Bryan Adams , one of the biggest names in 80s romantic rock, has released his own version of the classics "War Machine" and "Rock and Roll Hell." The songs were co-written over 40 years ago by him and Jim Vallance for Creatures of the Night Kiss 's tenth studio album .
The material is available as a physical double A-side single to celebrate the debut of Bad Records , Adams' new label. However, only one track is available on digital platforms: "Rock and Roll Hell," which also has a music video. "War Machine" remains exclusively available in physical format.
The story behind the classics
In a statement released on his official website, the artist recalled composing the songs when he was only 22 years old, before achieving success as a solo artist. He also reflected on the creative process behind each of the singles. Check out the statement :
“To celebrate the first single from Bad Records , here are two songs I co-wrote when I was a struggling 22-year-old songwriter. I got a call out of the blue from producer Michael James Jackson to see if I’d like to write for Kiss, and I was thrilled to do it. These are some of the songs that resulted, created with Gene Simmons and Jim Vallance.”
He continues: “While I was sitting with the band, Gene played me this fantastic bass riff, which ended up being the backbone of 'War Machine'. I was trying to think of a theme that could match the riff and I came up with the title. Since the other song we had written was about hell, 'war' was the obvious theme to coincide with it.”
“'Rock and Roll Hell' was actually a song Jim had released a few years earlier with Bachman-Turner Overdrive , and I suggested we rewrite it for Kiss. It's incredible to think that these themes are unfortunately still happening in the world today. But I'm very grateful to the guys in Kiss for giving me the chance back then.”
Check out the music video for “Rock and Roll Hell” below.
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