JON BON JOVI - Long Time, Something New

Rock superstar Jon Bon Jovi refused to take the easy option when it came to making his new solo album. Instead, he teamed up with Black Grape producer Steve Lironi - a bold move by an artist who has built his reputation on delivering exactly what his public demands.

But if Bon Jovi and Mercury Records feared a backlash from the singer's core fanbase, they need not have worried - Midnight In Chelsea, the first single from the new album, became an instant top five UK hit and the latest of Bon Jovi's many personal triumphs.

The past three years have seen him make a solid start to his acting career (see breakout), while Bon Jovi the band have enjoyed renewed success worldwide. Their status in their native US has never recovered from the Nineties grunge revolution, but elsewhere in the world, they are as strong as ever.

The group have now sold 74m albums worldwide and, in 1995, they were the biggest-selling act in the UK. During that year, Bon Jovi topped the British charts twice, with their sixth album These Days and with a greatest hits collection, Cross Road.

A tough act to follow, but Jon Bon Jovi has confidence in his new album, Destination Anywhere. "I think people like the fact that I'm trying something new," he says. "The whole idea of this record was to experiment. That's why I approached Steve Lironi. I'd heard the stuff he'd done with Black Grape, loved it, and felt he could help me try a few new things."

Lironi says, "I like to get involved when people want to try something new, and Jon definitely wanted to do that. This is a different kind of record for him, very modern. I don't really know Bon Jovi's albums, but I like the hits - I like pop music. And I thought I could do something new with it."

Mercury managing director Howard Berman is delighted with the album. "If he'd made 'a Bon Jovi album', I'm not sure what that would have achieved," Berman says. "Equally, it was important that Jon didn't do something that had no connection with his previous music."

Lironi and the album's other co-producer Dave Stewart have updated Bon Jovi's music with samples and tape loops, giving some tracks a dance feel but, as Lironi points out, Bon Jovi's rock roots are still very much intact. "To change Jon's music completely would have been silly," Lironi says.

In this respect, Destination Anywhere is like Bon Jovi's 1992 album Keep The Faith, their post-grunge comeback, which successfully redefined the band's sound for the Nineties. "People have been surprised by this new record, and I guess they should be," Bon Jovi laughs. "It's a pretty dramatic and different-sounding record for me. I wasn't afraid to try new things. Steve set the pace with the loops and samples, and I had to jump on his train of thought."

Lironi adds, "When you're working one-on-one with the guy who's in control, it's very easy. Jon doesn't have to go to his manager or the record company for a second opinion, so it was a very easy record to make."

Bon Jovi himself has also revealed a new range of influences, including the Manic Street Preachers, Blur, The Seahorses and, of course, Black Grape, picked up from UK radio when he lived in London last year while shooting his new movie The Leading Man.

Ironically, these new British influences have inspired a record which may prove to be his greatest success on home soil since Bon Jovi's watershed album Slippery When Wet in 1986. "The US reaction is phenomenal," he says." Radio is all over it and magazines that haven't wanted to touch me for years are getting interested again. People are really responding to the experimental vibe of this record."

But if Bon Jovi's album is the success that Mercury predicts, where will this leave Bon Jovi, the band? Is there a danger of a permanent split? "Absolutely not," insists Bon Jovi. "There's no reason to stop it. With myself and Richie Sambora, Bon Jovi guitarist] both doing different kinds of records right now, we should all bring something new to the next LP." Berman adds, "The band are on the crest of a wave right now and the bond between Jon and them is so strong, I suspect they'll carry on no matter what."

With other movie projects pending, Bon Jovi is unable to embark on a full solo tour but, following a sell-out show at London's Forum last Thursday, he is planning selected live dates in major cities across the world.

Many fans will have to make do, however, with Destination Anywhere: The Movie, an "urban musical" featuring songs from the album, shot in New York and co-starring Hollywood superstars Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon and Whoopi Goldberg. And despite a hectic schedule which has seen Jon conducting press interviews for Destination Anywhere on the set of his latest movie Long Time, Nothing New, he is already looking ahead to the next Bon Jovi band album. With 74m album sales behind him, Jon Bon Jovi is showing no signs of slowing up.

Paul Elliott

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