There's obviously some irony in the fact that two artists with such similar names -- namely Bryan Adams and Ryan Adams -- should also share the same birthday of November 5, which is Saturday.

We were curious to see what other things the two men hold in common, but we didn't find much. For one, there's a pretty wide age divide -- Bryan is 16 years older than Ryan -- he turns 52 -- and Ryan hits 37. Still, we were determined to find some basis for similarity, so we stretched our imagination and, with it, our logic. Here, then, is a side-by-side comparison of Bryan and Ryan...

8. They both live in places that start with "Ca." Bryan resides in Canada. Ryan calls Carolina home. 

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7. Bryan's big hit, "Summer of '69," found him extolling the virtues of regression. Ryan's early efforts found him instigating a movement that was dubbed No Depression. Regression, depression... there's some kind of connection there. Maybe.

6. Given his insurgent stance, Ryan rocks. And being that he leans toward big ballads, Bryan ruminates. 

5. Both men started out in bands that had questionable handles. Bryan's early outfit was named Sweeney Todd. Ryan's first group was called the Patty Duke Syndrome. Lame on both counts. 

4. Throughout much of the previous decade, Ryan was highly visible, putting out an album a year and sometimes even more. Bryan's career slowed down considerably during that same period. He released only one new album, and he practically faded from view. 

3. Bryan had a chart topper called "Cuts Like a Knife." Ryan's music has always been termed "cutting edge."

2. Ryan's second solo album was called Gold. Early in his career, Bryan had numerous gold albums. 

1. Ryan's latest album, Ashes and Fire, features the contributions of such notables as Norah Jones, legendary producer Glyn Johns, and Tom Petty keyboard player Benmont Tench. Bryan recorded the song "Everything I Do (I Do It for You)" and teamed with Rod Stewart and Sting. 

And that's about it in terms of similarities. Although if you remove the B from Bryan, you get Ryan... and that would be damned confusing indeed.

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