Let's fix the "machine"

Usual suspects? Pffft. Good thread? pffft. How many times have threads along the lines of "I'm with You should be a single" have there been? How is this a "decent thread"? It's a rehashing of already talked about subject.

Well I, for one, haven't seen a thread about I'm With You - mostly because I dont look at New Releases bit on Jovitalk - as I really have no interest in the new album. But this thread wasn't about what single should have been relseased next - more about the record Company and about how the album could have got better exposure to help it sell more singles & albums. And you put your own spin on it - you know perfectly well what you were doing. I would never call anyone a troll Eric with a K, but you know perfectly well what you were doing. Behave, Sir!

Aloha !

You don't fix a band by releasing a mediocre single in a market where no one cares for singles of this band anyway. It's been explained before by others and I agree danfan sounding like a broken record. The entire way of fixing this band might work in your world, but it's not how things work in the business they're in, something that has been explained before as well.

But then again, saying so probably means danfan feels being cyber bullied. And just because I say this doesn't mean I'm automatically defending Panda here, I just happen to agree with him.

Just not in the same immature words, obviously.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

I'm going to skip over everybody's PMSing BS and actually talk about the topic at hand, hope that's alright. From a US (and I would venture to say worldwide, but I'll stick to the US so no one yells at me) perspective, Bon Jovi are now firmly in "Legacy Band" (not nostalgia band, ad their is a slight difference) territory, ala U2, Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, The Eagles, AC/DC, Macca, and etc. Basically, they'll release a new record, do some press/TV/etc, see their first single get some radio play, have a big first week, then drop off the charts, and have a huge tour playing most of the biggest venues possible to audiences that mainly want to hear the hits. Now before anyone starts throwing numbers at me, I'm not saying all these artists are the same, I'm not saying that they all do exactly the same sales or have the same drop-off, nor am I trying to say that all are on the same level musically or legacy-wise, but the pattern is the similar.
As for WAN specifically, the most 2013 chart-friendly dog on the record was Because We Can, and that went nowhere. To be honest, I don't think I'm With You would do a damn thing on the charts. In fact, the only other song on the record I could see doing anything might be What's Left of Me on the COUNTRY charts, and we all know what happened the last time they had a country hit.

For the record I like a fair amount of modern Bon Jovi, and I'm neither of those things.

And Lost Highway was a massive hit both in the rock and country charts. I happen to like Lost Highway a damn sight more than the latest tripe released.

But I do agree with you about the word "legacy". Thats what Bon Jovi are now and i'm cool with that.

I agree actually with Panda and to an extent Seb but I think, as Seb said, there's a way to talk to people with decorum and politeness. Guaranteed Erik wouldn't talk to danfan like that to his face

It's been said many many many many many many times on this board but there are NO hit singles on this album. I'm not going to go into the why's and wherefore's of it, that was done to death on the Chart Position thread I believe Jon disappointed a lot of his very dedicated fanbase over the last year. Here's how...

We like the illusion that this band remains a band, the collaborative process of recording and touring was just about the last thing to cling on to... along with Jon's performances (another topic, also covered elsewhere). But we're not stupid, this album wasn't put together through a love of being in a room with four other guys who you buzz off of... and that shines through in every song for me. I watch behind the scenes stuff from a band like Chickenfoot and think... 'now that's a f*cking band... ' They write for themselves, the play for each other, just for the sheer love and admiration of it.

This album and now this tour - due to Richie's departure and strange insistance on showing us just how well he really is - are Jon's annus horribilis... if he could go back a year if he actually had someone who wasn't afraid to give him sound advice, I do hope he'd have listened, waited and delivered something that had a little more depth to it.

I also listened to the new album again recently. I put it on a playlist of Bon Jovi songs. It's embarrassing. Just my opinion. You listen to it alongside ANY of their previous releases and it's just so empty... The fact that Pictures, Water or I'm With You are being discussed as 'the best songs' would be horrific if we took them back in time, even just ten years. This album is a new low for me; it's like being fed by drip... you're alive, sure, but you're not nourished or sustained.

Man, why? Why can't you just post without trying to stir shit up? I said nothing about you. In fact, a few days ago, I defended you. Let it go already.

Beautiful.

Edit: Just read that again, and realised you used the word 'band'. Well, that's questionable!

Aloha !

I'm not trying to stir any shit up, and it's got nothing to do with what you said in this discussion. Your problem is that you keep on mentioning your point of view everywhere until you get the response you're actually going for, while failing to realize that most just disagree with you. There seems to be no point in actually explaining anything as you refuse to take it in. Like Beaky said, there are no hits on this record, described multiple times in the charts topic.

Your "lose the record company" theory? Pointless. Change Hugh's position? Won't fix anything. Playing the new stuff? Won't help matters either. I'm With You as the second single? The first one barely got any airplay, a second one won't get any either. Yet you still keep going on how things should be according to you, despite several others, moi incluis, having explained to you that certain things just don't work the way you think they do. It's making topics like these all the more questionable, because in the end you'll keep going in circles, thus others only seeing them as a reason to ridicule them. That's how the internetz work.

Now I don't care as to whether you defended me or not, I don't take part in these discussions to gain or lose friends. All I'm here for is the occasional good debate, to give my opinion, to inform others and to then take the piss out of most of what's happening here whenever someone's too stupid to understand the simplest things. You however seem to have made a habit out of feeling sorry for yourself lately whenever someone actually questions your opinion and then turn it into cyber bullying bullshit. If you'd like a debate, take in what others say, as opposed to force feeding your opinion down other peoples throats.

I get how you want this band to be fixed, I felt the same way years ago. For a few tours Thierry and I went over it numerously on our drives/flights and whatever. Now I can't speak for him, but I got bored with that. Because the truth is, the Jon Bon Jovi, and in fact the entire band, left the Bon Jovi we grew up to love years ago. There's glimpses of it here and there, but we thrive on how "it could be better". And I agree, it could be, but it won't. As long as Jon Bon Jovi has more interest in playing the important, frowning CEO than being a true musician/artist nothing'll ever change.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan