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11 (Bryan Adams album)
Encyclopedia
11 is the tenth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter
Bryan Adams
. The album was released by Polydor Records
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. Adams, Jim Vallance
, Eliot Kennedy
, Gretchen Peters
, Trevor Rabin
and Robert John "Mutt" Lange 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 singles were released from the album: "I Thought I'd Seen Everything
", "Tonight We Have the Stars
" and "She's Got a Way
", of which all were released as physical singles internationally. The album's first single 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. Neither "Tonight We Have the Stars" or "She's Got a Way" charted. 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; its least successful charting area was France, where the album peaked at number 157. The album has sold half-a-million copies and is considered a commercial failure when compared to Adams previous albums sales.
, 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
. The album's cover was taken during a photo shoot
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, significant portions of the album were produced while on tour. According to co-writer Jim Vallance
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 an 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 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
. 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.
" 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
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 in order 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
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
Dorothy Stratten
. 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."
and Sam's Club
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
, "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
. The DVD features Adams, and his backing band, rehearsing the material from the album. It also contains behind the scenes footages.
wrote 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 three out of five stars. 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
wrote favorably of the record, commenting that 11s appeal laid in its "inoffensiveness" and "digestibility". In another favorable review, Daily Mail
writer Adrian Thrills said the album highlight was "Oxygen", commenting on the similarities with the music of Bob Dylan
. Amy O'Brian of The Vancouver Sun
wrote favorably of the new album, while at the same time criticising it for its clichés, bad lyrics and for its too-familiar melodies, 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 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
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
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
.
and stayed on the chart for four weeks. This marked the first time since Waking Up the Neighbours
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
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 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 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 Netherland. 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 of 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
radio stations where it peaked at #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 #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.
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
, 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;
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...
. The album was released by Polydor Records
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
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. Adams, Jim Vallance
Jim Vallance
James Douglas "Jim" Vallance, OC is a retired Canadian musician, songwriter, arranger and producer based out of Vancouver, British Columbia. He is best known as the former songwriting partner of Canadian international recording artist Bryan Adams...
, Eliot Kennedy
Eliot Kennedy
Eliot Kennedy is an English songwriter and record producer based in Sheffield. He has worked with artists such as the Spice Girls, Bryan Adams, Lulu, S Club 7, Five, Delta Goodrem, and Lovers Electric.-History:...
, Gretchen Peters
Gretchen Peters
Gretchen Peters is a singer-songwriter in the folk/country genre. She was born in New York and raised in Boulder, Colorado, but moved to Nashville in the late 1980s...
, Trevor Rabin
Trevor Rabin
Trevor Charles Rabin is a South African born musician, best known as a guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for the British progressive rock band Yes from 1983–1994, and since then, as a film composer.- Early years :...
and Robert John "Mutt" Lange 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 singles were released from the album: "I Thought I'd Seen Everything
I Thought I'd Seen Everything
- UK digital download :- Release history :- Chart :...
", "Tonight We Have the Stars
Tonight We Have the Stars
"Tonight We Have the Stars" is a rock song written by Bryan Adams, Gretchen Peters and Jim Vallance for his tenth studio album 11 . The song's musical-style and production were heavily inspired by rock and pop music from the 1980s, and its lyrics chronicles a relationship. The single was released...
" and "She's Got a Way
She's Got a Way (Bryan Adams song)
"She's Got a Way" is a rock song written by Bryan Adams and Eliot Kennedy for Adams tenth studio album, 11 . The single was released worldwide in September 2008.-Track listing:...
", of which all were released as physical singles internationally. The album's first single 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. Neither "Tonight We Have the Stars" or "She's Got a Way" charted. 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; its least successful charting area was France, where the album peaked at number 157. The album has sold half-a-million copies and is considered a commercial failure when compared to Adams previous albums sales.
Conception
In an interview on Canada AMCanada AM
Canada AM is a Canadian breakfast television news show, which has aired on the CTV Television Network since 1972. It is currently hosted by Beverly Thomson and Seamus O'Regan, with Marci Ien reporting from the headline news desk and Jeff Hutcheson presenting the weather forecast and sports...
