Into the Fire (album)

Into the Fire is the fifth studio album by the Canadian rock singer Bryan Adams.[8] It was released on 30 March 1987 by A&M Records[9] as the follow-up album to the chart-topping Reckless (1984).[10] Into the Fire peaked at number seven on the US Billboard 200 chart[11] and reached the Top 10 in several other nations. Six singles were released from the album: "Heat of the Night", "Hearts on Fire", "Victim of Love", "Only the Strong Survive", "Into the Fire" and "Another Day".

Into the Fire
Studio album by
Bryan Adams
Released30 March 1987
RecordedAugust 16 - October 24, 1986
GenreRock
Length44:53
LabelA&M
ProducerBryan Adams
Bob Clearmountain
Bryan Adams chronology
Reckless
(1984)		 Into the Fire
(1987)		 Waking Up the Neighbours
(1991)
Singles from Into the Fire
  1. "Heat of the Night"
    Released: March 1987
  2. "Hearts on Fire"
    Released: 1987
  3. "Victim of Love"
    Released: 1987
  4. "Only the Strong Survive"
    Released: 1987
  5. "Into the Fire"
    Released: 1987
  6. "Another Day"
    Released: 1987
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]
Los Angeles Times3/4[3]
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteC+[4]
Rolling Stoneunfavorable[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide [6]
The Village VoiceC+[7]

Music

Recording and production

The recording for Into the Fire started on 16 August 1986 and finished on 24 October. It was recorded at a studio set up in Adams' home in Vancouver, British Columbia.[12] Adams and his backing band, which consisted of Keith Scott, Mickey Curry, Dave Taylor and Tommy Mandel, used the dining room, bathroom and bedroom to isolate the different instruments.[12] The studio was named Cliffhanger since Adams' house was close to the sea.[12] "Heat of the Night" was recorded 12 September 1986. "Hearts on Fire" was originally written for Reckless in 1984, but was recorded on 1 September 1986.[12] "Hearts on Fire" was mixed in London, England on 11 January.[12]

By the time Into the Fire was completed, Adams and Vallance were satisfied with only two songs: The dark "Victim of Love" and the upbeat "Hearts on Fire".[13] A possible influence to the album was Adams' involvement of the six-city "Amnesty International Conspiracy of Hope" tour in 1986. Adams says in the "Into the Fire" songbook that the album's title track refers to a man who is at a crossroads and does not quite know what to do with his life, which is how Adams felt when he started recording the album after the massive success of Reckless.

Release and reception

The album was released on 30 March 1987 and featured the singles "Heat of the Night" and "Hearts on Fire". Though commercially successful, peaking at number seven on the Billboard 200, the expectations for Into The Fire were set by the overwhelming success of Adams' previous number one hit album Reckless. That album had sold over 12 million; in that context Into the Fire, which sold over 2 million copies worldwide at its time of release, was viewed as a commercial failure.[13]

As Adams said:

"I have to laugh when the press say that LP didn't do well because it did as well as Cuts Like a Knife, but I suppose the perception was it wasn't Reckless II! Who cares? There were some songs that were slightly different than what we had written before ... some were, let's say, slightly more exploratory than we'd written in the past. Vallance was up for the songwriting challenge of not repeating Reckless."[13]

Critical reception was generally unfavourable, with the album's lyrics being particularly singled out as substandard. Robert Christgau knocked Into The Fire for its "dumbness density", noting that he counted "an astonishing fifty-six full-fledged clichés on what's supposed to be a significance move."[7]

Steve Hochman of Rolling Stone Magazine expressed similar sentiments:

"Adams shows that he has a will to speak but nothing in particular to say....a scan of the song titles ("Heat of the Night," "Only the Strong Survive," "Into the Fire" and so on) shows that the best Adams and co-writer Jim Vallance could come up with was a series of clichés.

... Worse are the vague pro-Native American message of "Native Son" and the antiwar message of "Remembrance Day," the lyrics of which read like earnest but clumsy high-school poetry.[5]

A retrospective review from Eduardo Rivera at AllMusic characterized most of the album's songs as "lifeless and dull", with some even being called "depressing", "ugly" or "truly awful". Only "Hearts on Fire" met with Rivera's critical approval.[1]

"Heat of the Night" was the debut single from Into the Fire and was released worldwide in March 1987.[12] In the US, the song reached peaked at number 2 on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100.[14] "Heat of the Night" reached number 7 on the Canadian singles chart and remained in the top ten for five weeks. In Canada, the compact disc release became the first by a Canadian artist to earn a Gold certification (sales of 50,000 units), and only the second overall following Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits.[15] "Heat of the Night" was released the following month in the UK and peaked in the top 50 on the UK Singles Chart at 50,[16] and became Adams' only single from Into the Fire to chart in mainland Europe.[17][18][19][20] "Heat of the Night" was eventually nominated for a Canadian Juno Award for Single of the Year in 1987.[21]

"Hearts on Fire" was the second single from Into the Fire. The song become a minor hit at its time of release. The song peaked at number 26 on the Hot 100 chart and at number 3 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart[14] while reaching number 25 in Canada.

