The Circle Revisited: What Went Wrong and How It Could Have Been Better

I was listening to this album on my drive this morning, and since I don't even see what there's to discuss with the current abomination, I decided to put out there my thoughts about the previous album.

I was one of the people who really liked the album when it first came out, even when a lot of you started to change your mind after the initial excitement. There are also a lot of you on this board who know a lot more about music than I do and who have opinions I totally respect, such as Seb, Thierry, Kathleen, Ice, Alana, and so forth, who basically evaluated the album as such: "Nice try Jon, but no." At the time I think you all had good reasons for why you found the Circle unsatisfactory, and some of them have probably shaped my opinion in the 3.5 years since the damn thing came out.

I should preface anything else by saying I know jackshit about the science of music itself, so as much as I'm going to avoid trying to discuss things I don't know, at some point I'm probably going to use stupid buzzwords to get my point across. So my apologies.

Here is my biggest problem with the Circle: Overall I still like the album. Or rather, I still like many of the songs on the album, but find the overall package flawed. Or even further, I like the ideas behind many of those songs on the album, but I feel those songs, even the ones I love, are not all they could be. Not even close. Basically I love the potential on the Circle but the overall matza ball is probably 50-60% of what it should be. Brokenpromiseland is my favorite song on the album and probably my favorite song by Bon Jovi out of the Post-2000 catalog. But there's no doubt they could have spanned the shit out of this track if they wanted to, added a few extra solos, played up that main melody a bit more (think Richie really should have made a riff out of it at some point during a solo, like how he does in the solo during Any Other Day). In my head I can envision Brokenpromiseland being a 7-minute centerpiece to the album, just like Dry County is the anchor for Keep the Faith or My Guitar is for These Days. But it's not, and what is there is still a pretty good song that has the potential to be great, but it isn't. And that's a shame to me, because it's not like Jon Bon is ever going to touch the song again.

I'm not simply saying the songs needed to be longer, I'm just saying they could have done a lot more with them. Thorn In My Side is another good example. It's a decent rocker, but remember that cool dual solo Jon and Richie did live to close out the song? Why not include that on the album version? Why not include the extra flourishes to Loves the Only Rule that were included live? Why not develop a better intro for Bullet, perhaps using the organ so it's use later in the song becomes a reprisal? Why not give these songs the care and attention that they deserve? Bon Jovi are a big culprit of half-assing songs on albums and seemingly deciding they'll just figure it out when they do it live. And indeed, a common excuse for a mediocre Bon Jovi track (including the abortion that is unfortunately on our airwaves now) is to say, "Well let's see how it sounds live!" That Anthony K chap from Chicago had a good rebuttal for this in his Circle review. It was something along the lines of that an album version of a song is basically the song's wedding day, so why not do it some justice? I'm not trying to suck off These Days here yet again, but a characteristic that makes that album outstanding from the rest of Bon Jovi's work is that it sounds almost like a live album. There is a certain spontaneity in the sound, performance and lyrics that is not present on other Bon Jovi albums, and I think that's one reason people love it so much, whether they know it or not. I get that Bon Jovi is (sometimes) a great live act, but why not play to their greatest strength on their records as well?

The production on the album feels... small... I can distinguish the instruments but they don't stand out enough for me. That said I'll still take the sound here any day of my life over whatever the holy crockofjesusshit that is going on in Becuz Wii Kan.

One fantasy I had is how I would improve the album. Assuming I had the knowledge, expertise, resources and talent to first fix up these songs in the ways I described (all gargantuan assumptions, it must be said), the question then arises of how I would change around the track list itself. Three rules to follow:

1. Can change the track listing in any way I want.
2. Can swap songs with the four mediocre bonus tracks from the Greatest Hits
3. Don't need to follow the arbitrary twelve-song album rule.

Some of the songs on this album just gotta get the hell off:

1. Born to Follow. I know Jon bragged about how he wrote this shit last minute and all, but frankly it shows in the way you wouldn't want it to. This is the most generic, safe, and boring Bon Jovi song ever. As much as I hate Because We Can, I'll at least give it credit for being more interesting than its predecessor in the lead-off role. I can't believe Jon actually claimed the events going on in Iran at the time inspired him to write this thing... HOW??? WHERE??? Screw this song, it's gone.

