Earlier this month announced he was launching his own record label, Bad Records, and its first release would be a vinyl 7" single featuring two songs the Canadian star co-wrote for Kiss before he was an international star. The two songs, and , were written by Adams, songwriting partner Jim Vallance and Kiss bassist Gene Simmons in 1982 for Kiss's album, the year before his breakthrough album He's already released a – shot on the roof of London's iconic Royal Albert Hall – and now he's made one for . It couldn't be more different.
“I aimed to create something monumental for the video, and I’d been collaborating with CGI director Ben Ib on a peace-themed video entitled " says Adams "To contrast the peace message of that video, I proposed to Ben that we develop the video showcasing chaos and destruction. In the video, the tyrant that is leading the war ultimately faces consequences for his actions." Director Ben Ib has previously worked with the likes of (the album cover for and the video), (video for on tour) and (CGI for his Glastonbury show and the cover art for his 2013 album ).
. "I was thrilled to work with them [Kiss] back then," says Adams. "I was a broke songwriter, it came at the perfect time.
While sitting with the band, Gene played me this fantastic bass riff, which ended up being the backbone of . I was trying to think of a theme that could possibly match the riff and came up with the title, which was actually an homage to a comic book character." "Kiss’s deal was they had to have their name on the songs if they were gonna record it," .
"They put some bit in the song that would qualify for a credit, but they had nothing to do with writing the songs. At the time, this was around ’81; Jim and I were just young songwriters looking for a break. I guess we were grateful for that.
" Sign up below to get the latest from Classic Rock, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox! Adams begins a run of dates in mainland Europe dates next month. He will finish the year in India and the UAE. Full dates below.
Sep 05: Berlin Messe Berlin – Summer Garden, Germany Sep 30: Paris Zenith, France Oct 01: Luxembourg Rokhal, Luxembourg Oct 03: Brussels Forest National, Belgium Oct 04: Rotterdam Ahoy Arena, Netherlands Oct 05: Dusseldorf PSD Bank Dome, Germany Oct 06: Hamburg Barclays Arena, Germany Oct 08: Frankfurt Festhalle, Germany Oct 09: Stuttgart Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle, Germany Oct 10: Leipzig Quarterback Immobilien Arena, Germany Oct 11: Lodz Atlas Arena, Poland Oct 13: Brno Winning Group Arena Brno, Czech Republic Oct 14: Budapest MVM Dome Budapest, Hungary Oct 16: Limassol Tsirio Stadium, Cyprus Oct 18: Istanbul Fenerbahçe Ülker Sports Arena, Turkey Nov 04: Munich Olympiahalle, Germany Nov 06: Bolzano Sparkasse Arena, Italy Nov 08: Dornbirn Messequartier Dornbirn, Austria Nov 09: Milan Mediolanum Forum, Italy Nov 10: Basel St. Jakobshalle, Switzerland Nov 12: Barcelona Palau Sant Jordi, Spain Nov 13: Murcia Palacio De Deportes, Spain Nov 15: Bilbao Bizkaia Arena Bec!, Spain Nov 16: A Coruña Coliseum, Spain Nov 18: Madrid Wizink Center, Spain Nov 19: Porto Multiusos De Gondomar, Portugal Nov 20: Lisbon Meo Arena, Portugal Nov 23: Braga Altice Forum Braga, Portugal Nov 24: Lisbon Meo Arena, Portugal Dec 06: Schladming Planai Stadion, Austria Dec 10: Bhoirymbong Rbdsa, Shillong, India Dec 12: Gurugram Backyards Sports Club, India Dec 13: Mumbai Nesco, India Dec 14: Bengaluru Terraform, India Dec 16: Hyderabad Gmr Arena, India Dec 19: Abu Dhabi Etihad Arena, Yas Island, UAE . Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014.
38 years in music industry, online for 25. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author.
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