parisien, All Music Guide