2. The Lamentably Useless Live Before You Die. I do like the second-chorus/bridge part, but that's really the only interesting aspect of this one. Gone.

3. Fast Cars..... GOIN FAST! WE GOT FAST CARS LOOK AT EM GO FAST CARS GOIN FAST BEEP BEEP BEEP GONE.

4. Learn To Love. It's not really a bad song, I kinda get why Jon included it, for a reason I'll get to in a moment, but it's also just boring. It also has the worst lyric on the album ("In these hands I've held a GUUUN"). Yeah, sure Jonny. Sure. Out.

5. Work for the Working Man. Uncertain about its fate. More in a bit.

Okay. So I've gotten rid of what I think many people would agree are the four worst songs on the album. When the Greatest Hits came out I remember a lot of people asking why they didn't put This Is Love or What Do You Got (I don't love either but they're better than, say, Fast Cars) on the album instead. At the very least they're more interesting than, say, yes, Fast Cars. And I think Fast Cars might have been a decent song if they just went with all the way with the build in the first chorus instead of doing that ridiculous fakeout ("WE ARE... Faast... C-cars...")... but fact is it's still probably one of the dumbest ideas for a song ever. Anyways, I think the reason we got what we did on the Circle is, for better or worse, a credit to some artistic vision on Jon Bon's part: He wanted the Circle to have a theme, in this case about life and death. There is certainly at times a sense of mortality very present in the lyrics. So I can salute Jonny boy for trying to be thematic, it shows, somewhere in his botoxed soul, the man still has some aspirations to be great. Still, these four songs are just wank, and should go. Just give yourself time to write better songs.

As an aside, for the -most- part I do like the lyrical content on the Circle. I know a big complaint was it seems most of the songs aren't telling stories but just throwing images out there, but I have no problem with that whatsoever. I always thought this idea that Jon is a storyteller was a complete misconception (that he has regrettably bestowed upon himself). Frankly most of his storytelling songs are boring as shit. No one listens to Prayer because they're invested with Tommy and Gina, in fact no one gives a shit about Tommy and Gina. They're just vessels to convey images that are in turn there to sell the feeling of the song. "Tommy Used to Work on the Docks" works because with the grating keys in the background you can almost see buoys flashing out in a foggy bay. The imagery works in tandem with the music to sell a certain feeling. These Days is a great song because the lyrics and music work together to just make a feeling that's haunting. In the case of these songs that feeling then usually has a payoff in the chorus. That's where Jon's strength is as a songwriter: images, feelings, tones, contrasts, etc... Simply put, shit that becomes catchy, but I think for a reason that is genuine (when at it's best). I think many songs on the Circle achieve these results... Unfortunately, Jonny boy has misunderstood his own success and thinks people care about Tommy and Gina, Joey Keys, Frankie doing it his own way, etc... His Springsteen insecurity has totally screwed him over here. The poor stupid schmuck.

(Holy Shit I accidentally backspaced just now and had one of those horrifying moments where you think you lost everything you wrote. Praise to Jesus I didn't.)

Okay, back to the track list stuff. I'm going to move Happy Now to slot one, which is an idea a few people had (TheseDays2005 is one name that comes to mind) back in 2009. I would probably like to fix the song up a bit, give it a better intro, but it worked okay as an opener live, I don't see why it wouldn't on the album. I'm going to keep When We Were Beautiful at two; one thing I will say, on the actual album, I thought it was almost deliberate how the modern, lame Bon Jovi of Born to Follow then transitioned into WWWB, which felt like going back in time, and then, love it or hate it, we hear the Prayer bass line on the very next song. I think having Happy Now go into WWWB might still preserve that. Which brings us to Work for the Working Man.

