BOUNCE - under-rated

i have all ways thought that bounce is a brilliant album, defo in my top 5 of theirs, i cant understand why it gets so slated.With every album you no what you are going to get, the usual rockers and the slushy ballads. I think the lyrics are top notch, good story telling songs. But i do think they released the wrong singles, other choices would have made it a much bigger seller. Misunderstood is the poorest choise of single in recent years.

Got good songs but awfully produced. No flow, just a few songs dropped to with each other. Like different songs from different era's different session, different production.

Should never been release, should've waited with Crush also, and combined these ones. That including another producer could've make a hell of a album, aah well

It's OK. I actually preferred it to Crush. Problem is, the crap songs are really crap. Open All Night, Right Side of Wrong, Joey, All About Loving You, You Had Me At Hello.

Undivided and The Distance are up there as 2 of the best Bon Jovi songs ever. Everyday, and Bounce are decent. Love Me Back To Life sounds good in parts and falls flat in others.

I'd rate it above Crush and 7800, but behind everything else (including Lost Highway).

I always said they should have taken a handful of songs from Crush, a handful from Bounce, and there's your 7th studio album. There were too many fillers on both records. But take the best songs from each and you've got a great album.

It's their worst album IMO. Don't like it at all.

Aloha !

Undivided = good rock song with dated lyrics. Unless you just lost your family in an earth quake or in the 9/11 tragedy, the verses mean shit to you. That was my brother lost in the rouble?

A shit song that tries to rock but hasn't got the right tempo for it, and again, shit lyrics. Crying, bleeding, sweating, dying.

A rip off from various Creed songs, meant to cash in on the succes of Creed at that time. It's not a Bon Jovi song at all, when listening to the music, and you'll only dig that song if you dig the sound of Creed. Which I think sounds forced and, well, shit.

One of the few highlights of the album, got nothing against that one. The video they showed during the Bounce Tour was nice too.

Good lyrics, shit music. Way too overproduced and suffers from the same soundwall The Distance suffers from.

Good rock song, but It's My Life part II. Again, very shit lyrics that absolutely make you cringe. "I've been knocked down...6,7,8,9..." Oh well...

Like someone else said, the song is a direct rip off from Levon from Elton John. And have you read the lyrics of Joey from Dylan? It's not original at all, and is Jon trying to be Dylan, while failing miserably. Is there anyone who can relate to Joey Keys, the guy who is can't read and is just a drunk **** who can't get his shit together?

All the verses of You Had Me From Hello were well written before in Wonderful Tonight by Clapton, and the music is a direct rip off from various Backstreey Boys tunes. It's in no way a ballad, but just a mediocre pop song. Again, with shit lyrics, Clapton did it the way it was supposed to be. No way that song beats Thank You For Loving Me or Save The World.

Open All Night is alright, but again nothing special.

Apart from the chorus in Undivided and the songs Hook Me up and Bounce, there's no classic Jovi sound on the album. Everything is overproduced, there are 654 guitars in the Distance, and most of the stuff on there is ripped off from other artists (Creed, Dylan, Clapton, Elton John, Backstreet Boys) to try and make an album that "everyone could like" meaning; "Everyone would buy".

And when Bon Jovi tries to make the most efforts into making an album sell, they fail. Bounce is the perfect example for that. They promoted it like crazy (in the USA), the album debuted at number 2 (in the USA) and yet none of the singles managed to chart in the Billboard Hot 100.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

The album is divided between some great songs and some really shit songs. No real middle ground. Would have been better to use some of the b-sides and drop the ballads which just dont work IMO.

Should have included:

Another reason to believe
Standing
We can dance
No regrets
Postcards from the waste land

Should have cut:

All about loving you
Joey
The right side of wrong
You had me from hello
Open all night

If you have not heard any of the b-sides/demos, you need too as they are good.

Bounce could have been a great algum IF :

- It wasn't so overproduced.

- Some ballads were replaced for some b-sides.

- Richie not tried to sound so cool (back then) and put some real solos on it.

For me the album is shit the way it is.

Are you kidding? The ballads on Bounce suck big time. It's barely debatable, they're just awful.

I've a;ways liked bounce. Open all night is one of the best ballads they have done in this era of their music.
It's true, on some parts it's like it's not even Bon jovi so I can understand a lot of people being put off by it.

BTW, I've always thought you had me from Hello sounded like something Richie would write, like a left over from Undiscovered Soul or something.