So Far So Good

Catalog reissue.

So Far So Good offers up 13 of his previous hits plus a new song, "Please Forgive Me," a gooey, Michael Bolton-like ballad. The album starts out with "Summer of '69," the appealing autobiographical song about the 10-year-old Adams learning to play his first guitar in Ontario, and includes "(Everything I Do) I Do for You," the synth-laced ballad that wound up in the Guinness Book of World Records after topping the British singles charts for 16 weeks. With its over-the-top, gravelly vocals, So Far So Good reminds one of Rod Stewart's 1980s work when he was coasting on past achievements. Unfortunately, Adams has never had a period like Stewart's glory years in the '70s. --Geoffrey Himes