My faith in Bon Jovi was completely restored with Burning Bridges and This House. It was The Circle and WAN that made me feel like the writing was headed down a bad pathway. But I was not going to give up on a band I have loved most of my life.

I appreciate how you took the time to express your feelings in the comparison. I think you should just have faith.

I have a closer situation to what you’re describing with Melissa Etheridge. I love her albums or I don’t. I still follow her career because I know she is capable of great writing. Some is to my taste and some is not. But the next album might be amazing. I think artists can chase rabbits in terms of style or content. They do best when they get back to what is real for them. To me, that showed well in THINFS because it was personal again, not social commentary. I’m not trying to convince you to like the last CD, just sharing perspectives on what made me feel like it was real again.