Lets Define Nostalgia

Aloha !

So do the Stones and Paul McCartney, both acts sold a load of copies of their latest studio record, both records were hailed by critics yet no one will deny they're not a nostalgia act. People buy the latest Bon Jovi record exactly because they expect to hear more or less of what they're used to, as opposed to buying it because they heard it on the radio. And the reasons why the numbers are going down so much is because few and fewer fans actually like the latest outings.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

For once I'm going to agree with Rdkopper here. Because by that definition every act becomes nostalgia and that's not the case; Mcartney, Stones, Bon Jovi, this is another level. The numbers going down have nothing to do with fans liking the new material or not, and everything to do with Bon Jovi not being a current band. But I'd say that now puts them into the realms of classic, not nostalgia, because Bon Jovi just don't define one decade like Poison, Crüe, Def Leppard. Their music spans decades and so can't be nostalgia because what is it you'd be being nostalgic for, 80's, 90's, 2000's?

agree that Jovi are a classic not nostalgic band

Look at how many great songs were released between anthems like Prayer/Bad Name/Wanted on Slippery, and IML on Crush. Now consider how many great anthems have been released since IML.

The timeframe between Slippery and Crush is almost identical to that between Crush and WAN but the quality of material released in each of those eras is poles apart.

If that doesn't make them a nostalgia act, what does? This is how I measure it anyway.

But that's not how I see nostalgia - as I said earlier - then every act becomes a nostalgia act. Every band has a peak creatively where they produce their best work - every artist in fact whether a writer, or a painter or whatever - Bon Jovi, for better or worse, aren't trying to exist just off of those past masters you've mentioned. Maybe the shows would be better if they did, that's a matter of opinion - but nostalgia by its very definition describes a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place so with music we're talking about a period, and Bon Jovi even with those anthems, their not just in one period. They span generations.

Can a nostalgia act release new material? I dont think so.
Thats why Id say Classic is better for Jovi

Nostalgia is someone like Poison who still tour but havent released anything since god knows when.

I think at times it can be a fine line between 'nostalgia' and 'classic' acts but the way I see it:

Classic - Bruce, Jovi, Stones, U2

Nostalgia - Poison, Whitesnake, Motley

Grey Area - Kiss

Spot on for me.

This post is basically how I see it. Even though KISS's setlists are total nostalgia setlists, they did still release 2 albums in the past 5 years and honestly, from the few setlists I've seen they still played a goood 2-3 songs off the album each night, which is about where Bon Jovi are with What About Now.

I don't think quality has anything to do with nostalgia. It comes down to relevance in my opinion. I don't mean relevance in terms of competing with acts like One Direction & Taylor Swift but just overall purpose in multiple categories.

Bon Jovi's past few albums failed to produce a hit because their songs were lacking something or other. That doesn't make them nostalgic.

Poison could write their best song ever and radio wouldn't even look at it. Bon Jovi continues to get radio air play and if their songs were good enough, they could become hits.