I really wanted to cut this insincere piece of shit but I only had four extra songs to work with, and honestly, musically I really like the song, especially the chorus. If only the lyrics didn't ruin the whole thing. But we'll keep that at three, and Superman Tonight at four. Here's another song I'd love to change the lyrics to... the Superman thing is just so embarrassing. I'm sorry. Jon really needs to get over that lame-ass tattoo. Krypton explodes every time the asshole points at it. But there's still good potential for a song here, maybe if it was more lyrically honest, like about a millionaire falling for a poor girl, or something more specific than just "YERR SUUUPAAAHHMAAAN." Which, because it's so vague, can then lead to Jon squeezing out any humanity from the song and making it about COMMIUNITY AND HABITATS FOR ASSHOLES. ****ing Jon, I hate how insecure he is about his feelings. Honest to Christ.

Why not use Aquaman instead? More obscure, less cheesy. ILL BE YOUR AQUAAAMEEAAAAN TONIGHT. I'd dig it.

I'd like to point out here what I think might be the greatest flaw on the album: Jon's voice. He just doesn't do many interesting things with it. So many choruses on this album are just like the songs in general: I go, "Yeah!" but then think, "Well they coulda done this instead..." Sometimes his delivery is also awful ("THAT YOUR LIPS DONT KEEEIIIIIISSSS") but in general I just think it's because he played it as safe as he could. Of course we could accuse Richie of just as much loafing here (WHERE IS MY 7-MINUTE BROKENPROMISELAND WITH AN OUTRO SOLO ), but Jon's vocals hurt the songs a lot more. Even the only track where he dares to really sound impressive for a moment, Superman Tonight, there is never really a payoff. If he really pushed his voice in the final chorus it would have been something to get excited about. But he didn't, either because Jon can't sing anymore (somewhat true) or because he's a lazy asshole (mainly true).

Screw Jon Bon Jovi, seriously. He knows his manufactured looks can keep the money rolling for however long he wants it, and his prosperity has made him lazy and content. I still truly believe that, outside of calling it quits, the best thing that could happen to the band is if Jon got into an accident that left him mutilated, ala Harvey Dent from Batman. Yeah Yeah, I know, some of you right now are like, "OKAY WRATH, THAT'S GOING TOO FAR." Hear me out. First of all he's a rich asshole and we're all entitled to make fun of him, okay? We don't need to be in awe of his POWER. Secondly, if Jon suddenly became a grotesque, disfigured supervillain, it would mean he could no longer depend on good looks to coast to his golden years, and he might have to rediscover a shred of his artistic integrity. Also, getting horribly scarred might be inspiration for good music in of itself. It's just a pleasant thought...

I like the sequence of Bullet-Thorn-A Ballad-Brokenpromiseland-Loves the Only Rule. The problem is I don't know what we could replace Live Before You Die with, even if I hypothetically drew from the bonus songs from the Greatest Hits, none of them fit (and no way in hell would I promote More Things Change to this album). So I guess it's just a hypothetical ballad for now. Then squeeze in Brokenpromiseland and Loves the Only Rule. I could just finish the album at ten songs with What Do You Got. I don't particularly like the song at all but it's better than the weakest links mentioned.

Actually, since I can't stand seeing Work for the Working Man on the album maybe I can swap that with the other Prayer rip-off, This Is Love This Is Life. I think the song is soulless trite garbage but it might fit the bill. In that case this is our ten-track album:

1. Happy Now
2. When We Were Beautiful
3. This Is Love This is Life
4. Aquaman Tonight
5. Bullet
6. Thorn In My Side
7. Hypothetical Awesome Ballad that isn't Live Before You Die
8. 7-minute epic Brokenpromiseland
9. Loves the Only Rule
10. What Do You Got

But for those of you who want to satisfy the Jon Bon arbitrary twelve-song rule, we could use another bonus song. No Apologies is obnoxious as hell but I like it more than a song like Born to Follow, and it could also serve as an opener (choose your poision). We then can move Happy Now around. Unfortunately I think we have to bring Working Man back. Let's just hope it has better lyrics. This is really like swapping a broken TV for a rotting kidney, but why not:

1. No Apologies
2. When We Were Beautiful
3. Work for the Working Man
4. Aquaman Tonight
5. Bullet
6. Thorn In My Side
7. Hypothetical Awesome Ballad that isn't Live Before You Die
8. Brokenpromiseland
9. Loves the Only Rule
10. This is Love This is Life
11. Happy Now
12. What Do You Got

I don't even like this that much either. I actually feel awful using these Greatest Hits tracks, cause I know how shitty they are as well. There's just too much moral compromising going on for me to save the Circle. I'll leave it as is. The hell with this operation.

