I think "great, or eternal, rock & roll" means something that stands the test of time. In my opinion, that pretty much fits Bon Jovi. I guess the gist of that article is that they're not legends. Maybe they're not legends, but I think they're certainly something special.

Another thing, the article mentioned that after SWW the band started to try and re-create their hits. They mentioned Blaze of Glory which is a solo song, and It's My Life, but that's just two songs. I mean, name one song from, oh say, KTF that is a rip-off of SWW. I don't think they were trying to re-create anything with KTF.