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''11'' is the eleventh studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter
Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...
. The album was released by
Polydor Records Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...
on March 17, 2008. ''11'' was the first release of new Adams material since '' Colour Me Kubrick'' in 2005 and the first studio album in four years since ''
Room Service Room service or in-room dining is a hotel service enabling guests to choose items of food and drink for delivery to their hotel room for consumption. Room service is organized as a subdivision within the food and beverage department of high-end ...
''. Adams,
Jim Vallance James Douglas Vallance (born May 31, 1952) is a Canadian songwriter, arranger and producer. He is best known as the songwriting partner of Canadian musician Bryan Adams. Vallance began his professional career as the original drummer and main song ...
,
Eliot Kennedy Eliot Kennedy (born 29 March 1969) is an English songwriter and record producer based in Sheffield. He has worked with artists such as Billie Piper, The Spice Girls, Mary J. Blige, Donny Osmond, Bryan Adams, Lulu, S Club 7, Five, Gary Barlow, D ...
,
Gretchen Peters Gretchen Peters (born November 14, 1957) is an American singer and songwriter. She was born in New York, where she wrote her first song with her sister at the age of 5. In 1970, her parents broke up, and Peters moved with her mother to Boulder, ...
,
Trevor Rabin Trevor Charles Rabin (; born ) is a South African rock musician and composer. Born into a musical family and raised in Johannesburg, Rabin took up the piano and guitar at an early age and became a session musician, playing and producing with a va ...
and
Robert John "Mutt" Lange Robert John "Mutt" Lange (born 11 November 1948) is a South African record producer and songwriter, mainly known for his work in rock music as well as his previous marriage to Canadian singer Shania Twain, for whom he wrote and produced several ...
received producing and writing credits. Similar to Adams' previous material, the themes in ''11'' are mainly based on love, romance, and relationships. ''11'' received generally mixed reviews from contemporary music critics. Three songs were released from the album in various forms: " I Thought I'd Seen Everything", " Tonight We Have the Stars" and " She's Got a Way", of which all were released internationally. " I Thought I'd Seen Everything" was the only one to have any lasting effects on the music chart, reaching mostly the Top 50, Top 100 and Top 200 in Europe and Canada. Adams was nominated for a Juno Award in the category "Best Artist" in 2009 for this record. The album peaked within the top ten in eleven territories worldwide, including Canada (with sales just below 10,000 units in its first week), the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark and Switzerland. ''11'' charted within the top twenty in three other territories.


Conception

In an interview on
Canada AM ''Canada AM'' was a Canadian morning television news show that aired on CTV from 1972 to 2016. Its final hosts were Beverly Thomson and Marci Ien, with Jeff Hutcheson presenting the weather forecast and sports. The program aired on weekdays, an ...
, Adams said the title ''11'' was picked because it was his 11th studio album, when soundtrack album '' Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron'' is included. In addition, Adams mentioned there was no hidden meaning behind the title," it was his eleventh studio release and contained eleven tracks, "there are no secondary meanings" as Adams later mentioned in an interview with the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. The album's cover was taken during a
photo shoot A photo shoot is the process taken by creatives and models that results in a visual objective being obtained. An example is a model posing for a photographer at a studio or an outdoor location. A photo shoot is a series of images that are taken ...
in a hotel in Switzerland, while Adams was doing a self-photo story for an Italian men's magazine. Adams ended up liking the photo so much that he ended up using it as the album's cover As with the previous album, ''
Room Service Room service or in-room dining is a hotel service enabling guests to choose items of food and drink for delivery to their hotel room for consumption. Room service is organized as a subdivision within the food and beverage department of high-end ...
'', significant portions of the album were produced while on tour. According to co-writer
Jim Vallance James Douglas Vallance (born May 31, 1952) is a Canadian songwriter, arranger and producer. He is best known as the songwriting partner of Canadian musician Bryan Adams. Vallance began his professional career as the original drummer and main song ...
modern technology and equipment made it a lot easier to record the album. Adams recorded the album while on tour, making use of the time between playing on stage and readying himself for the next gig. Vallance and Adams recorded the album normally while sitting backstage or in a hotel room with small devices which they usually carried along on tours, but especially during their off days. Adams, in an interview, mentioned that when recording a song, they needed to set up mattresses against the windows, and having
microphones A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...
run through the toilet. ''11'' was originally going to be an acoustic record, aiming for the "soft-hard approach" perfected by the British rock group,
The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
. However, after a long tour, some of the acoustic songs started growing on him, which led to changes. Adams would record for a few hours, until he wheeled the whole recording kit back onstage. "It makes me a little more interested in going on tour," he said in retrospect. Adams who was never fully committed to the idea of creating a full-fledged acoustic album, decided not to after seeing an acoustic band opening for him during one of his concerts. What he saw made him certain that he was not able to create such an album."


