In 2004 I received an email from Olli Haapakangas, a Bryan Adams fan in Finland. Olli had a number of questions regarding the unreleased songs Bryan and I had written in 1987, 1988 and 1989 ... between "Into The Fire" and "Waking Up The Neighbours". 

It's not the first time I've been asked about these tracks, but what made Olli's request so interesting was the way he collectively referred to the songs.  He called them "The Lost Album".

I'd never thought of it that way.

If this album is "lost" it's probably for a very good reason.  The songs don't have the strength or depth of Bryan's earlier or later material, and despite considerable effort on Bryan's part (he recorded some of the "Lost Album" songs twice) the songs' weaknesses eventually surfaced, a view that was reinforced by Mutt Lange when he joined the team in mid-1989.

It's interesting to speculate that, without Mutt's involvement, this might have been the follow-up to "Into The Fire". Then again, Bryan may have had the wisdom to scrap the project and re-group. 

We'll never know.

For what it's worth, here's "The Lost Album" track list ...

Written and demo'd by Bryan and I in May 1988. Recorded in July 1988 at Olympic Studios in London, Steve Lillywhite producing. Never released. This is the song that eventually became "House Arrest". Bryan performed "Bouncin' Off The Walls" at concerts in Italy and Germany during his 1988 European tour (available as a bootleg).

My rating: 5/10

Written and demo'd by Bryan and I in early 1988, "Bye Bye Johnny" is reminiscent of Bruce Springsteen, circa "Tunnel Of Love". It was recorded in July 1988 at Olympic Studios in London, Steve Lillywhite producing. Bryan road-tested the song "live" during his 1988 European tour (available as a bootleg). The song remains unreleased.

My rating: 6/10

Demo'd several times by Bryan and I in my home studio in 1988. Recorded in May 1989, Bob Clearmountain producing.  Never released. I think we originally wrote this with Tina Turner or Tom Jones in mind.

My rating: 4/10

Written and demo'd by Bryan and I in September 1987. Recorded in July 1988 at Olympic Studios in London, Steve Lillywhite producing. Never released. A pretty, mid-tempo, Bruce Springsteen-inspired ballad. It's one of my favourite songs from the 1988-89 writing sessions.

My rating: 8/10

Written and demo'd by Bryan and I in May or June 1988. Recorded at A&M Studios (Los Angeles) in May 1989, Bob Clearmountain producing.  Never released. This is another one of my favourite songs from the "Lost Album". Very Dylan-esque, and every bit as good as "Into The Fire".

My rating: 7.5/10

Written and demo'd by Bryan and I in May or June 1988, "No Way Out" is similar in style to "London Calling" (The Clash) and early U2, which may explain producer Steve Lillywhite's fondness for this track. We recorded a demo at Bryan's home studio in May 1988, with Lillywhite producing. Two months later, in July 1988, Bryan recorded the song with Lillywhite at Olympic Studios in London. Bryan road-tested the song "live" during his 1988 European tour (available as a bootleg). The song remains unreleased.

My rating: 4/10

Written and demo'd by Bryan and I in September 1987. Re-demo'd in February 1988, and again in May 1988 with Steve Lillywhite producing. Recorded in July 1988 at Olympic Studios in London, with Lillywhite producing. Never released. A few years later, with additional songwriting input from Mutt Lange, this song became "Do I Have To Say The Words".

My rating: 7/10

Written and demo'd by Bryan and I in December 1988 at Bryan's "Cliffhanger" home studio. A powerful rock track with a verse that's half spoken, half sung ... not unlike "Hearts On Fire". Bryan recorded "Rough Town" at A&M Studios in Los Angeles in May 1989 with Bob Clearmountain producing. It remains unreleased. In 1994 Bryan gave the song to French recording artist Johnny Hallyday.  Johnny's backing band did a superb job, but unfortunately Johnny's vocal performance leaves much to be desired.

My rating: 7/10

Demo'd by Bryan and I in early 1988.  It was written in an "Al Green" style, possibly with Tina Turner in mind. Bryan recorded a version in July 1988 at Olympic Studios in London, Steve Lillywhite producing (never released). Prior to the Lillywhite session, Bryan and his band performed this song during a pre-concert sound-check in Helsinki, Finland (available as a bootleg). In 1991 Johnny Hallyday recorded a French version of the song, re-titled "Tout Pour Te Deplaire".

My rating: 5/10

Written and demo'd by Bryan and I in 1988. Recorded by Bryan in July 1988 at Olympic Studios in London, Steve Lillywhite producing.  Never released. Bryan and his band performed a superb "live" version of this song during a concert in Regensberg, Germany on June 28, 1988 (available as a bootleg).

My rating: 6/10

Recorded at Olympic Studios in London, July 1988, Steve Lillywhite producing. Bryan recorded the song a second time at A&M Studios in Los Angeles, May 1989, with Bob Clearmountain producing. Both versions remain unreleased. As I recall, we originally wrote this song with Stevie Nicks in mind. It's a pleasant, mid-tempo track, somewhat similar to Bryan's 1997 recording of "Back To You".

My rating: 7/10

To the best of my knowledge, this song was never recorded or road-tested. It was demo'd in February 1989 in my home studio, with Bryan and Keith on guitars and myself on bass, drums and keyboards. It's a high-energy track, and one that I was particularly fond of at the time. Mutt decided the song wasn't strong enough ... but he liked the chorus. So he took the chorus from the song and used it as a verse for a new song called "Touch The Hand".  The remnants of "Stand Up" can be heard at the beginning of the second verse of "Touch The Hand", where Bryan sings, "Stand up, it's all right".  The opening guitar riff for "Touch The Hand" was also lifted from "Stand Up".

My rating: 7/10