Album review: Bryan Adams - Live At The Royal Albert Hall 2024

Bryan Adams reinvents his wheels again

Bryan Adams: Live At The Royal Albert Hall 2024 cover art
(Image: © Bad Records)

You can trust Louder Our experienced team has worked for some of the biggest brands in music. From testing headphones to reviewing albums, our experts aim to create reviews you can trust. Find out more about how we review.

Following the format of last year’s triple-live RAH box, 2024 records one-night stands of three albums: peerless 1984 classic Reckless, 1996’s 18 Til I Die and his most recent studio work So Happy It Hurts from 2022.

None get a faithful retread – pointless in a live environment and, besides, Bryan Adams couldn’t stop the crowd joining in throughout Reckless even if he wanted to.

Bryan Adams - 18 Til I Die (Live At The Royal Albert Hall - 2024) - YouTube Bryan Adams - 18 Til I Die (Live At The Royal Albert Hall - 2024) - YouTube
Watch On

In fact, it’s much better to hear the band reshuffle the running order and play out-take numbers Reckless itself and Let Me Down Easy along the way.

The 18 Til I Die material sounds pretty good, but much of So Happy It Hurts pales against the other two discs. Although all three look stunning on the bonus Blu-ray.

Neil Jeffries

Freelance contributor to Classic Rock and several of its offshoots since 2006. In the 1980s he began a 15-year spell working for Kerrang! intially as a cub reviewer and later as Geoff Barton’s deputy and then pouring precious metal into test tubes as editor of its Special Projects division. Has spent quality time with Robert Plant, Keith Richards, Ritchie Blackmore, Rory Gallagher and Gary Moore – and also spent time in a maximum security prison alongside Love/Hate. Loves Rush, Aerosmith and beer. Will work for food.

Read more
Bryan Adams with a semi-acoustic guitar
"This song is for everyone who's ever felt defeated but chose to fight another day": Watch the video for Bryan Adams' muscular new single Roll With The Punches
Rush – R50
“Fans can fulminate over the tracklisting – ‘Where the hell is The Fountain Of Lamneth?!’ – but it hits all the right beats”: Rush’s R50 is a luxurious celebration with an emotional punch at the end
Jon Anderson & The Band Geeks: Live – Perpetual Change album cover
“Has his voice withstood the test of time? The answer is an emphatic yes”: Jon Anderson effortlessly recreates the best of Yes on new album Live – Perpetual Change
Hawkwind – Live At The Royal Albert Hall
“Emphatically proves that the current line-up is the band’s best since their mid-70s heyday”: Hawkwind’s Live At The Royal Albert Hall is much more than just another live album
Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe – And Evening of Yes Music Plus
“Their own songs, freed from the dated sonics of their recorded counterparts, benefit most from the live treatment”: Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe’s An Evening Of Yes Music Plus returns in 4-disc set
Rush in 1980
Fifty reasons why three Canadian oddballs became a treasured part of rock history
Latest in
Queen posing for a photograph in 1978
"Freddie’s ideas were off the wall and cheeky and different, and we tended to encourage them, but sometimes they were not brilliant.” Queen's Brian May reveals one of Freddie Mercury's grand ideas that got vetoed by the rest of the band
Mogwai
“The concept of cool and uncool is completely gone, which is good and bad… people are unashamedly listening to Rick Astley. You’ve got to draw a line somewhere!” Mogwai and the making of prog-curious album The Bad Fire
Adrian Smith performing with Iron Maiden in 2024
Adrian Smith names his favourite Iron Maiden song, even though it’s “awkward” to play
Robert Smith, Lauren Mayberry, Bono
How your purchase of albums by The Cure, U2, Chvrches and more on Record Store Day can help benefit children living in war zones worldwide
Cradle Of Filth performing in 2021 and Ed Sheeran in 2024
Cradle Of Filth’s singer claims Ed Sheeran tried to turn a Toys R Us into a live music venue
The Beatles in 1962
"The quality is unreal. How is this even possible to have?" Record shop owner finds 1962 Beatles' audition tape that a British label famously decided wasn't good enough to earn Lennon and McCartney's band a record deal
Latest in Review
/news/the-darkness-i-hate-myself
"When the storm clouds clear, the band’s innate pop sensibilities shine as brightly as ever": In a world of bread-and-butter rock bands, The Darkness remain the toast of the town
Sex Pistols at the RAH
"Open the dance floor, you’ll never get to do it again." Forget John Lydon's bitter and boring "karaoke" jibes, with Frank Carter up front, the Sex Pistols sound like the world's greatest punk band once more
Arch Enemy posing in an alleyway
Arch Enemy promised they'd throw out the rule book for Blood Dynasty. They didn't go quite that far, but this is the boldest album of the Alissa White-Gluz era - and it kicks ass
The Darkness press shot
"Not just one of the best British rock albums of all time, but one of the best debut albums ever made": That time The Darkness added a riot of colour to a grey musical landscape
Roger Waters - The Dark Side of the Moon Redux Deluxe Box Set
“The live recording sees the piece come to life… amid the sepulchral gloom there are moments of real beauty”: Roger Waters' Super Deluxe Box Set of his Dark Side Of The Moon Redux
Cradle Of Filth Press Shot 2025
Twiddly Iron Maiden harmonies, thrash riffs, horror, rapping (kind of) and sexy goth allure: The Screaming Of The Valkyries is peak Cradle Of Filth