Without Love

Written by: JBJ, RS, DC
Status: Album track

This is probably the most neglected song on the album as the song was never played live and never really given much attention. Without Love is a nice rock ballad. It's about love, but it's not even nearly as accomplished and straightforward love song as the later ballads were to be. There isn't yet anyone crying and vowing their eternal love for their loved one who is about to leave the relationship, but instead the lyrics tell the ultimate truth that everybody needs love in their life. The lyrics are nice, and this is not a bad song. It's not great but it can be perhaps considered to be a slightly underrated song. Without Love is nice, and I guess it could well be one of those "fan's favourite" songs.

Rating: ***


I'd Die For You

Written by: JBJ, RS
Status: Album track

From the title you could expect a ballad, but I'd Die For You is actually the hardest-rocking song on the album. Hard-hitting keyboards, pounding drums and crashing guitars dominate this speedy and somewhat raw rocker. Lyrically it's that what you could expect from the title, but it's the fast-bursting choruses and booming instrumentals that make this a great song. I'd Die For You was also an integral part of the band's live set all the way up to 1995, and in 1996 they worked a new acoustic version from the song that they played during that second These Days tour. I'd Die For You isn't quite a Bon Jovi classic, but it's a great speedy rock song and an essential part of this album.

Rating: ****


Never Say Goodbye

Written by: JBJ, RS
Status: Fourth single from the album released in August 1987, peaked at #15 in the US, at #21 in the UK

Never Say Goodbye is one of the most famous songs of Slippery because of its (no doubt worthy) inclusion on the Crossroad compilation. It's also famous for being written in Richie's mother's basement (a fact they rarely forgot to mention). The lyrics are a walk through the youth of the speaker, a nostalgic reminiscence of high-school times. The lyrics aren't really great but they're good, and definitely good if compared to the lyrics of the two previous albums. In concerts the band started to neglect the song pretty badly after the Slippery tour, but an acoustic rendition of the song became a rare and great treat and was used to close concerts from time to time. Never Say Goodbye is an unashamed tribute to friendship and love. It is an excellent song, one of the best songs of Slippery and an essential Bon Jovi rock ballad.

Rating: ****


Wild In The Streets

Written by: JBJ
Status: Album track (also released as B-side to Livin' On A Prayer)

The fun, happy and energetic rock of this album culminates in this truly sublime rock song. Wild In The Streets is one of the greatest Bon Jovi rockers of all time. Jon wrote the lyrics that are about youth, kids having the time of their lives in the streets of their hometown. The lyrics are nice, but the most distinct thing about this fast-paced rocker is its energy. The song has such a wonderful spirit and feel to it that there probably is no other song in the Bon Jovi catalogue reaching the same kind of genuine joy of rock'n'roll and life as this song. Featuring both a piano solo from David and a guitar solo from Richie and vivid and energetic performances from all, it's a wonderful song in many ways. The song was also an important live song for the band, it was great live and was featured in the set on all of the band's tours. It's really a superb rock song. One of my favourite Bon Jovi songs and pure class what comes to these energetic "feel-good" rock songs, Wild In The Streets is one of the best rockers this band ever made.

Rating: *****


THE BEST SONG: Wanted Dead Or Alive, which is a Bon Jovi masterpiece and the cowboy song of them all. It's a superb Bon Jovi anthem and one of the greatest Bon Jovi songs ever. Livin' On A Prayer is surely not much weaker, it's another brilliant song and another anthem. And Wild In The Streets is a truly energetic, joyful and sublime rock song.

OVERALL: Slippery When Wet was 'it' for Bon Jovi, their big breakthrough. It was one of the biggest selling records of the 1980s, remains the band's biggest selling album and it was one of the defining albums of the decade. If there's one classic Bon Jovi album, it is this one. But, as classic as Slippery may be, it's not the best Bon Jovi album.

Slippery When Wet is a big, crunching rock album. Or, a "pop metal" album. Bon Jovi and Slippery When Wet fitted perfectly to the 1980s' hair metal genre, and Slippery planted that label so firmly on them that they later never could get rid of it. You Give Love A Bad Name sounds like the ultimate pop metal song, and even though there's some mockery tone in the pop metal tag, Slippery When Wet is just that through and through. The band drifted away from the hair music later but that was what they were always remembered for, perhaps to their disappointment as they were one of the few 80s hair bands that survived grunge and could hold the success in the long run. The 1980s' hair era music isn't generally considered by music fans to be very... well, good, and I'm not too fond of any other bands of that genre - in fact I would dare to hold Bon Jovi as much better than most of those 80s' bands. Well, at least you couldn't beat Jon's hair, could you?

It's hardly surprising that Slippery isn't a really great achievement lyrically and musically. Meaning, that often the lyrics aren't great, and overall the album is rather noisy and one-dimensional. But of course, it's important to know that this was never meant to be an album of great things, important lyrics and meaningful songs. This is a fun, happy rock album, vivid, straightforward and energetic, and that's how it was intended to be all along.

Slippery has some huge Bon Jovi classics, but after those songs the rest of the material on the album is little more than a bit noisy and average rock. Wanted Dead Or Alive, Livin' On A Prayer and Wild In The Streets are superb rock songs and some of the best Bon Jovi songs of all time. But then things like You Give Love A Bad Name, Social Disease and Raise Your Hands are only mediocre stuff, certainly not terrible songs but neither that great or special either. But while Slippery is a bit inconsistent in quality and for the most part only rather average rock, it is also a very lively and energetic album. Such raw and pure energy as this album has you can't really find from any other later Bon Jovi album. Not as genuine, at least. This is an album made by people who clearly had great time making it, and it shows on the record.

Slippery is a great rock album, but it's not as good as the next three Bon Jovi albums were to be. All three are more complete records, more consistent in quality and have more depth. It does perhaps sound a bit dumb to say that this is an album that lacks depth when it was never intended to have much depth in the first place (and we're talking of Bon Jovi here), but because there's so little variety in the songs of this album and the other albums do have much better lyrics, musicianship and overall touch, it still suffers slightly from that lack of depth. But although Slippery is a bit noisy, very commercial, largely not much more than than only average rock and regardless of the huge sales I wouldn't call it one of the best albums of the 1980s, it's still a great rock record. And of course, it's a classic album, for both this band and even for the entire decade of 1980s.


OVERALL SCORE: 15 OUT OF 20