This House Is Not For Sale: Album Reviews

I sincerely believe you are right about this. It makes me mad, but I believe it to be the truth.

they'll probably not even listen, just look at the liner for the song titles lol

If there's one thing that stands out in this album, it's going to be the songwriting. While some tracks definitely reflect Jon's honesty, some simply fall flat or perform below expectations.
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1. This House Is Not For Sale - typical Jovi anthem we have heard for the past 16 years, but it's the one with the most guitars since HAND. It's marginally better than the past lead singles, but not exactly a masterpiece. 7/10

2. Living With The Ghost - features some of the best songwriting from Jon in a long time. Despite how I largely dislike its atmosphere for being too WAN-ish, the words more than make up for it and I'd admit Shanks' playing there strikes a chord with me on the chorus. 9/10

3. Knockout - I've mentioned before that this is "80s Jovi meets WDR gone a bit wrong" or something along the lines of that. It's grown slightly on me but the lack of guitars detracts from what would have been a powerful chorus. Hey, but at least, we're given a bit of IDFY/Runaway nostalgia. 6/10

4. Labor of Love - One of my favorite tracks off the album; it does have a bit of cheese but overall it's still sultry. Bonus points for having guitars as warm as She's A Mystery, a song which I'm a fan of (I'm in the extreme minority here). Could have stolen the latter's outro though. 8/10

5. Born Again Tomorrow - Another of my favorites. The closest the band has come to an EDM sound in an era dominated right now by The Chainsmokers. I only have three complaints: (1) the drop should have been present in the second chorus, (2) it needs a stronger outro like the live version, and (3) it should have been the lead or second single (along with TDITT). 8/10

6. Rollercoaster - Despite having a ridiculously infectious chorus, it lacks the punch that would have made it as powerful as a track off HAND. It just falls flat on my face. 6/10

7. New Years' Day - The other WAN-like track of this album, it also doesn't meet expectations. I do like how Tico's drumming and as much as I hate to admit it, the production of the guitars. 6.5/10

8. The Devil's In The Temple - The perfect lead single for this album. The hardest-hitting track in 14 years, its catharsis factor leaves you wanting more from this song. 9/10

9. Scars On This Guitar - I have similar views to this song with Living With The Ghost, albeit to a lesser degree. I'd also pitch this song for having some of Jon's best songwriting. 8/10

10. God Bless This Mess - For some odd reason this reminds me of a crossover between LH-era Bon Jovi and Europe. The guitars are crunchy enough and you have Jon poking fun at himself. I don't like the "solo" or whatever you call it simply for, again, being too much like WAN. 7.5/10

11. Reunion - This one I'd pretty much be skipping; it's better than the acoustic version but it feels a little too distant for me especially with the themes of the album. A good enough graduation song, though. 6.5/10

12. Come On Up To Our House - Apparently Jon continues the tradition left by Burning Bridges - you'd have those folk quirks at the end of the two albums. I understand that they're trying to be as heartwarming as possible but it doesn't really achieve what it intends to do. 7/10

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13. Real Love - Slightly better than Blind Love (both of which I skip). Jon sounds too strong in the studio version. 5/10

14. All Hail The King - I see this as THINFS' Last Man Standing. Just the proper amount of rock and energy from Phil's solo makes it a good enough track for me. 7.5/10

15. We Don't Run - Unlike most people here, I prefer the THINFS mix. Finally, it now looks like Jon is singing the chorus in one take as opposed to the obvious cut-and-paste job in the BB mix. It's also more seamless with the bass and the layers and the more organic drumming, if you are catching my drift. 8/10

16. I Will Drive You Home - My standout track among the bonus ones. This is one of the tracks you'd like to play while, well, driving at night. It's also a show-off of Jon's middle range, which I got blown away with. I'm honestly not sure of what to make of the robots at the end, but they don't detract from the experience. 8.5/10

17. Goodnight NY - is what happens when U2 inserts Shut Up and Dance in The Joshua Tree, like seriously, did Shanks pick up the same guitar The Edge used in Streets and In God's Country? It's easily the most cringe-worthy track of the entire album. 5/10

18. Touch of Grey - The true outlier of the album due to its political overtones, it doesn't do much for me. Which makes sense why it stays as a bonus track. 5.5/10

19. Color Me In - I've heard it only a few hours ago so I put it on repeat. It's surprisingly good and it reminds me of another song (probably BJ too) that I can't remember. Organic and a well-made song in general, including the guitars and Jon's voice. 8/10
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Overall rating (with or without bonus tracks): 8/10

Another not-so-positive review:

http://themusicuniverse.com/bon-jovi...ouse-not-sale/

Some good points in there

Seems to be a case of "damned if you do, damned if you don't" when it comes to certain reviewers.
If the band sticks to the 80s formula they would be chastised for it, yet when they try something new the reviews say they should stick with what they did before...

Exactly how I feel. The album has watered down for me, I bought the German deluxe version with Touch of Grey. But I much rather listen to the FM recording of the London show. The album itself is overproduced and sounds terrible to my ears.

I think what Bon Jovi should have done is, make more modern rock songs on their albums, ok, but not pop songs and not nostalgic 80's rock songs.

I think they're trying, but John Shanks is not the man for this.

If they'd included Teardrop and Who Would You Die For, it would have gone a long way to allaying the "not enough rock" on the record.

And Devil's In The Temple proves that they can do it, with Shanks.

I guess they just need to want to.

For me....I´m still missing instrumental solos in every song.. Scars could have been a classic with david´s 2nd Voice and a solo from Phil..
And the this time the production is really bad.. the Sound is really dull.. drums to quiet...
WAN had the better production..

01) Roller Coaster
02) Scars on this guitar
03) This House is not for sale
04) Come On Up To Our House
05) The Devil´s In The Temple
06) Real Love
07) Labor of Love
8 ) Reunion
09) Living With The Ghost
10) Born Again Tomorrow
11) I Will Drive You Home
12) Colour Me In
13) Goodnight New York
14) God Bless This Mess
15) Touch of Grey
16) Knockout
17) New Years Day
18 ) All Hail The King

I really hope that you are joking....WAN has the worst production I've ever heard in my life