Bon Jovi debut album review: It came from the streets of New Jersey

Love Lies is my favorite on the record but good analysis of the song. I like your review, keep writing.

deb

Thanks

(Note, I edited the review for this song slightly after something else occured to me)

Burning For Love – After slowing down the tempo for most of the album, this song kicks back into the pace of Runaway for the beginning of the album’s closing. The opening riff and drum hook is instantly engaging, and after that the speed remains the focal point of this song: it’s not ridiculously fast, but the change in pace is noticeable following all the slower songs. The guitar and keyboards for the most part is a bit more restrained in this song; with the main drive being the drums and bass, although the riff in the instrumental breaks is decent: simple yet effective. There’s also a nice guitar solo which actually sounds like part of the song rather than just a shred fest. I’d say the best bit in this song is when the first verse ends: the sudden 1-2-3 punch of the instruments stopping, Jon singing the first verse of the chorus, and the music kicking back in serves to highlight how much of a welcome change of pace the song is, although the downside is that the pace never really changes at all throughout the song.

3/5

Come Back – Another fast paced rocker, albeit with a minor quickening of pace between the verse and chorus which saves it from being as one dimensional as the last song. The song is built mainly around a clever vocal hook, with it seeming like each section of the lyrics is unravelling from an original echoing exclamation point, (example: “Now! That you’re gone / I can see / What was going on / and how / you lied / when you swore you’d never love again”) The chorus follows a similar, although slightly different hook, with the exclamation of “Come Back” beginning each line. While this is a good hook, it doesn’t quite save the song from sounding rather lacking instrumentally; with a rather tame performance from Richie compared to other songs on the album.

Objectively I’d say 3/5, but my personal rating is 4/5 because I have a particular memory of this song which arises when I listen to it

Get Ready – The first in a long line of fun, partly sexually orientated songs that would appear at least one an album up to Keep The Faith (possibly excepting 7800 Fahrenheit, although I suppose In & Out Of Love could possibly fit that category). A fast paced little rock number, this song has some very nice guitar work on it (the riff in the intro sounds unlike anything else on the album), and a great old school rock n’ roll vibe as a result of the prominent piano and repeating bass pattern. Jon’s vocal performance is alternately captivating (the “Yeeeeaaah!” at the beginning, the rather perverted sounding laugh in the breakdown) and somewhat annoying (I’m not keen on the way he sings the verses, it’s too high and robs the song of some heaviness). All in all, it’s a reasonable song with some interesting elements, but sounds rather too light and poppy to fit in properly with the rest of the album.

3/5

Overall: A promising debut. This album doesn’t exactly re-invent the wheel, and the band does sound a little too much like other, more popular bands of their day; sticking closely to the straight ahead pop metal template and offering little in the way of experimentation or innovation. However, some blistering guitar work and its meshing with the keyboards helps to lift the album beyond being a second rate clone of other pop metal albums. You can feel a real desire on the part of the brand to break out and take on the world here, and that excitement manifests itself in the music. The songwriting isn’t stellar by any means, but there are glimpses of the genius that would come later, and even at this early stage, their talent for writing songs that people can relate to shines. Overall then, an exciting, youthful, hungry album, albeit one that was played a little too safe to truly set the world alight.

8/10

Essential tracks: Runaway, Roulette, Shot Through The Heart

Nice read. I definitely agree with your point on them sounding like other bands using the same template. That is exactly what I've always thought when listening to this record and actually thought that when I bought it in 1984. So, I was a bit skeptical on their staying power based on this debut release.

deb