Any Hope Left?

Well, you all know I love The Circle to death (and am still playing it to death, though it's coming to a natural slowdown now) so I do think there's plenty of hope. I think also if we look at the setlists from the end of the Lost Highway tour, and then moving onto Jon's solo show where he brought out songs that had NEVER been played before, I think he's quite aware of what the fans want.

Whether we'll get those I don't know, but it is a step in the right direction.

This isn't the band in the 80's/90's, but it is more than the shadow of itself it was from Bounce to Lost Highway.

Well said. I listen to The Circle almost everyday, I still love it and I think it proves the band still have it.

I´ve said this all before.

I´ve been listening to the music of Bon Jovi since January 1987. So it´s been more than 2 decades now. I wish I could say I witnessed them on the SWW tour but sadly I was a few months late by that time.

I am talking about a life-long relationship in here. Ups and downs and those kinds of things. When I got the long-awaited NJ in 88 I was disappointed ´cause there wasn´t a Bad Name Part II on the album. Later on, NJ became one of my dearest albums ever. I felt the latter part of KTF ran out of steam. I loved everything about TD. Crush was a relative disappointment. I never really got into Bounce and TLFR was the lowest point so far. There were only a few really memorable songs on HAND. Lost Highway took some time to get used to. I instantly fell in love with The Circle.

So "is there any hope left?" That´s not the way I look at it. It´s more like a long marriage. The sun may not shine every single day but for some reason, you live together for decades. I may not love everything they´ve done but they´ve always been there, playing the soundtrack of my life. They´re Bon Jovi! And they are like no other. Sure they´ve changed during the years. I am not the same kid I was in 87 either.

Not to be insulting to anyone, and I know I'm gonna get blasted for this, but do we need a thread like this anytime someone listens/watches something released before 1999? That being said, I think there's some truth to the post, but not all of it. I'll expand on my thoughts later.

No need to be afraid, I was not in the right frame of mind when I was writing that. Just came back from a Christmas party at my friends, and all I could think about when I was wasted was if they could ever do a live in London again. I watched this aint a love song that night probably 10 times. Jon dropping to his knees and chucking his mike stand back fifty feet. I honestly don't give a flying **** about the vocals anymore. I want that passion and emotion back again.

I think Jon does not do that any more on purpose. Not that he lost his passion but he simply wants the shows be relevant to his age. It is a proper thing to drop to your knees and toss on the stage pretending a rejected lover during "Love Song" when you are 20-35. But when one is 47 and when one's age starts to show (even though Jon stll looks OK) it would be a bit like striking the wrong note. Like going to a formal party or to the opera house in tennis shoes You know what I mean? This is how I see that.

As to Jon's running around the stage. He had knee surgery for wear and tear in his meniscus. After such surgery you can run, jump, take up sports (I am swimmer and I know some triathlonists who had this kind of problem) but you must do this with much caution and reason. Running and jumping with that intensity that Jon did back in 1995 kills your knees.

I think that in that case he can simply make his shows different thought still spectacular. He actually did reinvent his shows to make them great performances even though he does not run that much as he used to or drop to his knees. Just look at the video of 29 November 2005 Madison Square Garden (if it is available to you). Jon is calmer than ever during that show. He evn does not jump or run or make too many dramatic gestures during Bad Medicine, but he made it so theatrical that he left the specators speechless. He also made great performance of Bed of Roses during that show! And during the Lost Highway tour he is motionless during a part of the show but in other songs he does work out quite a lot. I would not say that there is no passion in it.

I think that the stage performance and passion is a very important thing. Without it there is no show. But it is of secondary importance to the vocals. And his vocals did improve! I think that the only thing that his job logically requires is to quit smoking. Then he would be able to give 100% of his present vocal capabilities.

I do not know if I have expressed my meaning well - I did not want to be malicious or critical. Just to express my opinion in a neutral, informative way. That was my purpose

You did, and I agree. Most of all with the "relevant to his age" part.

Yes, they did. Among the first bunch of NJ songs there was a pure carbon copy of Bad Name with the exact same bass line and chord progression because they so much wanted to write Bad Name again that they did exactly that. Jon has said it himself.

The difference is it didn't make the record. But yet, I think it's obvious that NJ lends a lot from SWW

So I am happy to hear that. The only terrible thing with my previous post is that I put there too much "during" word. And they taught us at school that you must avoid repetitions

Okay, this "relevant to his age" stuff I actually have to totally disagree with.

The man's a rock star. Age is irrelevant. Watch the Rolling Stones documentary Shine A Light and you'll see one of the best shows ever from a guy who is practically a walking corpse these days. Mick Jagger runs around the stage like a lunatic. Steven Tyler also seems to be just as spritely.

I do still think Jon is pretty lively on stage, and I've never, ever been disappointed at a show. But to say he's getting old and won't do the stage stuff because it's not dignified for an oldie like him, that's nonsense. We want to see Jon act like the rock legend he is.

As for the passion for the songs - I don't think it's any less there than in '96, depending on the show of course. Watch him doing Hallelujah again and you'll see he feels it, or when he's struggling to hit some of those higher notes even if he can't.