and the smooth moves. Guided by a market researcher's cognizance of the requisites for airplay, such songs as "I'm Ready" and "Take Me Back" lack any rough edges that might reveal a hint of personality.

The problem may be one of roots: time and again, Adams pays tribute to the influential arena acts of the past several years – e.g., Foreigner, Billy Squier–and little else. Refusing to look either forward or backward and drawing from limited sources, Cuts like a Knife simmers in its own sameness. Which doesn't mean that stardom isn't imminent for this golden boy; in fact, this record is bland precisely because it grooms Adams for mass-market acceptance so shamelessly. To top off the gambit, Bryan Adams' name is barely discernible in large, faintly printed letters on the cover–a subliminal command, I suppose, for us to suddenly go out and request his songs. No thank you. (RS 395)

ERROL SOMAY