Writing and themes

When the writing season for ''11'' had ended, Adams and his companions had written 30 songs. After a selection process, 19 of these songs were removed, however some of them made it to the deluxe edition released later in 2008. The first single, " I Thought I'd Seen Everything" was written in 2007, and went through two or three changes before Adams made the finishing touches. Originally, it had another title, and a different melody, and as Adams later put it; "in the course of listening to the music and spending time with it, you do end up changing it. Adams hadn't worked together on an album with Vallance since the late-1980s. They teamed up after, as Adams said, "throwing ideas back and forth" from 2003 until the album was released. Vallance would send
MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...
audio files by e-mail to Adams during the recording seasons. Adams would then add some elements to them and send them back. They continued doing this until a song was completed; Vallance claimed it took longer for them to write songs than during their previous collaborations, but felt the end product was just as good." The main themes in the album, in Adams words are; "searching for something". The lyrical meaning behind track number four, "Oxygen" is what a person needs to survive. In other words, "The person you are with is giving you the air you breathe", and that people in general "need each other 100%." The album's first single, "I Thought I'd Seen Everything" is about keeping an open mind." The theme of "Broken Wings" is about "somebody who taught me how to fly", a
metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wi ...
which for "putting your trust in somebody who can give you faith and the belief that you can succeed." "Something to Believe In" is based upon the affirmation of life and faith, while "Walk on By" warns the listener of distrustfulness. As with other albums, according to Adams, he likes to end the album with a melancholic song, such as "Something to Believe In" in ''11'', it's not the last track however." "Flowers Gone Wild" touches on the same theme as two songs he wrote in the early 1980s, "Cover Girl" and "The Best Is Yet To Come", are based upon the murdered
playboy bunny A Playboy Bunny is a waitress who works at a Playboy Club and selected through standardized training. Their costumes were made up of lingerie, inspired by the tuxedo-wearing Playboy rabbit mascot. This costume consisted of a strapless corset te ...
Dorothy Stratten Dorothy Ruth Hoogstraten (February 28, 1960 – August 14, 1980), known professionally as Dorothy Stratten, was a Playboy Playmate and actress, originally from Canada. Stratten was the ''Playboy'' Playmate of the Month for August 1979 and Playm ...
. But also people with misplaced emotions and their unfulfilled needs, which are pushed forth by the media, which Adams says, leads people to lose their "sense of decency". Adams explained further; "It's a sort of new love affair with an old story, devouring our celebrities and leaving them when we are done."


Release

The finishing touches to the album were done in September 2007, but the European release of the album was delayed until March 2008. The album was released independently in the United States exclusively through
Wal-Mart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
and
Sam's Club Sam's West, Inc. (doing business as Sam's Club) is an American chain of membership-only retail warehouse clubs owned and operated by Walmart Inc., founded in 1983 and named after Walmart founder Sam Walton as Sam’s Wholesale Club. , Sam's C ...
retail stores on May 13, 2008. The deal was brokered one month after the albums international release. On October 5, 2008, a Deluxe Edition of ''11'' was announced on Adams website. The album featured new tracks and contained a DVD. The Deluxe Edition was released on November 10, 2008, in the UK, and November 11, in Canada. The new CD featured the original ''11'' tracks, a new song "Saved" and the inclusion of two
B-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...
, "Way of the World" and "Miss America". The remix of "She's Got a Way" replaces the original version, but includes another remix done by
Chicane A chicane () is a serpentine curve in a road, added by design rather than dictated by geography. Chicanes add extra turns and are used both in motor racing and on roads and streets to slow traffic for safety. For example, one form of chicane is ...
. The DVD features Adams, and his
backing band A backup band or backing band is a musical ensemble that typically accompanies a single artist who is the featured performer. The situation may be a live performance or in a recording session, and the group may or may not have its own name, such ...
, rehearsing the material from the album. It also contains behind the scenes footages.


