[Walleris]

So now that everyone who really cares has had a chance to hear it, what are your initial thoughts?

I was really dissapointed that this is what Jon came up with to represent the album that is supposedly his angriest and most personal in a while. What it is, is simply a water down version of the same old formula. As some of you pointed out already - HAND structure and verses + This Is Love, This Is Life chorus. And off course, the lyrics are the same generic non-personal stuff as always (or as Jon likes to call it, "universal").

I give it a 6. Which in some ways is probably the worst rating possible. At least if it was a 3-4, it would mean that they took a risk and failed. But it would've been more interesting nonetheless. Only positives I can say here is that it's catchy and the guitars are decent. But I never for a second doubted Jon's ability to write a catchy melody.

They really should've held onto We Don't Run and do that as a proper single. It would've not been a hit either, but at least it would've built some excitement for the fans.

[Bleeding Purist]

I rate it as an 8, but only after repeated listens throughout the day. I actually just finished buying it on Amazon, which was just after adding it to my Spotify playlist.

I wasn't won over after the first listen. The verses plod and need more work and the song draws from so much of their past work from YGLABN to HAND, as well as "This Is Love...". Where it is essentially HAND re-visited, it has what HAND does not... an awesome hook. Plenty of us are going to be belting out "I set each stone and I hammed each nail!" in our cars as we drive over the the last few weeks.

For first singles, which generally haven't done much to get me excited for a new album, it's probably my favorite in well over a decade.

[angelsambo]

as i said before the song itself is not bad at all and 1000 times better than BWC and WWBTF combined,but it's nothing special nothing new,the same old shit since 10 years and the most important i just can't stand that ****ing shanks production(6.5/10)

[KSantaFe]

Originally Posted by Walleris

And off course, the lyrics are the same generic non-personal stuff as always (or as Jon likes to call it, "universal").

I absolutely disagree. To me, it's quite a personal song that uses the "house" analogy to describe the band that Jon created. The band is old, beat and battered, but "is not for sale". Cheesy, maybe, but at it's certainly not the "same generic non-personal stuff".

Originally Posted by Walleris

They really should've held onto We Don't Run and do that as a proper single. It would've been a hit either, but at least it would've built some excitement for the fans.

We Don't Run is much more of a generic BJ song, lyric wise - aside from the "Fire in the sky, thunder in the mountains" line which is straight up awesome! WDR is not rock n roll, it is straight up Fall Out Boy-style power pop, with a rock attitude. Fun and interesting, but not rock imo.

[Bounce7800]

5 from me. Bang average as far as Jovi songs go. Disappointed there's no change in direction to signify a new period in the band- this could have easily slotted onto WAN. Probably a lot of that is due to Shanks' production, someone else maybe could have given this one a bit more of an edge.

However, SNGMSM was Jovi by the numbers too and the rest of the album was a departure so here's hoping this album follows that pattern, as it would be such a shame that the diverse and quality songs on BB are hidden away as a hidden album, seemingly never to be performed again, and we end up with a generic WAN part 2 Jovi album which gets more promo and performances.

[TheOriginalJez]

Decent filler. HAND lite. Where its weakness really shows is in the end of that bridge - what should be a great build up to a firey solo he can't go high so it just limps on. And the solo... Phil didn't play on this - it's Shanks... how did he go from some of the great work on BB to that turd?

A great vocal delivery + a good solo and there's a decent track there... maybe not a lead single though.

On the plus side, so much better than anything (bar I'm With You) on WAN, I think I may actually enjoy the album, definitely looking forward to some of the songs not intended for radio. I'm probably being harsh, it just disappoints me that after WDR they follow up with a limp wristed HAND rehash I suppose.

[Alphavictim]

7.5 for me. Since it's a new song and I'm cautious as it might wear off rather quickly, I'm gonna go with just a 7 then.

[Jayster]

The usual disappointment. A regurgitation of Have a Nice Day but not nearly as good. Awful lyrics and even worse production. Hoping the rest of the album is much better. 4/10

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[RonJovi]

100% agree with the first post. Hugely underwhelmed. It'd be decent if it wasn't something they'd done so often before.

The lyrics are abysmal. Most of Jon's lyrics have been a bit unsubtle but at least I could relate. These just feel like empty, vacuous cliches. I was expecting so much more given everything that's happened over the last few years.

Bon Jovi's biggest talent used to be that they could write personal songs that anyone could relate to and that worked really well. Now, they're trying to write universal songs that are just empty and forgettable.

[Walleris]

Originally Posted by KSantaFe

We Don't Run is much more of a generic BJ song, lyric wise - aside from the "Fire in the sky, thunder in the mountains" line which is straight up awesome! WDR is not rock n roll, it is straight up Fall Out Boy-style power pop, with a rock attitude. Fun and interesting, but not rock imo.

Lyric wise, yes. But at least musically it felt like something different. And THINFS is going back to same old.