Originally Posted by Rdkopper

I'm creating a separate topic on this because I see this term getting thrown around here all the time and feel people constantly use it incorrectly. As a community I want to get it straight going forward because nothing frustrates me more then people who do not know what they are talking about.

When I hear the term Nostalgic referenced to bands like Bon Jovi, I think of all the 80's hair bands like Poison, Def Leppard, Whitsnake, etc. These bands have done nothing relevant since the 80s (or early 90's before music switched over) and everything released after their time have flopped on all levels.

The albums they release peak at #78, sell 10K copies, and their die-hards don't even know the new material. They are not even worthy of getting national TV air time to promote their new material, radio and/or TV.


Looking at the past 10 years, Bon Jovi albums still peak at #1 in multiple countries, they manage to crank out a couple million copies, their music gets played on national radio, and they are worthy of national TV promotion. They might not be getting the radio hit but they do get a lot of award nominations for their songs.

As far as their new material goes, people out there do like it and want to hear it live. I read it on here all the time. If people could like music by Michael Bolton and David Hasseloff, they could definitely get behind new material from Bon Jovi (That was a joke)....

Flipping back to the nostalgic bands, because of the above they have to rely on their back greatest hits catalog when performing / promoting live shows.

Bon Jovi on the other hand play new songs along with random songs from other albums that were never hits... This is nothing new or a surprise to people. It's always been that way.

Nostalgic bands need other acts to support their tour and even with that, they are lucky to sell out a 10 thousand seat amphitheater.

Bon Jovi are headlining #1 stadiums around the world. Enough Said!!!!!

The day Bon Jovi releases an album that doesn't crack the top 20, Simon Cowell tells him he's not worthy of promoting it on national TV, and they need to rely on Poison as a supporting act to sell out a 10K amphitheater, are the day that they could be considered nostalgic.

A Rock Band failing to produce a hit in this industry today doesn't make them irrelevant. The same goes for record sales.... Yes, as a die-hard I want different / better music but that does mean they suck. They are just not giving me what I want.

Bon Jovi are no different than any legendary band out there. Every negative thing you say about Bon Jovi could be applied to every legendary act below. And I think Bon Jovi has got one up on each of them.

Paul McCartney, Springsteen, Pink Floyd, AC/DC, Metallica, Tom Petty, Etc, Etc, Etc. It's an endless list.

Their voices aren't as good as they once were, their album sales suck, they haven't had a recent hit, Etc, Etc, Etc. It's an endless list.

This is a business and Jon knows what he's doing. If the touring thing dried up for them, Jon would find the next avenue to explore.

I think Jon knows how to write a song and throw in a basic hook. That's what you get. There are probably 3 songs on the more current albums that he actually gives a shit about and the rest are fillers... but strategic fillers geared towards his fans. Until the industry changes, doesn't expect too much out of the albums because that's not where the money is.