, Adams said the title 11 was picked because it was his 11th studio album, when soundtrack album
Soundtrack album
A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television program. In some cases, not all the tracks from the movie are included in the album; however there are rare cases of songs in the trailers that do not appear in...
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (soundtrack)
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron is a soundtrack album by Bryan Adams and Hans Zimmer to the animated feature of the same name. The album was released on May 4, 2002 and includes the European hit, "Here I Am".-Track listing:...
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
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. The album's cover was taken during a photo shoot
Photo shoot
A photo shoot is generally used in the fashion industry, whereby a model poses for a photographer at a studio where multiple photos are taken to find the best ones for the required brief...
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, significant portions of the album were produced while on tour. According to co-writer Jim Vallance
Jim Vallance
James Douglas "Jim" Vallance, OC is a retired Canadian musician, songwriter, arranger and producer based out of Vancouver, British Columbia. He is best known as the former songwriting partner of Canadian international recording artist Bryan Adams...
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 an 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 run through the toilet
Toilet
A toilet is a sanitation fixture used primarily for the disposal of human excrement, often found in a small room referred to as a toilet/bathroom/lavatory...
.
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
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
. 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 EverythingI Thought I'd Seen Everything
- UK digital download :- Release history :- Chart :...
" 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
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
audio files by e-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
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 in order 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
Metaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
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
Playboy Bunny
A Playboy Bunny is a waitress at the Playboy Club. The Playboy Clubs were originally open from 1960 to 1988. The Club re-opened in one location in The Palms Hotel in Las Vegas in 2006...
Dorothy Stratten
Dorothy Stratten
Dorothy Stratten was a Canadian model and actress. Stratten was the Playboy Playmate of the Month for August 1979, Playmate of the Year in 1980 and was the second Playmate born in the 1960s. Stratten appeared in three comedy films and at least two episodes of shows broadcast on US network...
. 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 in the United States exclusively through Wal-MartWal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
and Sam's Club
Sam's Club
Sam's Club is a chain of membership-only retail warehouse clubs owned and operated by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., founded in 1983 and named after Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton. , the Sam's Club chain serves more than 47 million U.S. members...
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
B-Sides
B-Sides is an iTunes-exclusive album from the Coventry Trio The Enemy, consisting of ten songs that were B-sides to the single releases from their debut album We'll Live and Die in These Towns.-Track list:#Fear Killed the Youth of Our Nation...
, "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
Chicane (recording artist)
Chicane is a British electronic dance music act, and the guise of British musician, composer, songwriter and record producer, Nicholas Bracegirdle....
. The DVD features Adams, and his backing band, rehearsing the material from the album. It also contains behind the scenes footages.
Critical response
11 overall received mixed reviews from critics. Music reviewer Chris Jones from the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
wrote 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!
Jam!
Jam! is a Canadian website, which covers entertainment news. It is part of the CANOE online portal, owned and operated by Quebecor through its Sun Media division....
gave the album three out of five stars. 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
Houston Press
The Houston Press is an alternative weekly newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in Downtown Houston....
wrote favorably of the record, commenting that 11s appeal laid in its "inoffensiveness" and "digestibility". In another favorable review, Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
writer Adrian Thrills said the album highlight was "Oxygen", commenting on the similarities with the music of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
. Amy O'Brian of The Vancouver Sun
The Vancouver Sun
The Vancouver Sun is a daily newspaper first published in the Canadian province of British Columbia on February 12, 1912. The paper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. It is published six days a week, Monday to Saturday...
wrote favorably of the new album, while at the same time criticising it for its clichés, bad lyrics and for its too-familiar melodies, 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
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...
from allmusic 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
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...
