[hardwired_70]

Originally Posted by thesedays2014

I don't get why people like Temple. It's this albums 'trying to be heavy' song. A bit like bullet but with lazy guitar work (like most of the album unfortunately). It's nothing like Fear


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Maybe it is because it is the only (kinda) ROck song on the album sadly. I agree on a raw rock album it would fall flat on its ass lol

[thesedays2014]

Originally Posted by hardwired_70

Maybe it is because it is the only (kinda) ROck song on the album sadly. I agree on a raw rock album it would fall flat on its ass lol

Oh well, at least we have a great Metallica record to look forward to


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[hardwired_70]

Originally Posted by thesedays2014

Oh well, at least we have a great Metallica record to look forward to


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We will believe me!

[Manbou]

Gave it a 9. It could have been perfect with a few tweaks here and there and a less synthetic overall sound at some points.

[crashed]

Finally got some time to sit down, have a smoke, and appreciate the music.

A few general comments about the feel of the whole album. It's cohesive, it's moody, it has this awesome rhythm section of bass and drums threading the songs together interspersed by bursts of rhythm and lead guitar. In a lot of songs it sounds like the keys are high in the mix too. This is a Bon Jovi album you can dance to.

It's an album of anthems, with great hooks and melodies that are sometimes simple like Knockout's "Boom, Boom, Boom" or Reunion's catchy as hell chorus and hand clapping. So whilst your dancing you can sing the shit out of it as well.

Sadly some layers of music are lost on certain songs like Knockout or All Hail The King. I've been listening on my headphones on my iPhone 7 through Apple Music and although there's a few songs like those, the rest seems as clear as a bell to me.

I wish they'd kept Teardrop and Who Would You Die For on this album in a way. With those additions (and taking little away) this would have been a phenomenal record, and it still might be but having those songs could have made it my favourite album the band has done.

As it is it's very, very good, so much so that I don't want to make comparisons to the classics as this deserves to stand on its own.

1. This House Is Not For Sale - such a generic Jovi song that I actually don't want to listen to it half the time, but it fits on the album perfectly, and it actually does sound good. It's definitely saved by the I'm Coming Home hook which elevates it above the lazy Born To Follow. Should not have been the lead single.

2. Living With The Ghost - Great lyrics. Love Jon's voice. And it's bouncy. I can see me really loving this live. It's one of the best cuts on the album. This is this records That's What The Water Made Me.

3. Knockout - you know I love it. It's not an iconic track but it's a lot of fun. Best listened to turned up stupidly loud and sung with abandon. It might be a guilty pleasure but it's a good one.

4. Labor Of Love - I always did like Wicked Game. This song has such a great groove. At first I hated the lyrics as a cheese fest, but they actually don't come across as cheesy when you hear it. It's sounds genuine and heartfelt. Jon means this in a way he hasn't meant similarly themed songs.

5. Born Again Tomorrow - Remember what I said about dancing? Was my favourite from the initial tracks and now it's not the best on the album, but it's still one of my top tracks. The optimistic lyrics, whilst nothing new for Bon Jovi, are better than the usual cliches and the solo is a nice touch. Plus this could have a stadium rocking.

6. Rollercoaster - Speaking of rocking stadiums, I HATED this song on first listen. Was horrified as if it's Because We Can 2, a pure pop song and nothing else. But it's so insanely catchy and that floor shaking chorus - I can't help it - it made me like it! Bad song!

7. New Years Day - if there's any song not really striking me on the album it's this one. It's not a bad song and my closest comparison might be What About Now with better songwriting and more to it. Average to good.

8. Devils In The Temple - Awesome riffs. Awesome vocals. The Who Would You Die For or Keep The Faith of this album. It's the one song I would have liked a huge and epic blistering guitar solo but missing that doesn't detract in any way from what the song currently is.

9. Scars On This Guitar - I didn't expect my favourite song to be a flippin' country song. I don't even like country that much. But Jon has always been able to sell me a cowboy song, which this effectively is. It's the most honest song I've heard in a long time. The Fighter wanted to be this and just wasn't anywhere close. Brilliant. 10/10 or whatever. It also starts off a great three-song sequence of country-ish tunes that are better than most if not all of Lost Highway.

10. God Bless This Mess - the songs alright. Nothing special but where it sits between Scars and Reunion is a good bridge between the three and sort of lifts it because of it.

11. Reunion - How good did this song turn out? Sure it's basically Whole Lot Of Leaving but I think the chorus is much catchier, much more infectious and it's hand clapping, foot stomping and simply so singable that I'm almost tempted to say it should have been the first single except it would have driven every "we want rock" fan away instantly.

