Crush & Bounce

Crush was the first Bon Jovi album I had. I had it for my 14th birthday, and bought Bounce on the day of it's release, just as I was starting 6th form college. I agree these albums are far from the bands best efforts, but they are still good to listen to and hold precious memories, Bounce especially.

I think Crush is a more consistant album than Bounce and perhaps more experimental than any other band album. IMO all the albums are different and have their own sound and feel, but like Walrus said, Crush is alot more daring than anything the band have really done before or since. It's one of my least favourite albums and I do think it slows down too much half way through and barely picks up by the end. However, I do have a soft spot for it and I still play it now and again. Neurotica is THE best 2000+ track they've ever done!

I don't agree that Bounce was a second-rate Crush in that it followed the same formula. anyone who says that must have only heard the singles from both albums. Crush and Bounce are NOTHING alike.

I liked Bounce because it was alot heavier and the energy was really pumping on some of the tracks (Undivided/Hook Me Up/Bounce) which Crush kinda lacked. Undivided can still send a shiver down the spine and I like how "angry" it sounds. I love The Distance aswell, i think it's a great little mimi-epic song if you will, and I love the guitar work on there, and I don't mind Misunderstood at all. Yes it is an uneven album, whereas Crush stayed at a more balanced level, but I think that's what makes me more interested in Bounce, there are so many layers to it.

Overall, these albums were both successful sales-wise and tour-wise, but they won't be as memorable as Slippery, Jersey or Faith, but who knows, 10 years time there may me some kind of cult following for the albums, similar to that of 7800° Fahrenheit.

I think the difference between these 2 albums and the earlier ones is that on the earlier albums every single song could have been a huge hit, not so with Crush or Bounce.

But it definitely doesn't make them bad albums, no matter how much they seem to be maligned on here:

CRUSH - I remember that when this first came out was also the exact same time I found myself online and browsing boards and chatrooms here and at Bon Jovi.com. There were many cries of Jovi's "gone pop" and some people who loved it and some people who hated it. Me, I like everything the band does to a point, and Crush isn't any different. Some of the tracks Captain Crash, Mystery Train, OWN were fantastic, but then She's A Mystery plumbed the very depths of rubbish, cheesy, spew-inducing love songs. I'm bored with IML these days, but when it first came out, I loved it. So it's an album of a lot of good, fun rock tunes - not a "pop" album in any sense - and certainly no more commercial than anything else Jovi's done.

BOUNCE - Remember that first little snippet of Everday that was doing the rounds? from Kiss FM or somewhere like that I think. When I first heard that, it sounded like the hardest thing Jovi had ever done - and the album continued a similar theme. Undivided, Everyday, Hook Me Up - they're some of the heaviest songs the band have ever gotten into. Unfortunately, the dirge like Open All Night and All About Lovin' You really let the album down (sorry for those who like AALY, it's okay, but tried too hard to be Always and wasn't). I honestly think The Distance should have been the lead single. It had that great lyrics and that sweeping sing-along chorus that just takes me away every time I hear it. I wish they'd played the full version on tour rather than the more acoustic stripped down version it seemed to be. Just glad I got to hear it at SBE in all its glory.

So my verdict is that neither are bad albums, and in fact, both of them have some amazing songs. The problem is the scattering of poorer tracks letting the side down and for some reason its those everyone seem to focus on.

Bounce is the better album. The production is horrible, and it doesn't really flow, but the songs are better. Some very good ones (Undivided, Bounce), some good ones (Misunderstood, Hook Me Up, The Distance) and some forgotten gems (Postcards From The Wasteland, Joey) - it's a nice album. The second half of Crush is horrible, or at least very boring - the album has It's My Life, OWN, Two Story Town and Thank You. I used to really like Next 100 Years, but other than the guitar solo, it's pretty weak, especially the structure. Both albums are, despite their flaws, way better than LH, though.

I still think that with Crush they outsold themselves. It was different then with Faith. They always were a commercial band but with Crush they outdid themselve. Maybe its a better album then 7800 but give me the latter one any day, it just sounds more sincere, yeah that is how I feel about Crush, its so fake.

They tried to get back on Bounce, I admit that, songs itself are OK, some good (undivided) but imo on that album they were stuck between the fake crush side and a 'real' sincere side.

HAND is my favorite post-2000 album, and objectively I think their best of the new millenium as well. Generally a strong theme runs throughout the album, the first six tracks are spectacular, and the only track I can't listen to is Complicated... but it does fit the theme of the album. My only problem with HAND is the pacing in the second half. Novocaine makes little sense to come after I Am and Wildflower, IMO. But other than that, a tremendous album in my opinion. I put it up with KTF, These Days, and NJ, seriously.

Lost Highway is a very complete album as well (and flows the best out of all the post-2000 albums), but I prefer the sound they took with HAND. The other problem I have with LH is that nearly every track has a quiet bridge into the outro, it gets a bit ridiculous. That and how Walk Like A Man didn't make the album when Summertime did astounds me.

*****

But back on topic, I think Crush is a decent album, but as Walrus said, the second half it just disintegrates. I like a few tracks on Bounce, but it's a horrible album as a whole.