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
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
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
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
and rigid one-note basslines. He concluded however that the album was better than Lenny Kravitz
Lenny Kravitz
Leonard Albert "Lenny" Kravitz is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and arranger, whose "retro" style incorporates elements of rock, soul, R&B, funk, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, folk and ballads...
latest effort, It Is Time for a Love Revolution
It Is Time for a Love Revolution
It Is Time for a Love Revolution is the eighth studio album by American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and arranger Lenny Kravitz, released on February 5, 2008....
.
Chart and commercial performance
11 was Adams' first studio album to be released in four years, since Room Service 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 ChartCanadian Albums Chart
The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS...
and stayed on the chart for four weeks. This marked the first time since Waking Up the Neighbours
Waking Up the Neighbours
Waking Up the Neighbours is an album by Canadian singer/songwriter Bryan Adams released in 1991 and his sixth studio album. The album was recorded at Battery Studios in England, and at The Warehouse Studio in Vancouver, mixed at Mayfair Studios in England, and mastered by Bob Ludwig at Masterdisk...
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
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
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
-Australia:-Personnel:* Bryan Adams – rhythm guitar, vocals, co-producer* Keith Scott – lead guitar* Paco de Lucia- featured flamenco guitarist on "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman"* Mickey Curry – drums* Dave Taylor – bass...
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 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 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 Netherland. 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 of 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
I Thought I'd Seen Everything
- UK digital download :- Release history :- Chart :...
" 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
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...
radio stations where it peaked at #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
Canadian Hot 100
The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007...
where it peaked at #47. "Tonight We Have the Stars
Tonight We Have the Stars
"Tonight We Have the Stars" is a rock song written by Bryan Adams, Gretchen Peters and Jim Vallance for his tenth studio album 11 . The song's musical-style and production were heavily inspired by rock and pop music from the 1980s, and its lyrics chronicles a relationship. The single was released...
", the second single, was released as a digital single on June 6, 2008. The third and last single, "She's Got a Way
She's Got a Way (Bryan Adams song)
"She's Got a Way" is a rock song written by Bryan Adams and Eliot Kennedy for Adams tenth studio album, 11 . The single was released worldwide in September 2008.-Track listing:...
" 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 guitarGuitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
. 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
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, 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
Foreigner (band)
Foreigner is a British-American rock band, originally formed in 1976 by veteran English musicians Mick Jones and ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald along with American vocalist Lou Gramm...
and Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....
. Later, in an interview, he was asked what song he felt sounded the best acoustically, Adams responded;
Track listing
- Bryan AdamsBryan AdamsBryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...
co-wrote all of the songs on the album; additional writers are listed below.
Personnel
There were 11 personnel members.- Bryan AdamsBryan AdamsBryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(on tracks 1, 2, 3), producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Keith ScottKeith ScottKeith Douglas Scott is a Canadian guitar player. He is best known for his long-term collaboration with the singer-songwriter Bryan Adams...
– guitar (tracks 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12, 13, and 14) - Colin CrippsColin CrippsColin Cripps is a Canadian musician and record producer.-Career:Cripps has been a member and producer of the bands Crash Vegas and Junkhouse, and a frequent collaborator with bands such as Blue Rodeo, Jim Cuddy Band, and The Headstones.He has also produced and written material for Kathleen...
– guitar (all but tracks 8, 11, and 13), backing vocals on track 7 - Gary BreitGary BreitGary Breit is a Canadian keyboardist and vocalist best known for his collaboration with singer/songwriter Bryan Adams. He has also recorded with acts such as Amanda Marshall, Cassandra Wilson, Corey Hart, Amy Sky, Long John Baldry, Lucid Dreaming, Damhnait Doyle and has toured with Kim Mitchell and...
– hammond organHammond organThe Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
(tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 and 14) - Eliot KennedyEliot KennedyEliot Kennedy is an English songwriter and record producer based in Sheffield. He has worked with artists such as the Spice Girls, Bryan Adams, Lulu, S Club 7, Five, Delta Goodrem, and Lovers Electric.-History:...