Critical response

''11'' overall received mixed, but mostly unflattering reviews from critics. Music reviewer Chris Jones from the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
wrote generally positively about ''11'' in his review. He concluded that it was another strong album, even if Adams voice sounded dispassionate on some tracks. The Canadian website Jam! gave the album an average review. Reviewer Darryl Stedan found the lyrics clichéd, predictable and, while not criticising it, described it as an album "that didn't really mean much." Ryan Wasoba from the alternatively weekly magazine, ''
Houston Press The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017. The publication is supported entirely by advertising ...
'' wrote favorably of the record in a backhanded way, commenting that ''11's'' appeal laid in its "inoffensiveness" and "digestibility". Amy O'Brian of ''
The Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published si ...
'' wrote favorably of the new album, while at the same time criticising it for its clichés, bad lyrics and for its too-familiar melodies, and concluded, "It's cheesy and overdone, but the truth is that it just might give Adams his first hit in a decade." Stephen Thomas Erlewine from
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
gave the record two out of five stars, saying that Adams' "fondness for obvious hooks" had "flattened into clichés". Matt O'Leary from
Virgin Media Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint ventu ...
criticised the album for Adams's "over-familiar trademark" and very clichéd, made the over-familiar sound of ''11'' a little more "irksome". O'Leary gave the album two out of five stars. ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...
'' reviewer Steve Jelbert wrote, "Eleven studio albums into his career, the Canadian rocker returns with a set so devoid of surprises that it could easily have been created with a computer program." He continued by criticising the album for what he saw as mundane lyrical metaphors, attempts of copying U2 and rigid one-note basslines. He concluded however that the album was better than Lenny Kravitz latest effort, '' It Is Time for a Love Revolution''. Chuck Arnold and Christina Tapper of ''
People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...
'' gave the album two-and-a-half stars out of four and stated that the 11 songs "show that, at 48, Adams is still capable of capturing the essence of young, unbridled love. Sure, the guy can get sappy, but he's always sincere."


Chart and commercial performance

''11'' was Adams' first studio album to be released in four years, since ''
Room Service Room service or in-room dining is a hotel service enabling guests to choose items of food and drink for delivery to their hotel room for consumption. Room service is organized as a subdivision within the food and beverage department of high-end ...
'' in 2004. In the album's first week of release it sold just below 10,000 units in Canada, and debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart and stayed on the chart for four weeks. This marked the first time since ''
Waking Up the Neighbours ''Waking Up the Neighbours'' is the sixth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams, released on September 24, 1991. The album was recorded at Battery Studios in London and The Warehouse Studio in Vancouver, mixed at Mayfair Studio ...
'' in 1991, that Adams was able to top the Canadian record chart. In the United States, it debuted at number 80 on the ''Billboard'' 200 on the charts issue date of May 31, 2008, and stayed on the chart for four weeks. ''11'' was Adams' first studio album since ''
18 til I Die ''18 til I Die'' is the seventh studio album by the Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams. Released on June 4, 1996, by A&M Records, the album became a commercial success peaking at No. 1 in the United Kingdom and No. 2 in his home country Canad ...
'' in the US to crack the top 100. ''11'' stayed longer on the American and Canadian record than did ''Room Service''. ''11'' peaked at three on the
European Albums Chart The European Top 100 Albums chart was the European adaptation of the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart. It ran from March 1984 until December 2010. Also commonly referred to as Eurochart Top 100 Albums, the chart showcased the sales of an act in 19 E ...
and stayed on the chart for ten weeks, the album and reached seven at the Independent Albums Chart and stayed there for five weeks. At the 2009
Juno Awards The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...
Adams was nominated for "Artist of the Year" due to ''11''. Internationally, ''11'' was a commercial success. The album peaked at number one in two countries, India and Switzerland. It also charted within the top ten in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Switzerland, India, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Portugal and The Netherlands. France was the album's least successful charting territory, peaking within the top 200 at number 157. Switzerland was the only country in Europe were ''11'' managed to top a record chart. After staying there for a full 13 weeks if fell off the chart from 81. Because of sales of over 15,000 units, the album was certified gold in Switzerland and Denmark. The album has sold over half a million units worldwide. The first single, " I Thought I'd Seen Everything" was released as a download only single in the UK on March 17, 2008. Although it was officially released to US radio on March 1, 2008, it proved somewhat popular on
Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
radio stations where it peaked at No. 21. In Canada "I Thought I'd Seen Everything" was officially released to radio in March 2008. The song reached the top 50 on the Canadian Hot 100 where it peaked at No. 47. " Tonight We Have the Stars", the second single, was released as a digital single on June 6, 2008. The third and last single, " She's Got a Way" was released in September and did not chart anywhere in North America or Europe.