12. Come On Up To Our House - I feel this song misses something. I could imagine it with a big choir singing the chorus, and David playing an organ or something. It's alright though

13. Real Love - Blind Love was a pretty song let down by terrible lyrics. Problem solved with this song. Pretty and melodic. Pleasant to listen to.

14. All Hail The King - Really like the concept of the song. The production lets it down but that "oh oh oh" type melody gives the song a lot of great rhythm.

15. We Don't Run - Burning Bridges version is better!

16. I Will Drive You Home - Ok Bleeding Purist you said it was good - you weren't wrong. It's In These Arms. It's Letting You Go. It's a fantastic song. One of the highlights of the record. That robotic voice at the end I don't mind it, it suits the song.

17. Goodnight New York - It's a U2 song with Jon singing. Did they hire The Edge after all and no one told me? Could see it being popular though.

In summary I think this is an excellent album with no to little filler. Those two songs I mentioned earlier would have taken it to another level. If I have to give a "where is it in the hierarchy" then it's above The Circle, which for me was a very solid album and my personal choice from the post 2000 catalogue. It has quite a few tracks that are serious classics and I don't think I can ask much more than that.

[Juz]

Been listening to the album for 2 weeks now and really enjoying it. I still look forward to playing it every evening.

Favourite tracks:
Living with the ghost
Roller coaster
Born again tomorrow
All hail the king


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[Antman]

Listened to it a few times and I cannot rate it anything above a 4.

[Jeeper]

I'm still loving the album. Not bored of it at all.


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[Myguitar]

I bought the deluxe edition with the three extra tracks, and gave it a few listens.

It's a solid, well produced record where each song is in tune with the other, and Jon's voice in particular seems very fitting for this, may I say mellow record. However, not one song really stands out to me, and I think it's because none of them really have any "edge". I couldn't help but think it's a record of "filler" tunes, similar to what we've heard in past on the latter parts of Bounce, HAND, LH, Circle, and WAN albums. They are not all bad tracks (THINFS, Living with a Ghost, Labor of Love, Scars, and Real Love, We Don't Run are standouts here), but there are some pretty bad tracks on there (Knockout, Born Again, Roller Coaster, God Bless). The deluxe edition I purchased contains 3 extra tracks which I thought were actually much stronger than many of the tracks on the standard record. For long time Bon Jovi fans like myself, this is nothing out of the ordinary. They've traditionally omitted some strong tracks from the regular track listing and we've had to buy the Deluxe/Japanese/whatever-other-special-edition we could dig up at some record show.

Lyrically, I feel the messages Jon is trying to deliver are the same as ever, but he's recycled things so many times that they now feel heavily watered down. Reading this lyric booklet really gave me no spark, and I find that disappointing because he has done so much better in the past. Good portion of this record's lyrics are downright silly, with abundance of old cliches replacing any actual songwriting.

I have discussed this band with my music peers many times and we all agree that they've evolved drastically (and successfully) since their early and 90's career, but we also agree that they have not evolved since Crush, if very little. If anything, they've mellowed out more with each record. With the newest release, I believe they have now ventured full-force into pure pop-rock genre, and the witness to that is the prominent lack of guitars on this record. I think that's the missing piece accounting for the lack of edge I mentioned above. Phil X is a really good guitarist, an excellent and a very experienced one, but you would never ever know that from listening to this record. As a guitarist, I am beginning to feel that this band has less and less to offer me.

The best thing I can say about THINFS is that it sounds more like Jon's solo effort, and I think it would have made more sense if it were one. I think he's been long due for a solo record - two of the better songs on WAN were The Fighter and Not Running Anymore, both written by Jon alone, and in my ears a pure throwback to Destination Anywhere. Those two songs, and the turmoil surrounding Richie's departure around the time that last record was released had made me think, for a moment at least, that Jon would surely write another solo record.

This is a decent but forgettable effort. It's a pop-rock record that takes the lesser qualities of their previous five albums and puts them into the spotlight. The difference is that even the worst of their albums had their highlight hit singles, while I find that this one has no such high point. The band says it reflects where they are now in 2016 but I disagree - this is where the band has been since 2002.

4/10

EDIT:
Listened to the other extra tracks from the Target/Japan edition and "Color me in", and I liked them somewhat better than almost anything else on the "standard" record. "Color me in" in particular has a These Days vibe to it. And again I have to wonder (like after every other BJ record) why this band has consistently omitted good material and saved it for B-Sides and special editions. I really believe these songs would have been stronger singles than the ones released off the album so far. It's still pop-rock, they're still not rock songs, but they're definitely better than most of the first 12 tracks.

This could have been an easy 7-8/10 had the standard record included the extra tracks, and omitted 6... whatever tracks and put them into the special editions.