This record is a musical middle-finger. Seriously.
The story goes that after the success of "Heartbreaker" and "Gold," Adams locked himself away and recorded the opus that is now known as "Love is Hell." He emerged to present his new work to his record label, only to have them tell him that it wasn't what they were looking for. They needed something a little more... accessible(?) (I like to imagine that this conversation between Adams and his label folks went much like the scene at the end of "That Thing You Do!" when Mr. White asks for "something snappy"!)
The label obviously didn't know they were messing with someone who fancied himself to be Mozart. The offended Adams went back to his studio to make a point more than a record, and came back after two weeks with "Rock N Roll."
The irony? "Rock N Roll" IS the most listenable and accessible Adams has ever been. (Though, to be fair, he returned somewhat close to this territory on 2007's "Easy Tiger," this time apparently meaning for the product to be taken seriously.)
When one keeps this back story in mind, listening to "Rock N Roll" is somewhat comical. Musically, it is a complete departure from Adams' alt-country bread-and-butter. The songs are purposely (and smart-ass-edly) built to sonically soar and play like they are each modeled after a different period of rock history. Titles are built to conjure up excess: "She's Lost Total Control," "The Drugs Not Working," and "Note to Self : Don't Die" (The last of which includes backing vocal help and co-writing credit from Adams' girlfriend, actress Parker Posey.) And the lyrics are lacking at best, embarrassing at worst.
The whole project is thoroughly enjoyable.
While he may not have meant for it to be considered as anything more than a joke, "Rock N Roll" just might have been good (read : therapeutic) for Adams, too. How many artists get to thrash out - and then publicly release - their frustrations with their own industry and not go down in flames for it? In fact, in Adams' case, this might have been a good career move.
After hearing "Rock N Roll," the suits agreed to release "Love is Hell" but asked for Adams to chop it up into two EPs. He agreed, but the project was later re-eleased as a one-disc album anyway.
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