Slippery When Wet: Discuss

I did a few of these with Crush, Bounce and TLFR all of which garnered less the positive comments on the whole, but this one should change all that.

Ironically enough, even though I was quick to praise all three of those albums, this wont be the same. With "Slippery When Wet" success dose not equal quality as far as I'm concerned. It was a landmark album no doubt and it gave birth to Bon Jovi but it was more about self realisation then top quality music. They had always said they knew they were a great live act but could never manage to get that across on their albums, and that's really what you see on SWW. It's an album made to sound good live and it dose, infact every song on the album sounds better when played live. Songs such as "Let It Rock", "Raise Your Hands" and "Wild In The Streets" are so thin lyrically but work so well live. "You Give Love a Bad Name" is the same to an extent but dose contain some very nice tounge-in-cheek lyrics.

On this album we began to see the great songwriters Jon and Richie would become. "Livin' On a Prayer" was the first time we saw that incredibley anthemic, optimistic songwriting ability but still being able to acknowlege all the hard things you will encounter in life. "Wanted Dead or Alive" was another terrific story-teller song and showed off the majesty of Richie Sambora. The three ballads on the album (strangley all placed back-to-back) are again very thin and an example that Jon and Richie were by no means accomplished songwriters at this time. All three are very '80ish and sound more like the words of a boy then a man.

The less said about "Social Disease" the better!

Slippery When Wet is a great album when your looking for some loud, fun rock and roll but it really is nothing more then that. 3 Stars.

Let It Rock- 3.5/5
Bad Name- 4/5
Prayer- 5/5
Social Disease- 0.5/5
Wanted- 5/5
Raise Your Hands- 4.5/5
Without Love- 3/5
I'd Die For You- 3.5/5
Never Say Goodbye- 3.5/5
Wild In The Streets- 4/5


Phil

SWW belongs to my favs but for different reasons than the others (TD & KTF). For me SWW it's just a freat rockalbum to put on very loud when doing something, without going to deep into the lyrics or anything. It's one of the few albums that I can listen from beginning to end.
So with that view:


Let It Rock- 3/5
Bad Name- 3.5/5
Prayer- 4/5
Social Disease- 2.5/5
Wanted- 5/5
Raise Your Hands- 4/5
Without Love- 1/5
I'd Die For You- 4/5
Never Say Goodbye- 3.5/5
Wild In The Streets- 3/5

SWW is a great rock n' roll album, the most successful Hard Rock album that ever exists. But for me, it isn't one of my favorites, it's the kind of album that you put only for have some fun and nothing else, it doesn't have that magic like KTF and TD (for me).

Let It Rock- 3.5/5
Bad Name- 5/5
Prayer- 5/5
Social Disease- 3.5/5
Wanted- 4/5
Raise Your Hands- 4.5/5
Without Love- 2/5
I'd Die For You- 3.5/5
Never Say Goodbye- 4/5
Wild In The Streets- 4/5

Aloha !

You're really about the only reviewer who'd give that album 3 stars.

Slippery When Wet is what Bon Jovi is about, and what Bon Jovi does best. No cheesy ballads just for the sake of being a ballad, no cheesy storytelling songs to try to prove the world how good they are in telling stories and no rock songs that aren't rock songs. The fact that they did no trying to be anything, but just were what they are makes this album stand above any of the albums that would follow after These Days.

Everything on this album oozes rock & roll and proves that it's not necessary to write deep lyrics or difficult melodies to make great music. As close as Bon Jovi is to being at what they do best, as far off are they on Bounce and Crush.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

It was simply made to sell and sell it did. A very good pop/rock album.


Let It Rock - Good opener. Love the "Whoa-oooooa", so catchy. 4/5

Bad Name - Also very catchy. It hits you instantly as you first hear it with the good riff and sing along lyrics, but its lost its appeal to me now and I find myself drifting off when its on. 3/5

Prayer - Another that hits instantly, although this one has kept its appeal for me. Prayer is one of the greatest pop-rock songs in history because of that reason. The bass intro into the drums and then the killer talkbox riff is just great. The bridge and the chrous are great to sing along too. The solo is good too, and the whole song is near perfection. 5/5

Social Disease - I like the riff, and the song rocks, no doubt about that. It's basically about the fact that love or sex is a social disease (or addiction) that you can catch by interacting with others. For a rock band in their early 20s then it's a good topic to write about. 4/5

Wanted - So different from anything else on the album. Great riff, great solo, excellent lyrics. It's the most mature song on the album by farand it seems to unplug you from the thought that everything is great as a rockstar, because it's not, and there are downsides too. One of my favourates, this hasn't lost its appeal either. 4.5/5

Raise Your Hands - Good on record, great live! It was basically written to be a stadium anthem, to even get the people going that don't even know the song. It did just that as well on the Bounce tour. My firend hasn't heard it before but was loving it mainly for the chrous. 4/5

Without Love - Its bascially about being blinded by love. It says that if you're not in love then there is nothing going for you in life. I've felt like that before, but it's not true really. Decent mid tempo song. 3/5

I'd Die For You - It seems they tried to emulate runaway with the keyboard riff in this song. It's a a good combination of keyboard and guitar, and decent lyrics. 3.5/5

Never Say Goodbye - Overated for me. I think the song is about high school lovers never wanting to be parted at graduation. The ballad does have power though, and it's a hell of a lot better than the ballads on Crush and Bounce. 2.5/5

Wild In The Streets - Fast rock song with catchy lyrics. It's a good party song and a great way to finish the album. 4/5


Overall it gets 4/5. It's a good party album and makes you want to party your ass off when you hear it. When listening to the album you can just picture the band on tour having loads of fun with booze and women, and it makes you want to be a part of it. Perhaps one of the most "fun" albums that I own.

SWW is a classic! It sounds 80ish because it is 80ish and if the lyrics and music sound more like a boy than a man its because they were heaps younger then and were writting about reflections of their youth/highschool days.

If you were around in the days when Slippery was released it was a standout album from the crowd. Its completly defines everything that was Bon Jovi. Yes I have albums that I love better than slippery now for sure. But Slippery will always be the one that stands the test of time. It is a great fun album and even though the lyrics arent neccesarily brilliant, theres something about them thats infectious.

I guess if your younger and looking back on this album it may not sound as good as the accolades it gets. But it has a magic that you just cant buy I reckon. It really was a kickass album for its time and it still stands the test of time to my mind.

Kat

I enjoyed reading your review. Thanks!

-Cathy :- )

Hehehe.... I agree with it totally... Though it's not my favorite album by them... It most certainly is the most entertaining.

Ryan

SWW is one of my favorites with NJ, KTF and TD... all of this albums are excelent!!

Let It Rock- 4/5- good introduction
Bad Name- 5/5- a joke song
Prayer- 5/5- i love that song
Social Disease- 4/5- funny song
Wanted- 5/5- bon jovi life
Raise Your Hands- 5/5- good song
Without Love- 4.5/5- that song have to be a single, but bon jovi don't want to take off more than 3 singles in that album... but i think that they take off 6 no?
I'd Die For You- 4/5- nice song
Never Say Goodbye- 4/5- bon jovi was in trouble for that song .. the sentence: u lost more than that in my backseat baby. was performed in different ways...
Wild In The Streets- 5/5- that song was inspirated in jon's brother. very great song

http://web.telia.com/~u37005276/slippery3.htm

here explain the songs

Keep the Faith .