| This Left Feels Right : "D" |
|
Another TLFR review
I read recently that it was impossible not to like Bon Jovi. That by sticking around for so many years and still being able to sell albums the band had proven themselves. That everyone had to admire them. But whoever wrote that was lying.
Bon Jovi's latest release, This Left Feels Right, makes you wish Jon and Richie and the rest of the boys had listened more carefully when Roger Daltry sang about dying before he got too old. The album is basically a Bon Jovi self-tribute. The band rerecorded 12 of its biggest hits and was somehow able to suck out all of the energy that made the songs any fun to begin with.
The band lays off on the electrics, instead relying on stereotypically more "mature" compositions. This means tons of acoustic guitar, organ and piano.
The first track is the album's only moment of near redemption, as "Wanted Dead or Alive" becomes a cut-up version of the original with jarring electrical bursts, throbbing strings and an almost techno mixed-down drum track. The vocals get distorted and become more instrumental than narrative. It is also one of the few places where Jon Bon Jovi's voice doesn't sound like it's been beaten down by years of touring.
The first problem with the next track, the new "Livin' on a Prayer," by far Bon Jovi's best sing-along rock staple, is that Richie Sambora's immortal voice-box guitar has been replaced by harpsichord and cheap sounding xylophone-keyboard. The rest of the song, thanks to an unneeded cameo by Olivia d'Albo, sounds like a high school metal-head singing with his girlfriend at open mic night. It is slowed down so much that it's impossible to pump it up and sing along. It also seems like Jon Bon Jovi's weathered voice shies away from the chorus' high notes, dampening the track even more.
---
Read the rest of the review by following the link below...
Related URL: http://www.badgerherald.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/12/08/3fd3df3796644
|
