Bounce - Now and then

Haha wow, really? I'm surprised WSYCGH was so high. Thanks for that.


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Hmm, I'd have to give Levon another listen, but for me it always screams "Jessie" from Joshua Kadison

It's absolutely "Levon2.0".

I wasn't so keen on "Bounce" when it came out and I am not so keen on it now. I hardly revisit it, but when I'm in the mood, I can enjoy it.

Having said that, I never had a problem with the flow of the album, I just got used to it, and the only song I don't really like is "Open All Night". Having a proper version of "Postcards From The Wasteland" as the closing track instead would have improved the whole album immensely in my book.

Some of the songs I don't mind. "Joey" I only started to like when I heard it live (it IS Jon's "Levon" even more than "Amen" is his "Hallelujah" - I LOVE "Amen" btw, best track on WAN), "Right Side of Wrong" is OK too. "Love Me Back To Life" is nothing to write home about. "All About Loving You " feels so crafted... but it's listenable.

The rest is pretty good.
My favourites have to be "Bounce", "Everyday", "Hook Me Up" and "Undivided" - the rockers. And "Misunderstood", that one is really neat.

So, what bothers me?

a) the songwriting. It is too plain simple, and as I just mentioned in another thread, this is the album where they started to simplify their songs and shorten them, especially the endings. Compare the demos of "Undivided" (more guitar stuff) or RSOW to the album versions.

b) the production. Yeah, it's big and it rocks, but it feels cold and unorganic. Especially the drum sound bothers me. They didn't get the drum sound right since "Crush".

I remember listening to the Shepherd's Bush broadcast LIVE on the radio, and man was I pumped for the album. Especially "Bounce" and "Undivided" sounded so great! And then I was totally underwhelmed with the studio versions and could never fully embrace them. That's why I kept away from the THINFS promo gigs, as I didn't want to spoil the album in the same way. Looking back, it wasn't necessary.

They sort of conned us at the gigs by having us text to download the "Live version from our concert" which actually turned out to be the standard version from Boston or somewhere. It worked though to get a hit.

Haha devious!

I wonder what's the average number of programmes sold per gig? They could have perhaps included a CD single as a bundle. Or a promo code that allows you to download it from iTunes etc. Would that count towards actual single sales? Maybe they don't even sell enough programmes to make it worthwhile.


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I like Bounce a lot. Liked it then, still like it to this day. A few fantastic songs - Undivided, Everyday, The Distance, All About Loving You, Open All Night. The harder edged guitar sound was a welcome change from Crush. As for the ballads being too many, I don't mind them. Would like to see an anniversary edition in the future containing a DVD of all the 12 song clips (as far as I remember they made videos for all the songs and they are available on YT but the video quality is atrocious).

It's the forgotten album of the last decade. The band performs hardly any songs live and there wasn't even a song from the album on the Greatest Hits - which is very odd, given that even "In & Out Of Love" was there. Everyday and Misunderstood should've represented the album.

I agree with you, Simon. Bounce coulda & shoulda been represented in the Greatest Hits compilation. There was enough room for one or two songs. I still believe that songs like Lost Highway and Sleep When I'm Dead had no place in this compilation when other fan favorites such as Hey God, I Believe, Wild Is The Wind, and Undivided were left out. (After all, wasn't the second disc marketed as a Fan Favorites Collection?). That being said, Everyday and Misunderstood really deserved to be there.

It's almost as if the band totally forgot about the album.

About the Greatest Hits: "Lost Highway" was a single, and it is one of Jon's favourite songs. ISWID was more succesful than "I Believe" and still a live staple, I think it deserves to be there.
Yeah, I wish "Hey God" would've been on the GH, but "Undivided" and "Wild Is The Wind" were no singles, whereas all the songs on the second disc were, even WWWB. The only fan favourite would be "Blood On Blood". That's just a classic.

But don't get me started on the GH. The song order is odd, and the single disc version not including "Keep The Faith" or SIBSN ist just... wrong.