– bass (tracks 4, 6, 9, 10, 12, 14), piano on track 6 & 12, backing vocals on track 7 & 13 - Norm Fisher – bass (on track 13)
- Robert John "Mutt" Lange – bass (track 5), producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
on tracks 1 & 5 - Mickey CurryMickey CurryMichael Timothy Curry is an American drummer. He is best known for his long-term collaboration with the singer-songwriter Bryan Adams, although he has also worked with Hall & Oates, Cher, Tina Turner, Alice Cooper, David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Sam Phillips, Tom Waits, The Cult, Steve Jones and...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
(tracks 1, 6, 7, 9, 13) - Pat Steward – drums (tracks 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 12 and 14), tambourineTambourineThe tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
(on track 14) - Jim VallanceJim VallanceJames Douglas "Jim" Vallance, OC is a retired Canadian musician, songwriter, arranger and producer based out of Vancouver, British Columbia. He is best known as the former songwriting partner of Canadian international recording artist Bryan Adams...
– drums (track 10) - Máire BreatnachMáire BreatnachMáire Breatnach is one of the most prominent fiddle players in Ireland. She also sings in Irish on some of her albums. Since the early 1990s, she has had five solo albums, participated in many other albums , with substantive contributions in some cases, and contributed to many music CDs, as well as...
– fiddleFiddleThe term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
on track 8, violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
on track 11
Additional personnel
There were 13 additional personnel members.- Pointless Brothers – backing vocals on track 6
- Kathleen EdwardsKathleen EdwardsKathleen Edwards is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. Her 2003 debut album, Failer, contained the singles "Six O'Clock News" and "Hockey Skates".- Personal life :...
– backing vocals on track 7 - Teese Gohl – string arrangement on tracks 7 and 8
- Gavin Greenway – string arrangement on track 11
- Hal Beckett – string conductor on tracks 7, 8, and 11
- Bob ClearmountainBob ClearmountainBob Clearmountain is an award-winning American music engineer, mixer and producer. He has worked with many prominent names in music including Bruce Springsteen , The Rolling Stones , Bryan Adams , Robbie Williams Bob Clearmountain is an award-winning American music engineer, mixer and producer. He...
– MixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may... - Olle RomoOlle RomoOlle Romo is a music producer, songwriter and drummer.He was the drummer for Eurythmics in the mid-to-late 1980s, and also worked on Dave Stewart's solo albums in the 1990s. During his career he has been a programmer for producers such as Robert John "Mutt" Lange; on albums including Shania Twain's...
– editing - Ben Dobie – recording
- Bryan Gallant – additional recording
- Kirk Mcnally – additional recording
- Roger Monk – string recording on track 8
- ChicaneChicane (recording artist)Chicane is a British electronic dance music act, and the guise of British musician, composer, songwriter and record producer, Nicholas Bracegirdle....
– remixer for track 15 - J. Hockley – additional production and recording for track 15
Peak positions
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart | 35 |
| Austrian Albums Chart | 2 |
| Belgium Albums Chart (Vl) | 2 |
| Belgium Albums Chart (Wa) | 35 |
| Canadian Albums Chart Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS... |
1 |
| Danish Albums Chart | 2 |
| Dutch Albums Chart | 8 |
| European Albums Chart | 3 |
| Finnish Albums Chart | 21 |
| French Albums Chart | 157 |
| German Albums Chart | 2 |
| Hungarian Albums Chart | 12 |
| Indian Albums Chart | 1 |
| Irish Albums Chart Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically... |
25 |
| Italian Albums Chart | 50 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
39 |
| Polish Albums Chart | 50 |
| Portuguese Albums Chart | 4 |
| Spanish Albums Chart | 12 |
| Swedish Albums Chart | 30 |
| Swiss Albums Chart | 1 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
6 |
| US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
80 |
| US Billboard Rock Albums Billboard charts The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine... |
24 |
| US Billboard Digital Hip Album | 80 |
| US Billboard Independent Albums | 7 |
Certifications
| Country | Certification Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales thresholds) |
|---|---|
| Denmark | Gold |
| Switzerland | Gold |
Year-end charts
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Swiss Albums Chart | 42 |