Bryan Adams: Wembley 1996

Bryan Adams filled London's massive Wembley Stadium for this July 1996 concert featuring a 23-song set that favors the singer-songwriter's bombastic and often trite tunes about staying forever young, forever true, forever heartbroken, and forever rockin'. The good news is that late in the set a few other colors are added to the otherwise bland musical palette, offering a glimpse of a genuine rock and roll heart inside the perennially boyish guitarist. The monotonous stuff includes the muddy blues of “The Only Thing That Looks Good on You Is Me,” the dreary shuffle of “Do to You,” the disappointing “Kids Wanna Rock” (which starts like it might have been a minor Little Richard hit, but soon fizzles), and, of course, the FM standard “Summer of '69.” A welcome change arrives with “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?”, a flamenco-tinged song that Adams wrote for the Johnny Depp hit movie Don Juan DeMarco. Better still is the Springsteen-ish anthem “There Will Never Be Another Tonight,” plus a serviceable cover of the Troggs' “Wild Thing,” and a muscular take on Moon Mullican's 1956 rockabilly staple “Seven Nights to Rock.” Technically unimpressive—presented in a standard 4:3 aspect ratio in Dolby Digital stereo—this hit-filled concert will nevertheless appeal to Adams's fans. A strong optional purchase. (T. Keogh)