Bon Jovi has always been a commercially driven band. In my opinion they are in a category which known asl "Commercial Rock". Bon Jovi are definately rock in my opinion. Some tracks such as Hey God, Fear, GGDAWW are as hard as most Guns N Roses songs (if that's who defines rock). I prefer a commercial edge to rock music because if it's just really really heavy, its just pure noise and you can't make the lyrics out (probably because they're pointeless). Anyone can do that and I prefer a song to mean something.

The other factor is the fine line between rock and pop. Where do you draw the line? It's a matter of personal opinion. For me I would class albums such as SWW, NJ, KTF, TD, etc as rock, where Bounce and Crush are pretty much pop. Frome what I've heard so far it seems like HAND may return the band to the rock genre.