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Wake up. It's not 1986 anymore.
Hey everybody out there,
this is not gonna be a real review of the crush album. It's just something I wanna say about most of the other reviews already written. I'm addressing the people saying things like "We want the 80s back" or "Why don't the new record sound like Slippery of Jersey".
Let me explain something first. In my opinion a good band is
a) a band that doesn't sound exactly the same for all of their career
b) a band that doesn't define itself new on every new album
I honestly think that Bon Jovi is right in the middle of those two bad examples. That means for the fans it's not to hard to follow their musical evolution over the years and - thank god - there really is an evolution. And this - in my opinion - is what most people seem to miss. hey, if I wanna listen to a band in the year 2001 that sounds exactly like in the 80's then I go to the record store and buy an AC/DC-Album. Do you really want Bon Jovi to sound like on Slippery for the next 30 (hopefully) years? I think if they would do that they'd be out of the race. And that would be good in that case.
Don't get me wrong. I really like the old stuff and it's definitely the reason why I am a fan. But hey I started listening to Bon Jovi when I was 13. Now I'm almost 27, I guess I grew up (sort of). Why should I not allow those guys to grow up?
When I read a couple of interviews right before Crush was released and they said it's gonna be a rock album pretty much like Slippery I was really happy (since I like their rock songs better than the ballads) but then again I was afraid that they would really sound like in 86 because I already bought Slippery. Why should I buy it again. Know what I mean?
So if you only like the 80's sound of the Band and then you say "Well Fahrenheit was not really a good album (what most people say I guess - not me though) and on the first one, Runaway was probably the only great song" then ask yourself if you are a Bon Jovi fan or if you just happen to like two out of their 7 studio albums. I think that each album is special, even the late 80's. I wouldn't dare comparing Slippery to Jersey. And that's very good in my opinion. These seven albums cover pretty much everything I'm in need for and I think there is not one album that is bad. Some are better of course but you have to see the whole story and not only one or two chapters. As long as I can buy a Bon Jovi album and I like 10 out of 12 songs for example and there are 1 or 2 songs that make me think that this is the best stuff they've ever written, I think it fits in very well even if those 10 songs are not what I expected. And I think Crush is a good one. The only song I don't like is Save the world. Thank god "I don't wanna miss a thing" made it to the theaters and not this one. The-best-stuff-they've-ever-written-card gets Just Older to name one of them. Like I said earlier, I'm almost 27 and that is my midlife crisis song ;).
The next thing I wanna say is regarding their ballads. Let me get it straight first. I liked Bed of Roses when it came out, I liked Always when it came out, I liked This ain't a love song when it came out and I like Thank you for loving me at the moment. But what I hate about these songs is that they're giving the band an image they don't deserve. Bon Jovi is not all about ballads. For me Bon Jovi is all about Rock'n Roll and they happen to write good ballads, too. If you're going all the way back to 84 and go through all the albums there is one ballad on the first one (She don't know me - and they didn't even write this one as far as I know), one ballad on Fahrenheit (Silent night), one on Slippery (Never say goodbye) and one on Jersey (I'll be there for you). Then came Keep the Faith which contains only one real ballad, too, which is Bed of roses and I think this song really turned Bon Jovi from a rock band into a ballad band in the public opinion. Then came These Days which is my least favorite one but when it came out I thought the song These days was the best one they've ever written. And what I really don't like about this album is that there are too many ballad-attempts and in my opinion it's the first time in the band's history that they tried to serve the crowd and the market instead of doing the music they feel and that's exactly how the whole CD sounds. Kind of overproduced. This CD has for the most part no life if you know what I mean. But what I wanna say is this. Why do people say there are not enough ballads on Crush. There are enough compared to the other albums.
So again, if you only like the ballads, are you really a Bon Jovi fan or do you just like Jon's ass?
The last thing I'd like to say is that the lyrics are getting better and better with every album they made so far. Cause someone wrote that the lyrics are crap.
If I had to rate all their CDs they would all get 10 out of 10 except These Days (8/10).
OK, one real last thing I have to add. To some people and especially the media. This is not a Jon Bon Jovi project. It's a band. And Jon is not the most important person in this team. Each of them is just great. Doesn't matter if it's Tico, David or Richie (or Hugh). Well Richie is my favorite since I'm playing guitar and I think that he is one of the best rock guitar players. Actually he is the reason why I bought my first guitar. But also Tico with his former Jazz influence and David with his classical piano education is just great. I think the only one who was just a normal player "had to leave the band" and his replacement fits in much better if it comes down to the musical context and he created a lot of the basslines on the old albums anyway. And of course Jon has the best rock voice ever but he is just one of them. Jon without Richie as a songwriter-team is just like Richie without Jon. You can buy four examples of that. And in my opinion Richie's solo stuff is better than Jon's. And by the way: I really love David's solo performance, too.
I'm done. feel free to tell me what you think.
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