Earlier this month Bryan Adams 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, Rock And Roll Hell and War Machine, were written by Adams, songwriting partner Jim Vallance and Kiss bassist Gene Simmons in 1982 for Kiss’s Creatures Of The Night album, the year before his breakthrough album Cuts Like a Knife. He’s already released a video for Rock And Roll Hell – shot on the roof of London’s iconic Royal Albert Hall – and now he’s made one for War Machine. It couldn’t be more different.
“I aimed to create something monumental for the War Machine video, and I’d been collaborating with CGI director Ben Ib on a peace-themed video entitled What If There Were No Sides At All,” says Adams. “To contrast the peace message of that video, I proposed to Ben that we develop the War Machine 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 AC/DC (the album cover for PWR UP and the Demon Fire video), Roger Waters (video for The Wall on tour) and Paul McCartney (CGI for his Glastonbury show and the cover art for his 2013 album New).
The single is released on August 30 and is available to pre-order now.
“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 War Machine. 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,” Adams told Classic Rock in 2014. “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.”
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.
Bryan Adams – War Machine – YouTube 
Bryan Adams: So Happy It Hurts Tour 2024
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