What About Now: First Impressions

1. "Because We Can" - 6.5/10
2. "I'm With You" - 8.5/10
3. "What About Now" 8/10
4. "Pictures of You" 7/10
5. "Amen" - 6/10
6. "That's What the Water Made Me" - 8/10
7. "What's Left of Me" - 7.5/10
8. "Army of One" - 6/10
9. "Thick as Thieves" - 7/10
10. "Beautiful World" - 8/10
11. "Room at the End of the World" - 6.5/10
12. "The Fighter" - 5.5/10
13. "With These Two Hands" - 7/10

Edit: The average of these scores actually comes to pretty much exactly 7/10, which is what I gave the album before doing this haha.

LOLOLOL at someone voting is a 10/10 hahahaha

SuperBrad,
geraldd98, KingofSwingfan14, Remfild, rfanquee, SSM12

What is going through your mind? What do you vote Keep The Faith, New Jersey or These Days? Do you honestly think it's on the same level? Wow. This board is full of blind followers. I'm sure most would still like an album of Jon taking a crap in the toilet with the rest of the band occasionally throwing in a sound effect.

4. The production really destroys the album for me. So much autotune and shitty effects, that I can't even enjoy the songs that I like in the album, like I'm With You, What's Left of Me and That's What The Water Made Me.

The first half of the album is solid. The second half is totally forgettable.

'That's What The Water Made Me' and 'Pictures Of You' are the highlights for me. 'What About Now' sounds better on record than live, and 'Amen' is decent (if a little obvious).

'What's Left Of Me' is depressingly 'auto-pilot', the sort of song they've done before (and way better too).
'Army Of One' is a nice idea but is ruined by lyrical nonsense.
Everything after that is really disappointing, lacking any real punch, with 'The Fighter' being easily the worst on the album. I really hate the tracks like The Fighter where Jon goes into storyteller mode. Give it up man, you can't do it.

5/10 - The first 6 tracks are decent. The second 6 range from pointless to plain awful.

F@ck you halfwit . Dont matter what i think of the others , this one gets a 10 from me . LOVE it . And im happy today and you are not !

You don't like it. Others do. That's all it is. Blind followers? Really?

Man... Let me be the first to say I was not even close I excited for this album... I came in with no expectations and came out somewhat pleasantly surprised. Like someone above mentioned, the first half of the album is solid. Good songs, and surprising guitar work on a few tracks. Really enjoy I'm With You, Amen, Pictures of You, Thats What The Water Made Me, and Thick As Thieves. Army of One ended up surprising me a little and that's only because I was expecting the worst. The second half of the album is so boring though. Could have done without the Jon solo songs and blah blah. With that being said... I feel like I've heard the album before, only because many songs are rip offs. I'm With You sounds like Green days 21 Guns and Of course Amen being like Halleluja. It's all weird to me. Anyways, I enjoy some songs and can't stand some. Unlike some people, I'm realistic and understand that this is what the band wants to do. Nobody has to like it and if you don't, fine. Stop wishing for the boys from the 80's to come back because they aren't. You can hop off the wagon at anytime. Music is one of the most enjoyable things in the world, there's plenty of it out there if you don't like what you are hearing here.

What About Now... 6/10

Ryan

6 for the first half
1-3 for the second half
0 for the production
guitar work and guitar sound also very weak

best songs:That's What The Water Made Me,Pictures Of You and I'm With You

His current 'solo' sound is, I'm sorry to admit, Poor mans Cohen. It has the Cohen feel, without the real mystery and darkness of Cohen's lyrics.

Anyway, I rated it a 5. I'm with you should have been the lead single. That's what the water made me is pretty good. Pictures of you is lyrically atrocious. Like a 8 year old writing a love letter. Then there's the fact that they have copied other artists so much.

I guess Jon was behind the ripping off. My heart wants to believe it was that dick John Shanks though.

I think had they actually held their horses and written a couple of other songs to replace the crap ones, this could have been their best effort in years.

The biggest problem with Bon Jovi is Jon's in a rush to release music all the time to try and stay as current as possible. I agree they should avoid being a nostalgia act. But that doesn't mean release an average album as often as possible. I think most if us wold have gladly waited till 2014 to hear a better album.

1. Because We Can 8/10
I honestly really really enjoy this one. I like the lyrics in the verses and its just dam catchy. Haters gonna hate. Plus I still dont get the Fun ripoff. Slight similarities at the most.

2. I'm With You 8.5/10
I was a little disappointed with the snippet after high expectations from the live version, but as a whole song I think it's a good song with potential to be a single. I don't think it's quite as good as Superman Tonight though. I like the solo.

3. What About Now 7.5/10
It's decent and I quite like it. I enjyo the simple riff. It's comparable to We Weren't Born to Follow, but better.

4. Pictures of You 9/10
One of the best songs on the album. The starting is a little abrupt but passable. I love the 'If I should go crazy' part through the solo and to the drum solo chorus. I really like the ending "oohhhs" as well. It does sound a little like the style of The Killers' "Human".

5. Amen 6.5/10
Wasn't really looking forward to this one from the live version, but the studio version isn't bad. The long notes in the chorus really make this song.

6. That's What The Water Made Me 9/10
It works well live, it works even better on the album. It really is the standout track (along with one or two others) on the record. Solo could be a bit better. I like how the solo is almost a chant. Great song.

7. What Left Of Me 6/10
It's the Lost Highway version of Someday I'll Be Saturday Night. It's not a bad tune but I can't help but feel a little tired of it cos it has been done a few times before. There isn't anything special about this song to make it stand out from the similar songs on the other Jovi records. I like the bridge and the lead into the final chorus. Not a bad song... just nothing special.

8. Army Of One 6.5/10
Aaaahhhhhh!! This one really tears me into two. I LOVE the ending music. The electric guitar with the synth in the background sounds so nice during the solo and then adding the mandolin sound for the outro is bliss. It has such emotion. I also enjyo the organ and drums throughout the song. It's powerful. BUT... the lyrics suck so bad. Even if they changed half of the 'never give up's with three other words it wouldn't be as bad. So yeah... this one gives me mixed feelings. I guess I can overlook the lyrics. As a side note, the organ and drums at the start reminds me of Lay Your Hands On Me.

9. Thick As Thieves 6/10
From the 90 second snippets we heard, I was least looking forward to hearing Thick as Thieves in full. But the full song is definitely better than the preview sample. The end half really picks up the song. It reminds me of Live Before You Die in that the song itself is a little boring, but there are moments at the end with the strings that sounds great.

10. Beautiful World 9/10
Love it! Yes the verses have the same melody as Matchbox 20, but I can overlook that cos I really love this track. I like the lyrics and the overall message (except I hate the line "get a ladder, there's a cat up in a tree"). It's a feel good song and I think it may be my favourite on the album - we'll see.

11. Room At The End of the World 4/10
Was hoping for a better song with such an intriguing title... but no. It just falls flat. This is probably my second least song the album. I can see myself skipping this one a fair bit.

12. The Fighter 3/10
I just can't get into this one. It's my least favourite song on the album. It goes no where. There is no climax to it. Even other acoustic songs like Lonely or Diamond Ring have climaxes. I will never understand why they Not Running Anymore AND Old Habits Die Hard after this track... they all sound the same and have the same faults.

13. These Two Hands 5/10
This track sounds like it's from Have A Nice Day. I don't mind it. I like the bridge and the ending - Jon sounds good. But yeah, nothing too special about it. I don't hate it.

Overall Im pretty happy with it. It gets a 7.5 to 8 out 10 from me.

Im hanging out to listen to "Into The Echo" because I really like the 90 second sample.