Bryan Adams: Room Service : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Once upon a time, talented Canadian craftsman Bryan Adams helped define the rock-pop mainstream, but this country has yet to come back around to his meat-and-potatoes mix of arena rockers and big ballads. Adams' approach on Room Service sounds more hip in theory than in practice -- apparently he recorded the album in assorted hotel rooms and backstage areas while touring in Europe (where he remains in greater demand). The result: a disc that sounds less like Jackson Browne's Running on Empty (which was recorded in a similar fashion) than a very ordinary Bryan Adams album. The songs are solidly constructed and catchy, and a few standouts, like "EastSide Story" and "This Side of Paradise," display an emotional maturity that suits the guy far better than the aging horn-dog pose he struck back on 1996's 18 Til I Die. For the faithful, at least, Room Service still delivers.