So, Matt... are we sharing a brain now? I've been thinking about this lately too. I've often said that Bon Jovi is a much better band than their singles would indicate. The best songs are often unnoticed by the general population because the band doesn't even push them.

Take a song like Mystery Train which Jon said was his favorite from Crush and the one he was most looking forward to playing live. That's a GREAT song lyrically, vocally, and musically. They played it a few times and Jon later said it broke his heart because it wasn't received well. So they haven't played it since. They release crap songs like Thank You and All About Loving You because they're by-the-numbers-should-be-hits-cater-to-the-masses songs. A song like "Postcards from the Wasteland" could have broken them into the country market a few years ago, but they relegated it to a Japanese bonus track. (And now it's on the CROSSROAD reissue.)

They never bother to release many of their most well-crafted songs. I Am could have been a single that would have appealed top 40 and AC radio. They play monotonous crowd-pleasing set lists (though this last tour was much better than previous tours).

I think they could be so much more than they are. They could alternate hits and still keep set lists fresh by pulling out older songs and non-singles to keep people guessing. It would be awesome if when you went to a show you didn't know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you would hear a, b, and c.

The sad thing is, I can actually understand why a lot of people don't think of Bon Jovi as one of the greatest band in the world. If all I had to go on was Bad Name, Prayer, Wanted, Bad Medicine, It's My Life, Always, Who Says, and Thank You For Loving Me I wouldn't necessarily think there was a lot of depth there either. Do they get it right sometimes? Sure. But their catalogue is so much better than their singles and set lists indicate.