****

I think it says something about how much trouble I'm having fixing this thing. Well, a few things. One is that the album has a lot of problems and holes they wrote themselves into. Two is that I'm tired and not smart enough to fix it. I'm losing interest in this game.

The bottom line with the Circle is I think it needed another year of thoughtful production to really squeeze the most out of these songs. As I said, I think the ideas are there, they just don't nail it like they should. There is an urgency and tightness to the songs, and I like that... but still, why not be creative with what you have here? And why be such a ****ing pussy when it comes to your voice, Jonny boy? It's a shame. Because my gut tells me this was the last shot of a great album from Bon Jovi, and the components are there. It's just the patience wasn't there to bring it together. And now we're stuck with turds like Because We Can.

Unless Harvey Dent has his origin story, I think the wheels are off from here. I know it's already been the case for 18 years, but Bon Jovi is dead.

Anyways, enough. I hope this at least is an enjoyable read for some.

The Circle had a very immediate pleasing effect but then as time went on I didn't go back and listen to it or any particular tracks off it. I liked Love's The Only Rule but then I saw it live and it just didn't work so that kind of ruined it for me. Thorn In My Side was okay.

It's down to style over substance. People slate Lost Highway but there was some genuine emotion put into that record and it shows.

I think the problem with the more recent albums (under the production of John Shanks) is that they don't demo the songs anymore. The songs should be demo'd and then listened to by Jon and the band over a period of time (in the car, at home etc) and then when it comes to recording talk about improvements and bits to add...even take out as a band! I'm sure the solo at the end of Thorn In My Side was thought of after the song was recorded when they were rehearsing...but it would have been great on the album and may have been something they added had they demo'd the songs etc.

You made me laugh with this thread more than the last two seasons of The Big Bang Theory. Now, getting into business, I agree with most that you say: this album had a tremendous potential, sadly, it didn't show up.
Also, I'm happy to see that I'm not the only one that thinks that Working Man sucks, my friends like it and I'm like "FOR GOD'S SAKE IT'S A PRAYER RIP-OFF WITH SHITTY LYRICS".

Agree, the first time I listened to The Circle I was like "OH GOD I LOVE THIS", two months later I was saying that it was the worst Bon Jovi album.

Agree, again, I love Lost Highway because of that. And I don't get all the hate to the duets, 'Till We Ain't Strangers Anymore and Seat Next To You are great.

This is idiotic. We should discuss even more the BJ catalog than we do now. For example, I loved that someone bringed on the Joey/Bounce theme on the other thread.

I think since Bon Jovi stopped the demoing process the songs just aren't being developed as much as they used to be up until Bounce. Shanks introduced Jon to this way of recording and that's the way they've done it ever since with very few exceptions. I know a lot of people hate Bounce, and some with good reason but, a lot of those songs are developed, re-worked and basically pushed to the limits of what they can be. Now we basically get really well produced versions of what the demos used to be....

You need to cease discouraging wide-ranging discussion on this board. If it doesn't interest you.. don't read it or stay out of it. When you post, stay on topic. We will be stepping up enforcing this. This applies to everyone. Do not reply to this thread unless it is on topic or it will be deleted.

Nice write-up, Wrath! I still rate the album highly, but agree with your song cuts with the exception of Learn To Love.

+1 to jon losing hair and a few teeth.

There is no more hope man, his guitar lies bleeding in his arms

I don't think anything was wrong with The Circle. It was just released at the wrong time and didn't produce a radio friendly single to coinsdie what was going on in 2009....

- It was a #1 Album in several countries
- We Weren't Born to Follow was nominated for a Grammy award
- Sold 3M albums