New Studio Album - Forever

I appreciate your response. My least favorite album may be 2020, so I'm not a huge fan of the newest material myself.

I agree with you that it may very well be a cultural thing. I have a hard time dealing with disappointment myself but at the end of the day, it is what it is.

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You have to remember that since the new album announcement and documentary there have been several new regular posters, so what may have been discussed a million times by many of us, may not be the case for them.

Sure, I'm an 80s rock fan, but also a 70s rock fan, 90s rock fan, a modern rock fan, a country fan, a blues fan, etc etc so I don't define my musical tastes by one decade or genre.

I said exactly that a few posts back about the new material BUT just because the new stuff may not be for me, it doesn't mean I don't still love the band. I still love all the old stuff and listen to it regularly. I still buy all the releases. I still love what Richie is (finally) putting out. I watched all 4 episodes of the documentary the day it was released. But because I don't like the new band stuff, I'm not allowed to discuss it? Ok....

I'm sure that there will be something on the new record that I will enjoy. I don't get the excitement about Living Proof. I think there is a lot of people getting over excited here and having rose tinted glasses on, which is fine and expected of course. But I'll be more interested on how the album stands up 12 months from now. In the meantime I'll continue to discuss the band here, both new and old, band and solo, because this place is a discussion board, and it's not a discussion when you are only allowed to talk about one point of view.

Aloha !

How about just wanting good songs? I'm pretty sure most people here are not really the kind of people expecting 80's stuff or 90's stuff. But why is good songs just too much to ask? Why does it have to be genre defined?

I feel those who still think Bon Jovi release good songs are those who insist on playing the new album 25 times just so they can like it "because it has grown on them". They'd never give any of that stuff a 2nd chance would it be released by another band which is ironic considering how much of Bon Jovi's sound relies on other bands nowadays.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

I think I get what you mean by this. And I admit I am one of those who often get very excited while anticipating a forthcoming album. And yes, you are right about the fact that I wouldn’t give the same kind of a chance for an album to ‘grow on me’ to some other artist than Bon Jovi.

Yet I still believe a good song is a good song regardless of how much you let it grow on you. I admit I said Legendary was a grower on me and had it been released by someone else I wouldn’t probably have given it a second chance. But if I think of my all time favorite Bon Jovi songs, I loved all of them from the very beginning, upon my first listen.

Now I am praising the snippets of Living Proof and Kiss The Bride. And that’s not because I would love them to someday become okayish for me. It’s because the snippets blew me away and made me remember why I fell in love with this band in the first place. I don’t expect these songs to grow on me. They represent the kind of music I genuinely enjoy. Once again, I feel like a little kid on Christmas Eve.

Having said that, there have been numerous times I have tried very hard to learn to enjoy a song. But it never works for me that way. For example, American Reckoning, The Distance or Do What You Can. They never became my cup of tea.


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I hear that argument alot Sebastian with a lot of different bands that have been playing for a while and have a dividing fanbase. I think it is not a valid argument. Its a reason we are fans of the band and we will always hear something reminding us of former glories.
I hear ALOT of other music and among my favourites are Pearl jam, Devin Townsend, Neil Young, Dream Theater and Marillion, but Jovi has always been there. Keep the faith was played to death on cassette, and actually I connected with 2020 the most of Jovi albums since These days.
It is actually more of a rock record than every Jovi album in the 00s in terms of material, seriousness and had also a decent production and mix

I see and listen to Bon Jovi differently than I did 10 years ago. I feel like they are on their extra time, Everything they will does from now on will be a gift, an addition to their journey, and I can't help but hug it. Some new songs, I'll enjoy, others I'll ignore, but I'd be a hypocrite if I said it's all shit and I lost interest a long time ago, since it's not true.

I will always expect things from this band, of course, but I have learned to respect and deal with the vision that the artist wants to give us at each stage. And this extends to Richie too, of course.

He was afraid that Jon's voice problems were so serious, that he couldn't mask himself in the studio. But listening to these fragments and Legendary, it takes a weight off my shoulders, since I can still enjoy it. You just have to accept that this is JBJ at 60 years old.

And I'm looking forward to finding out more about the 40th anniversary box.

Because what constitutes a "good song" is different for every single person you ask.

It's the same thing when it comes to discussing what a "Rock" song is. To Jon a rock song is Beautiful Drug or Living Proof.

However, people react like they have been lied to when they hear them because they have different definitions of what a rock song is.

I really dislike Unbroken and Fingerprints as two examples. That doesn't mean that they are actually terrible songs, I just don't like them.

What people are actually saying when they ask "Why can't Bon Jovi write good songs anymore?" is "Why don't they write songs that personally appeal to me anymore?"

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[QUOTE=bonjovi_cro;1290909]Melodically it seems like a better and grown up combo version of Thank You For Loving Me, She's a Mystery and You Had Me From Hello. It's very good in that sense.



All songs I can't stand!

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Aloha !

Jon is full of shit and he knows it too. He's just selling a product, ofcourse he's not going to say "Well, there are certainly some middle of the road, safe for AOR radio songs on it". That doesn't sell. He needs to sell the idea of Bon Jovi making rock songs. He's perfectly aware he's not making any of that anymore, or certainly not the kind of rock his fanbase is hoping for. So you get him saying "Beautiful Drug is a rock song" because you can hear a guitar.

As for what makes a good song; that's not really different for every single person. You need good lyrics, a catchy melody, good vocals, the right groove, great arrangements, a good production, good harmonies and a bit of originality. Now try to sum up a Bon Jovi song of the past decade that can tick more than just 2 of these boxes. I can't think of any, because with every subsequent release another one gets let go in favour of more unoriginality until you're finally left with ridiculous and bland stuff like Kiss the Bride and Legendary.

Some might value one of the criteria higher than the other, but when it comes to Bon Jovi I'd say it's fair to say you'd want better lyrics than "Walk down the isle, it's like a thousand miles, I see her smile, what a surprise, it is so nice, she gives him the kiss, I'm cool as ice, I prefer orange chicken with a little white rice."

Now I know some fans are just more forgiving and are willing to lower the bar just so they can like a song more, not willing to let go of their heroes. It's the constant lowering of your standards that makes you willing to accept how Bon Jovi make one dreadful release after the other "because you shouldn't expect anything else". I remember how The Circle had people saying "well you can't expect them to be as good as they used to be" but tell me, which album has been an improvement over the previous one? Must it be a constant decline?

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

Jon Bon Jovi and Richie combined have maybe 20 songs in their career with genuinely good lyrics. They have proved many times you can move people with cliché shite. Not a criticism of the band, by the way. Originality too, the band has never had a shred.

Although, you are correct about all the moving parts making a good song. You can remove a few from the equation and still get gold. This is the formula for most artists because none are perfect. The problem with modern Bon Jovi - and I will extend it to Richie too - is too may standards of quality have been removed.

In fact, perhaps the only thing they have held onto is the sense of melody.