Rjecting Bryan Adams

I have never respected Bryan Adams. He never said, "I want to write the best song ever written." He said: "I want to be world famous."  His songs were insipid and his choice for a manager—the notoriously egotistical and rude Bruce Allan, was a partnership made in psycho-hell. Mr. Adams is more ambitious than talented.

Once famous, he started ranting to everyone against the CRTC regulations that forced Canadian radio stations to play a decent percentage of Canadian music. He did not want to recognize that these regulations were a major factor in his success. Instead, he wanted to believe his success was all due to his (minimal) talent. (Those regulations, by the way, made monster successes of a great many Canadian artists who have repeatedly credited the CRTC for assisting in their development.)

Then he tried to "rent" Stanley Park for a concert and when refused, he moved to England. Worse, and the reason for this rant, he took up photography (a favourite medium).

Like a lot of fading stars, Mr. Adams turned to the visual arts and he is even more disgusting as a photographer than as a singer. He brokers the fame and fortune he gained in music, to open doors unavailable to most emerging photographers. So last year, on Remembrance Day, he released a book of photographs called Wounded: The Legacy of War in which he published images of soldiers wounded in contemporary wars. He will do anything to sleaze his way into the limelight. His past subjects, of course, were celebrities.

Go away, Mr. Adams. And give your camera to someone who earns attention through their images and not as a result of past glories.