Album Review: Bryan Adams - Get Up

Rasping like a teenage boy trying to impress with an implied smoking habit, Bryan Adams' 13th album really shouldn't sound this forced.

With ELO-man Jeff Lynne on board, FM-rawk manna should be raining gloriously from the speakers. But aching rockabilly tropes and cliches (such as the lumpen Go Down Rockin' and the stiflingly formulaic Thunderbolt) without any wisp of fun simply hurt the ears. Astonishingly, Lynne's clumsy mixing results in a piercing clash between Adams' haggard vocals and guitar stabs that are unpleasantly abrasive. Hated Everything I Do...? This record will make you pine for its schmaltz.