Bon Jovi in 2016--Expectations/Hopes

What do you expect and hope for from Bon Jovi in 2016? I mean realistically Bon Jovi as they are now, a 3-man core band + Hugh + guitarists such as Bobby, Phil X, and Matt.

Which is more important to you, the album or the tour? Or can you not have one without the other?

Okay, I'll bite and answer my own question.

The album is far more important than the tour to me. The album is forever. I'll still be listening to it in ten years if I'm alive. The tour is, at most, one or maybe two nights of my life.

So, far the album, I'm hoping for great songwriting. I'm hoping for the kind of promise of greatness we saw that is still there in songs like Fingerprints and Who Would You Die For from Burning Bridges. I hope for no political garbage to date the album and make me want to throw it out the window like The Circle. I hope for something universal and timeless like I know Jon is capable of writing. I hope that Jon does a lot of the writing by himself without co-writers though I think that is probably wishful thinking since he seems to really enjoy working with other people like John Shanks and Billy Falcon these days. However, should he get that chip on his shoulder and feel like he has to prove himself I wouldn't mind it one bit.

The songs. That's what I'm laying my hopes down for. I just want good songs. I don't care about a big tour. I don't care if they play every continent and make a trip to the moon just to say they did it. It's all about the songs for me. I want something that I will want to listen to in 20 years just like I do Blaze of Glory, Destination Anywhere, New Jersey, and Keep the Faith.

Happy New Year, all!

Becky, I honestly can't answer your question exactly as you asked it because I'd like to see Jon and Richie resolve whatever is behind the fractured band and get it back together during the coming year. I don't think there's anything unrealistic about it. They've fallen out before and put it back together, probably more often than we know, so I don't see why they couldn't do it again if they want to.

Beyond that I don't have big expectations for the band. I agree that, for me, the album is more important than the tour. As long as I like the album, I'll buy it. I have no reason to expect that I won't, because I don't have any particular expectations about what they write or record. I haven't been disappointed, songwise, with anything they've released to date. I'd miss Richie's harmonies, though, if he doesn't come back. They were so significant that, in some cases, the songs almost became duets; and I missed that on Burning Bridges.

As for touring, I've never gone way out of my way to see them live. I generally refuse to pay the ridiculous prices they charge for close seating; and if I'm going to have to watch them on a video screen anyway, I'd much rather do it from the comfort of my home. If Richie comes back I might consider it, but without him there, there's no way.

I hope for a kickass album - and then a tour that actually showcases that album. I don't hope for the same old - same old.

I don't have much hope as I don't think that Jon cares about his longtime fans like other rockers do and I don't think that he will approve something old that showcases him as he WAS - not as he is now.

I have enough friends that talk to people in the band to support that conclusion. (unfortunately).

happy new year to all!!

nice topic, i also hope for a killer album, i d like the guys, mainly jon, to reinvent themselves and find a new way to express themselves, confident and artistic in a way it fits them. a strong album and a hit would really make it even if we know that good songs arent all it takes to make a hit in the music industry.

kathleen i disagree with u in this topic. jon, especially now, has to stay true to what he believes. to write a great album and move forward, i love all the classic albums but he wouldnt do justice to that sound even if he wanted to. i d love for him to be more comfortable with the past and release some old footage though.

the next album and tour will be crucial for bj. many of the big rock bands of the band become nostalgia acts and unfortunately bj are one of them. a strong album and a decend tour with a good voice would turn things around.

ps. i d love jon and richie sort things out but looks very hard since jon felt betrayed and david and tico who could maybe way in looks like they are absolutely negative towards richie

Couldn't have said it better myself. The albums/the songs were always more important to me because they are here to stay. I can listen to them whenever I feel like. The tour is great fun and I love the concerts and the memories stay, but if I had to choose, I'd rather take a new album without a tour than a tour with no album.

To this day, the tours are a pretty mediocre. No turning back, they get worse, and now the level is very low, so I lost hope in the tours.

About the new album, I do not think that's a good thing, Jon has a very lazy vision, with little creativity when composing and writing a song. So I'm just waiting to see if "he" make me eat my words.

Happy new year everybody, it's been a while since my last post here. Anyway, according to the following article (link) Bon Jovi are about to release their 14th album in March and it'll be named "This House Is Not For Sale". Of course a global tour will follow.

Anyway, I love live performances more than anything but as someone mentioned before the album stays, still I like all the material so far, especially from WAN and Burning Bridges was a decent album too. I expect something improved this time.

That's all, see you on the road (Hopefully) !

Back to basics album. 10 rockers and 2 ballads.

Would love to see the tour stripped down.
Forget Stadiums and 18 months touring.
Smaller venues and less shows so JBJ can perform to his best level.

Tour: with Jon's current voice, I don't see myself enjoying a Bon Jovi show in 2016, so since I actually value my money, I'm not going to attend. Even if the new album is good, the old songs would still be the focal point of shows and we all know how that will go. I just hope the tour is shorter than their previous ones, as I fear the more people see them live from now on, the more fans they're going to lose among those who are not (yet) familiar with how Jon sounds nowadays.

Album: unlike with the tour, Jon can still sound good on the album, so there is some hope here. Unlike some, I wasn't too fond of BB minus a couple of songs, so my expectations are only slightly higher than they were 3 years ago for WON. I will take Jon's word that he had a lot going so the new songs will be inspired, but I still don't think they're not going to be in our preferred genre. I am expecting that We Don't Run was a representative preview - modern sound, catchy chorus, decently-sounding Jon, but not that much substance behind it and it won't be an album I'll listen to more than 10 times in my lifetime probably.