"Cloud Number Nine" (sometimes spelled as "Cloud #9" or "Cloud Number 9") is a song 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 ...

. It was released on May 3, 1999, as the third single from his eighth studio album, '' On a Day Like Today'' (1998). The single version is notable for being one of the few remixes Bryan Adams released with British musician

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 ...

. "Cloud Number Nine" reached number six on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, number seven in Canada, and number 13 in Austria.

Versions

Album version

The song was first released on Adams' 1998 album '' On a Day Like Today'', and is the only release where it appears in its original form. It was produced by

Bob Rock Robert Jens Rock (born April 19, 1954) is a Canadian record producer, sound engineer and musician, best known for producing rock bands and music artists such as Metallica, Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, The Tragically Hip, the Cult, ...

and mixed by Adams' longtime collaborator,

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 ...

Demo version

A demo version of the song appears on the CD single " The Best of Me", released in November 1999, following the chart run of the

Mix. It features a prominent beat throughout the recording, provided by co-writer Max Martin. He used a similar beat on his early productions for Britney Spears. Also, the released demo version had a longer first verse than the one ending up on the album and all other subsequent versions. According to co-writer Gretchen Peters, who wrote most of the song's lyrics, it was Adams' decision to scrap the lines.

Chicane Mix

It was remixed by British electronic artist Chicane, with synthesizers added, as well as a drum sample from

Gota Yashiki is a Japanese musician, both an independent acid jazz artist and drum/bass player, as a member of the band Simply Red. Biography He was born in Kyoto, Japan, on 26 February 1962, where at a young age he learned how to play traditional Japan ...

's "Groove Activator". It was released as a single in May 1999 in Europe. The single reached number 6 in the

, and became a top 10 hit in Ibiza. Chicane said upon its release in 1999, he'd turned down a previous offer of remixing a Bryan Adams single, due to a lack of time. Chicane later worked with Adams on the songs "Don't Give Up", "East Side Story", and "She's Got a Way". Chicane's mix of the song was featured on Bryan Adams' compilation album '' The Best of Me'', however simply titled "Cloud Number Nine". It appeared again on his 2005 '' Anthology'' album, this time correctly titled as "Cloud Number Nine (Chicane Mix)". The Chicane Mix has become the standard live version for Adams. In 2000, Chicane joined Adams onstage to perform this song and "Don't Give Up", as can be seen on the DVD '' Live At Slane Castle''.

Bascombe Mix

Among the versions considered for a radio edit of "Cloud Number Nine", was a remix made by Dave Bascombe. The Bascombe Mix eventually ended up on the second CD of the UK single and hasn't appeared anywhere else since its release.

Live versions

Adams performed "Cloud Number Nine" live in a three piece setting during his extensive world tour, starting in 1999, with a stage set and costume designs mimicking the music video to the song. Live recordings of the song ended up on several CD and DVD releases in the next few years. Most versions are based on the Chicane Mix, at one time even performing it with Chicane himself. The song was performed during most subsequent tours, although most commonly with a full band setting.

Music video

The music video made for this single, features mainly the color white. Adams is dressed in all white, in a white room with an Asian woman who is body painted all white. Various images and things that are white are featured in the video such as milk, white paint, eggs, a dove, and a white dog. The video contains several elements seen in Adams' previous music video, "When You're Gone" - most notably the tape recorder and the apples. While being reviewed on the Saturday morning show Live & Kicking on

BBC 1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

, dance producer

Norman Cook Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist ...

commented: "The most positive thing I can say about it, is that it's very white."

Track listings

UK CD1 # "Cloud #9" (

Mix) # "

Let's Talk About Love ''Let's Talk About Love'' is the fifth English-language and fifteenth studio album by Canadian singer Celine Dion, released on 14 November 1997, by Columbia and Epic Records. The follow-up to the commercially successful '' Falling into You'' ...

" # " When You're Gone" (acoustic version featuring Melanie C) UK CD2 # "Cloud #9" (Chicane Mix) # "Cloud #9" (Bascombe Mix) # Snippets ("C'mon C'mon"/" Inside Out"/"Where Angels Fear to Tread") European CD single # "Cloud #9" (Chicane Mix) # "Let's Talk About Love" Australian CD single # "Cloud #9" (Chicane Mix) # "Let's Talk About Love" # "When You're Gone" (acoustic version) # Snippets ("C'mon C'mon"/"Inside Out"/"Where Angels Fear to Tread")

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 1998 songs 1999 singles A&M Records singles Bryan Adams songs Canadian soft rock songs Mercury Records singles Song recordings produced by Bob Rock Songs written by Bryan Adams Songs written by Gretchen Peters Songs written by Max Martin