"Victim of Love" and "Only the Strong Survive" would be the two follow-up singles to "Hearts on Fire". These singles became minor hits with "Victim of Love" reaching number 10 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, number 32 on the Hot 100 and number 49 on the Canadian Singles chart. "Only the Strong Survive" reached number 47 in Canada.[22] "Another Day", which was released as the B-side to "In the Heat of Night", peaked at number 33 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.[14] The title track also received airplay on American album-oriented rock radio stations and reached number 6 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Heat of the Night"4:52
2."Into the Fire"4:41
3."Victim of Love"4:07
4."Another Day"3:41
5."Native Son"6:04
Side two
No.TitleLength
6."Only the Strong Survive"3:45
7."Rebel"4:02
8."Remembrance Day"5:59
9."Hearts on Fire"3:30
10."Home Again"4:18
Japan 2012 SHM-CD Bonus Tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Heat of the Night" (From Live! Live! Live!) 5:22
12."Hearts on Fire" (From Live! Live! Live!) 4:12
13."Run Rudolph Run"Johnny Marks and Marvin Brodie2:43

Personnel

Additional personnel:

  • Robbie King – organ on "Heat of the Night", "Another Day", "Only the Strong Survive" and "Rebel"
  • Tommy Mandel – organ, keyboards
  • Dave "Pick" Pickell – piano on "Victim of Love", "Only the Strong Survive" and "Rebel"
  • Ian Stanley – keyboards on "Victim of Love" and "Remembrance Day"
  • Jim Vallance – piano, percussion, sequencer

Chart positions
Country Peak Position ref.
Canada 2 [22][23]
Germany 7 [19]
UK 10 [16][24]
Norway 4 [17]
Sweden 3 [18]
Switzerland 4 [25][26]
United States 7 [14][27]
Austria 13

[20]

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[28] Platinum 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[29] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[30] Platinum 1,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

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References
  1. Rivadavia, Eduardo (2011-04-03). "Into the Fire Review". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 2011-04-03. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  2. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857125958.
  3. WILLMAN, CHRIS (1987-04-05). "Bryan Adams Grows Up". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  4. Uricchio, Marylynn (1987-04-24). "Variety would spice up Adams' 'Into the Fire'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 27. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  5. Hochman, Steve (1987-05-21). "Bryan Adams: Into The Fire". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2008-01-02.
  6. Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York City, New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 6. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  7. Christgau, Robert (June 2, 1987). "Into the Fire". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
  8. Giles, Jeff. "The Story of Bryan Adams' Only No. 1 Album, 'Reckless'". Ultimate Classic Rock.
  9. "Bryan Adams - Into The Fire". Discogs.
  10. Sentinel, THOM DUFFY, The Orlando. "BRYAN ADAMS STRETCHING OUT FROM 'RECKLESS' THE ROCK SINGER'S NEW ALBUM ISN'T A RADICAL DEPARTURE FROM THE HIT LP RECKLESS. BUT INTO THE FIRE IS HIS MOST AMBITIOUS EFFORT TO DATE". Sun-Sentinel.com.
  11. "Bryan Adams Into The Fire Chart History". Billboard.
  12. "Album notes for Anthology by Dave Marsh (CD booklet). A&M Records (A&M 5613)". 2005-10-18.
  13. ""Into the Fire". JimVallance.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-13. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
  14. "Billboard 200". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  15. "Maple Briefs," Billboard magazine, 08 August 1987, p. 66
  16. "British Album Chart". Chart Stats. Archived from the original on 2008-09-13. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  17. "Norwegian Chart". norwegiancharts.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  18. "Swedish Chart". swedishcharts.com. Archived from the original on 2010-01-13. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  19. "German Chart". Charts-Surfer. Archived from the original on February 2, 2009. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  20. "Austrian Chart". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  21. "1987 | Single of the Year | Bryan Adams".
  22. "Canadian Chart". RPM. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  23. "CRIA Certifications". CRIA. Archived from the original on 2008-10-06. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  24. "BPI Certifications". BPI. Retrieved 2008-03-07.
  25. "Swiss Chart". Die Offizielle Schweizer Hitparade. Archived from the original on 2009-05-23. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  26. "Swiss Certifications". Swiss Hitparade. Archived from the original on 2009-01-29. Retrieved 2008-03-07.
  27. "RIAA Certifications". Recording Industry Association of America. Archived from the original on 2013-08-08. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  28. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Bryan Adams; 'Into The Fire')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  29. "British album certifications – Bryan Adams – Into The Fire". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 31 October 2019. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Into The Fire in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  30. "American album certifications – Bryan Adams – Into The Fire". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 31 October 2019. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
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