Is Bon Jovi already a "nostalgia act" ?

No. They are not. Someone put it perfectly the other day. They are a legend act. Different. Nostalgia act would mean that they are all in their 50s, still playing, with the same look, style, clothes, sound that they had 30 years ago. They dont. They've morphed into something else totally different trying to be "current". Hasn't worked though.

Looks like Lars Ulrich, thinks like Jon and others as far if you release new material you are not nostalgia.

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/...lgia_band.html

I'd be hugely surprised if he didn't to be honest. It's the record buying public who let you know when you've reach that point though.

And I think that's the key in the different opinions/arguments here, who determines nostalgia. In a artist or band's mind they do, as they are going by the strict definition of the term, meaning to live in the past or return to the past which means no new records. Your definition of the public forcing the past, nostalgia, by not buying the new material is an interesting one and I do see the merit in what you say.

And I you. Your point is 100% correct. If you want to take the strict definition to protect your rep!

What we're really talking about here is why people go and see this band live. It's been brought up 1001 times because the fans who like pretty much whatever Bon Jovi do, aren't getting the majority behind them and aren't hearing the reply they want to hear. We had this when someone was going on about how BWC was going to go NUCLEAR as soon as it hit the right radio station at the right time. Still waiting.

I just read today that Bonnie Tyler, who is representing the UK at Eurovision got a bit prickly with a journo because they asked her about her new album. She responded with how she isn't an 80s artist, her music is very 'today.' It's heartbreaking. The only enjoyment I get out of seeing Bon Jovi like this is maybe, just maybe Jon will wake the f*ck up and write something decent... I guarantee you'd like it, I am certain Crashed would like it and the rest of us wouldn't b*tch so much. It ain't fun, it's not enjoyable. You can tell me all you want that as an artist with a new album out 'technically' is relevant... Ok. I agree.

I know you say in your posts how you're close to the band, so maybe you're a little blinkered. But you're right. This huge, global, touring machine are relevant to 610k people in the world right now. A good album, a relevant collection of music, from a band this size, would laugh their arses off at that and wouldn't need you to defend them.

I am known as easy to please, very true, and I do like a lot of the post 2000 stuff. Maybe because I'm not a musician I'm more forgiving, lol! All I know, if the song is good to my ears and I want to hear it over and over then it's a win for me. But, since I am an accountant I can't ignore the numbers and see the big disconnect between what the newest record has sold compared to the numbers they will draw to see them live. Not denying that WAN is a big international flop. I don't deny they need new fans to keep them relevant, that's a given and I realize that WAN didn't do it. So, my only point was from the artist perspective (like Bonnie Tyler) I wasn't agreeing with that perspective mind you, just pointing it out.

By no means close to the band, close to a lot of crew (they are long time friends) but not the band.

I had an idea you were an accountant from the CPA reference... Thank you. Nice to hear how you arrived at your POV and glad you like the new album. People never believe me but I SO wish I could!

Exactly. Are people trying to say that Jon is pretending that it's still the 80's? Because nothing is further from the truth. He's been trying to forget about the hair band period for years now. If anything he's nostalgic for the Lost Highway tour, not the Slippery/New Jersey era. Plus they've had plenty of big hits since 2000 and the setlists are very heavy on the post-2000 material. They completely ignore the first two albums besides Runaway and regularly play just as many if not more WAN/LH songs than Slippery songs. They are not a nostalgia act in the same way that U2 and Springsteen aren't.

Well said Beaky, It makes me sad too, but I think Jon is doing what HE thinks it's the right thing to do for his brand to stay relevant, clearly the majority of people disagree with him.

Things could be better for everybody if he stopped to try so hard to worry to fit his songs in some perspective/mood and just put out the best songs he and Richie can write.

Aloha !

Actually, I'd like to answer this one.

The Stones have released 3 studio records sinds 1994. Voodoo Lounge was awarded with a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album, 1997 had Bridges To Babylon which spawned the huge hit single Anybody Seen My Baby?, and 2005 gave us A Bigger Bang, which was hailed as a return to form and was nominated for a Grammy Award as well. That's only 3 albums in 11 years, but when Voodoo Lounge was released, the Rolling Stones were roughly the same age Bon Jovi are now. Times are different, but when Bon Jovi released Always, the Stones were awarded with a Grammy, which should tell you how relevant they've been throughout their entire career. And Voodoo Lounge was their 20th studio record.

So despite Bon Jovi winning that Grammy for Who Says You Can't Go Home, the category is laughable for a band their size and hasn't made them more relevant at all. At most, it's made more people question the direction the band has headed in. While being in America and Canada and telling people over there we went to see Bon Jovi, the most common response was "We used to like them but now that they've gone country we gave up on them". Any American going to see that band is going to see them for the eighties hits + It's My Life, just like Europeans are going for the eighties and nineties stuff + It's My Life.

Although I doubt there ever being another studio record from the Stones, their last single Doom and Gloom, of their latest greatest hits, made a much bigger impact on any chart than Because We Can. Neither songs were hits, but while Bon Jovi's song got bad press, Doom and Gloom was praised for its no nonsense approach and it offering a glimpse of this band still being capable of writing real rock songs. I'm very much aware of the Stones being so popular because of the songs released in the sixties and seventies and, their latest records, and especially Bigger Bang, are a joy to listen to because they actually sound like a band enjoying what they're doing, as opposed to a band trying to sound like what others might want them to do. It's what makes them a true rock act and Bon Jovi more of a fake with every subsequent release.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan