Let's fix the "machine"

Beaky, you raise a point that I've often wondered. If a certain Bon Jovi song was performed by another artist would I like it as much. There are some that I can say yes to, and some I can say no to. In the same respect, I often hear songs by other artists that I think to myself "Damn, I wish Bon Jovi had done this song."

Honestly, I think I'd like I'm With You no matter what. And no, I'm not a big Green Day fan. But it sounds contemporary and much like a lot of other music I listen to. I have no idea how well it would chart. I'm just saying, I think if people heard it on the radio (non fans of course), it could spark a little interest.

I'm not one to talk though as I never liked Who Says and thought it would tank at radio, and look what happened there. What About Now (the song) just sounds like something we've all heard the band do before on radio. I'm With You doesn't. I felt the same way about I Want To Be Loved, I Am, Love's The Only Rule. Any of those I think could have sparked interest.

Danfan, I respectfully disagree with your OP. I don't think those things will fix the band. If Because We Can didn't do anything on radio, I don't think any other song will do anything either, barring some miracle. Bon Jovi are not a singles band anymore.

Key word in my post: respectfully.

Fair enough.

Like I said, climbing the charts and sparking interest on radio are 2 different things. It's My Life only peaked in the 30's, but it sparked massive interest. Of course, I'm not comparing anything on WAN with it, but just saying, it doesn't have to be a massive single. There are SO many ways to promote music these days and I truly feel the record company just doesn't do that with Bon Jovi. They did it beautifully with MLB Playoffs a few years back using I Love This Town as it's anthem. It brought a lot of attention to the song.

What the band REALLY needs is for a song to be featured in a big movie trailer. I'm With You (in my opinion) could really stand out in some sort of drama/romance type of movie. It happens all the time with songs that don't even get released as singles.

What the band REALLY needs is to get out of everyone's face, figure out their own shit, figure out whether they do what they do to feed a machine or to actually make music, and then make a decision whether the quality of their output is in line with their legacy. Then stop because, let's face it, they can't even hit It's My Life levels and that was already the worst single since She Don't Know Me.

Actually, come on, why do we even debate this? Fair enough danfan. You like this turd that is What About Now. That makes me politely and respectfully question your sanity. Some things are beyond opinion. Opinion is whether Deep Purple is heavier than Black Sabbath. When we talk about What About Now it's fact. And fact is that it sucks. With that being clear, what we can discuss is whether Bon Jovi can ever produce anything of quality again. Rather than engineering charts (as if anyone gives a damn), I wish they did something that is actually good. But can they? No, they can't! So let's just stop discussing shit like this in General BJ. This should be about the band that once was, and it was a great band. The junk we are fed in 2013 belongs to New Releases. Then I can avoid being reminded that someone who wrote Wanted Dead or Alive also wrote Because We Can.

I agree that things need to change for Bon Jovi: writing partners, producer, record company, etc. A person's greatest strengths can also be their greatest weakness. For Jon this means his loyalty to all of the above.

Just to add a new suggestion: with artists collaborating/dueting with other artists these days, perhaps Jon (or Bon Jovi) needs to collaborate with another act. Could Jon and Bruce (or Bono) work together to create something to benefit both their bands?

I've thought about this multiple times before and it comes down to the age old question, what are the Ingredients that make up a good song? IMO, what makes a song a Bon Jovi song is Bon Jovi.

Give 10 artists the same lyrics and say go make a song and you could end up with 10 different songs.

She Don't know Me was not written by Jon but that is as much of a Bon Jovi song to me as Wanted is. Elvis didn't write any of his songs in the 50's and yet they are all brilliantly Elvis.

I've always said that the lyrics aren't as important, also depending on the type of song that it is. IMO, it's not a balance. Generally speaking, bad lyrics will ruin a song most of the time however good lyrics won't guarantee a great song either.

Eddie Vedder made a career of mumbled lyrics.

Panda is a troll rdbooper says.

Understood and I can empathise because I know what you're going through... you like this album you love this band and you wish more people could discover it and find what you find in it. I get that, totally.

Just covering what Kopper is saying, that Bon Jovi makes a song/album sound 'Bon Jovi' I agree... this is exactly my problem with this album. For me, it isn't and it doesn't. It sounds Jon Bon Jovi.

Agreed with everything you said up until this point here. I'm calling major bullshit. You really really don't like it, and that's fine. I'm not crazy about it either, but there are people that do. It'll never be fact that something sucks.

I just wish Bon Jovi would make a decent/heavy record the way AC/DC's, Metallica's, Van Halen's last were. Those probably sold better than WAN by far, am I right? Who cares about Top 40, just be rock!