THE BEST SONG: The title track Stranger In This Town is the best one. It's superb, an easygoing and wonderful blues-inspired song whose quality is matched by only a handful of Bon Jovi songs. Father Time is only barely behind, it's such a powerful, monumental and memorable song that it could just as well be the best one. The Answer, a peaceful acoustic song with impressive lyrics is sublime too.

OVERALL: Richie Sambora must have surprised many people with this album. His first solo album wasn't commercially very successful, but musically it's an impressive piece of work. He took a clear break from his band and made music that you just can't imagine being on any Bon Jovi album of the 1980s; he made blues-inspired, slow songs that couldn't have been great hits in the single charts (and they weren't). He got to show his real talents as a musician without the aid of pretty boy Jon, and he succeeded well in that too, setting the bar very high for all Bon Jovi and solo albums of the later days.

On Stranger In This Town Richie can really show his talents as a guitar player, writer and singer. He can write songs - though not very well, there are three moderately written songs on the album that he wrote alone; they're okay, he needs a partner, but this was still the first time ever when he trusted in his own writing skills. He's also a good singer with a great voice, he has a softer and mellower voice than Jon has - you could even say that he has a better voice than Jon. But of course, most of all he is a guitarist. So it's not surprising that this album is packed with terrific guitar passages, he got to really enjoy his instrument on this album that is more than anything a celebration of wonderful instrumental work.

The music on Stranger In This Town is pretty much as good as it is different to the band's music. There's little hard rock, few songs have commercial hit potential, never before were Bon Jovi's songs this thoughtful, soulful and bluesy. The music isn't 100% blues although Richie has clearly been heavily inspired by it, and you can only respect his effort to bring blues elements into his music. The songs themselves are very good: the title track is amazing, as is Father Time, The Answer and several other songs as well. Elegant, atmospheric, solemn songs, good lyrics and even better guitars. Few if any bad songs.

Richie was always the unsung hero of Bon Jovi, getting less credit than he deserved as a guitarist in a commercial pop rock band, and this album remains another unsung hero. I bet that many people who would never listen to Bon Jovi because of their formulaic hit singles and inglorious girl band reputation could find themselves enjoying this album. Stranger In This Town is definitely good music, much better than a non-fan might expect from the guitarist of the band that was always more famous for their hair and teenager appeal than their music. This is the best solo album by the members of Bon Jovi and ranks very high in comparison with all the band albums too.


OVERALL SCORE: 17 OUT OF 20