Recorded before a live audience on September 26, 1997 at the Hammersmith Ballroom in New York City, for broadcast on MTV.

Bryan asked me to arrange and produce this album. I was honoured -- in fact, I was blown away -- but really, I didn't feel qualified to handle such a high-pressure "live" recording project, where you have one chance to get it right. I declined, and in my place Bryan enlisted Madonna collaborator Patrick Leonard. I think Patrick did a superb job, and as an "outsider" he brought a perspective to the arrangements that never would have occurred to me!

This session resulted in two of my favourite Adams tracks: "Back To You" (which Bryan wrote with Elliott Kennedy) and "I'm Ready", a radical re-arrangement of a song Bryan and I first wrote in 1978.

MTV website: After spending most of the '90s composing songs for soundtracks and writing weepy ballads (sometimes simultaneously), Bryan Adams finally got around to hopping on the Unplugged bandwagon. Joining Adams's long-time back-up band are Madonna collaborator Patrick Leonard and students of the Julliard School Of Music, making this outing pretty robust-sounding for what purports to be a stripped-down affair.

To his credit, Adams finds unique ways of presenting many of his radio staples. Guest Davy Spillane's uillean pipes breathe life into ballads such as "Cuts Like A Knife," "I'm Ready" and "Heaven." Adams picks up the tempo with successful rearrangements that include a countrified reading of "I Think About You" and a blues medley of "If Ya Wanna Be Bad-Ya Gotta Be Good" and "Let's Make A Night To Remember." Blowing away his wholesome image and proving that kids still wanna rock, Adams' naughtiest hooks pop up during "The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You."