FACES : A HARD ROCKIN’ ADAMS

They call him the Baby Cougar, the Second Seger, even Bruce II. To rock singer Bryan Adams, these aren’t flattering nicknames.

They reflect the main rap against him--that he’s a copy of John Cougar Mellencamp, Bob Seger and Bruce Springsteen. They all have raspy voices and powerhouse vocal styles. So does Adams. They say you can’t hear the real Adams because the echoes of Springsteen, Seger and Cougar are too loud.

OK, so this 25-year-old Canadian’s brand of pop-ish hard rock isn’t particularly innovative. Give him demerits for that. But otherwise his music, co-written with Jim Vallance, is everything it should be--supercharged, gutsy and, in its own ear-splitting way, romantic. If you like visceral, nuts-and-bolts hard rock, chances are you’d like Adams.

Songs like “Run to You,” “Summer of ‘69” and “She’s Only Happy When She’s Dancin’ ” really are catchy. In concert, they’re especially potent. The audience at the opening night of his recent sold-out, two-night Hollywood Palladium engagement was certainly ecstatic about his music.

Like all artists denounced as derivative, Adams isn’t eager to discuss those damning comparisons. During a dinner interview the night before his first Palladium show, this touchy issue was raised and quickly passed over.

He thinks of his music simply as his music. “It comes out of me, it pours out of me, it’s all mine, it’s all me, “ he said, his intensity slowly mounting. “It turns me on, I want it to turn people on, I want to turn people on.”

He certainly turns women on. That was evident at the first Palladium show. Music is only part of his appeal to women--maybe not even the biggest part. Obviously, they find this trim, ruddy-faced rocker handsome. Apparently, they’re also bowled over by his blend of macho and vulnerability. According to a female friend of mine who’s a raving Adams fan, “On the one hand, he looks so cuddly, but he could also throw a girl over his shoulder and carry her off; the thought of that makes me tingle all over.”

Obviously, all those critical jabs haven’t scared away the fans. For the last two years, Adams’ career has been flourishing. His first hit album, which sold over a million, was “Cuts Like a Knife,” featuring the Top 10 single, “Straight From the Heart.” His latest album, “Reckless--his fourth for A&M; Records--is an even bigger hit. The first single, “Run to You,” was in the pop Top 10. The fast-rising second single, “Somebody,” is headed there.

Adams signed with A&M; when he was just 18--about seven years ago. Music fans weren’t wild about his first two albums. Neither was he. “They were schlock,” he said. “The first album sounds like demos (demonstration records). I’m way beyond that level now, thank God.”

Rock ‘n’ roll has always been an attractive vehicle for rebels. It lures cocky mavericks looking for an outlet for their defiance. Adams fits this profile. He was, he insisted, destined to be a rock ‘n’ roller.

But when he was growing up in Vancouver, his family didn’t think so. Coming from a long line of military men, he was groomed to follow suit. But the rebel in him flared up. “I’m the first non-military person in the Adams line,” he said proudly.

His family, particularly his father, at least wanted Adams to pursue a more stable, conventional career. “I wasn’t interested in anything else but music,” Adams insisted. “Being an artist was all I really cared about since I was a teen-ager.”

While the rest of his family eventually accepted his career, his father still hasn’t. “Being a rock ‘n’ roller doesn’t make any sense to him,” Adams said. “He respects the fact that I’ve been able to make a living at it but he doesn’t respect the music or what it stands for.”

Musically, his father is at the other end of the spectrum. Opera is his passion. His efforts to interest his son in opera weren’t successful.

Adams stressed that, despite their polarization in certain areas, he wasn’t knocking his father: “We’re friends. It’s just that he has his views about what’s right and rock ‘n’ roll isn’t right to him.”

Wouldn’t he like his father to be the normal proud Poppa, reveling in his son’s success, bragging about his son the rock star? “At this point,” Adams replied with hardly a trace of emotion, “it really doesn’t matter.”

With considerable pride, Adams pointed out that his rebellious nature surfaced early. “I was this tough little rebel as far back as I can remember,” he said. “I was always in trouble, always looking for wild things to do.”

In those days, he also had a bad temper. “I’ve learned to control it,” he said. “It was getting out of hand, getting me in trouble.”

As a teen-ager working in bands, that rebellious attitude wasn’t conducive to teamwork. “I didn’t like people telling me what to do,” he said. “So I’d always take over. I wasn’t liked very much in bands.”

Adams simply had the wrong personality to be just a band member. Being a follower never quite agreed with him. “I like being in control all the time,” he said. “I want to be my own boss. Nobody tells me what to do. I’ve got this real pig-headed streak. I think it comes from my father.”

Throughout the long dinner, Adams behaved like a nice guy. But there’s another side to him, he cautioned before leaving, that’s not so nice:

“I’m not the easiest person to get along with. I can make people nuts. I don’t have a lot of friends. I just have one or two people I consider true and valued friends.

“But I’m not a bad guy, just difficult sometimes. Who isn’t? But talk to some people and they may tell you I’m the biggest jerk in the world. I guess sometimes I am.”