11 Tour

In support of ''11'', Adams started the "11 concerts, 11 cities" tour, having concerts in 11 different countries in just 11 days. The intimate shows at some spectacular venues will see Adams perform an acoustic set, on stage, with just his guitar and harmonica. The London show was on the March 11, 2008, at St. James Church in Piccadilly. The last stop of his 11 days concert tour was in
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
, Denmark on March 17. After the "11 concerts, 11 cities" tour, Adams continued to promote his album, this time on an acoustic tour touring with such musical acts as Foreigner and Rod Stewart. Later, in an interview, he was asked what song he felt sounded the best acoustically, Adams responded; What is interesting is this was to be the beginning of Adams's Bare Bones tour, which still tours the world in between his usually band shows.


Track listing

Source:


Personnel

There were 11 personnel members. *
Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...
 – guitar, vocals, bass (tracks 1–3), production * Keith Scott – guitar (tracks 2–5, 7, 9, 12–14) *
Colin Cripps Colin Cripps (born January 26, 1961 in Hamilton, Ontario) is a Canadian musician and record producer. Career Colin Cripps is a Canadian guitarist and member of Blue Rodeo and the Jim Cuddy Band. He has been a member and producer of the bands ...
 – guitar (all except tracks 8, 11, 13), backing vocals (track 7) * Gary Breit – hammond organ, piano (tracks 1–3, 5, 7–10, 12, 14) *
Eliot Kennedy Eliot Kennedy (born 29 March 1969) is an English songwriter and record producer based in Sheffield. He has worked with artists such as Billie Piper, The Spice Girls, Mary J. Blige, Donny Osmond, Bryan Adams, Lulu, S Club 7, Five, Gary Barlow, D ...
 – bass (tracks 4, 6, 9, 10, 12, 14), piano (tracks 6, 12), backing vocals (tracks 7, 13) *Norm Fisher – bass (track 13) *
Robert John "Mutt" Lange Robert John "Mutt" Lange (born 11 November 1948) is a South African record producer and songwriter, mainly known for his work in rock music as well as his previous marriage to Canadian singer Shania Twain, for whom he wrote and produced several ...
 – bass (track 5), production (tracks 1, 5) *
Mickey Curry Michael Timothy Curry (born June 10, 1956) is an American musician. He has collaborated with singer-songwriter Bryan Adams since the early 1980s, but has also worked with Hall & Oates, Cher, Tina Turner, Alice Cooper, David Bowie, Elvis Costell ...
 – drums (tracks 1, 6, 7, 9, 13) *
Pat Steward Pat Steward (born May 4, 1962) is a Canadian drummer and singer who is a member of the band Odds, and has recorded and toured with Bryan Adams and Matthew Good, among many others. Early life Steward was born in Vancouver, British Columbia to Br ...
 – drums (tracks 2–5, 8, 12 and 14),
tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...
(track 14) *
Jim Vallance James Douglas Vallance (born May 31, 1952) is a Canadian songwriter, arranger and producer. He is best known as the songwriting partner of Canadian musician Bryan Adams. Vallance began his professional career as the original drummer and main song ...
 – drums (track 10) * Máire Breatnach – fiddle (track 8),
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(track 11)


Additional personnel

There were 13 additional personnel members. *Pointless Brothers – backing vocals (track 6) *
Kathleen Edwards Kathleen Edwards (born July 11, 1978
) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. Her 2002 debut album, ''
Bob Clearmountain Bob Clearmountain (born January 15, 1953) is an American recording engineer, mixer and record producer. He has worked with many major acts, including Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Toto (band), Toto, Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams, with whom he ...
 – mixing *
Olle Romo Olle Romö is a Swedish music producer, songwriter, and drummer. Romo rehearsed with Swedish progressive rock group Kaipa in early 1982, however he left the group after a few weeks to join Eurythmics, and he was a drummer for them from the mid-to ...
 – editing *Ben Dobie – recording *Bryan Gallant – additional recording *Kirk Mcnally – additional recording *Roger Monk – string recording (track 8) *
Chicane A chicane () is a serpentine curve in a road, added by design rather than dictated by geography. Chicanes add extra turns and are used both in motor racing and on roads and streets to slow traffic for safety. For example, one form of chicane is ...
 – remixer for track 15 *J. Hockley – additional production and recording for track 15


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:11 (Bryan Adams Album) 2008 albums Bryan Adams albums Albums produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange Polydor Records albums