The Future of Bon Jovi as said by Jon

Let's be honest: artistically Bon jovi records has zero value since Crush, that's what I think Richie was trying to say. Since John Shanks, the band sounds exactly the same and Jon seems to like this way, commercially is good for the band but all songs sounds like it came from a assembly line.

The thought crossed my mind the other day that something may have happened, perhaps on a personal level in the midst of Richie's marriage going south and his dad's illness, that caused a re-evaluation of his life (maybe the midlife crisis some think they are seeing now?) and he may have considered leaving the band around that time but decided (or was persuaded) not to. Jon and Richie have both said, I think, that Jon wrote WLOL for Richie. I think the general consensus at the time was that they meant Jon had written it *for* Richie *about* Heather and his dad. But he could also have written it because Richie was thinking about leaving the band. The official video sure looks that way, at any rate, and the lyrics would also work. Just a thought.

"So close the window, draw the curtain. You ain't the only here hurtin'. No one's right, no one's wrong, but lately there's a whole lot of leaving going on."

I would want one more world tour first. Not to promote an album, just a farewell tour, so fans can see the band one last time. And have a hand in choosing the set list - which will never happen.

Personally, I think the future of Bon Jovi lays with breaking away from Mercury/Universal and going indie. They'll get their creative control back and be able to make music THEY want to make, not what music executive wants. Jon's arms are tied at the moment. It's something that Richie enjoyed when recording Aftermath and I'd think Jon wants to be able to make the music he wants instead of having to bow down to Mercury/Def Jam. Let's face it, Mercury/Def Jam are more into hip-hop than rock.

i think you guys are underestimating how difficult and time consuming making a record can be.

"a few solo albums...."

WHAT?!

it's not easy to get ten tracks that are good and studio ready arrangement wise....then there's the picking of the band, engineer, producer, mixing, mastering....

takes time. jon will record some songs i imagine...all of which will be limp acoustic rubbish.

if there's a new band album, it ll arrive in 2016, tour til the following year then Adios!

i think you guys are underestimating how difficult and time consuming making a record can be.

"a few solo albums...."

WHAT?!

it's not easy to get ten tracks that are good and studio ready arrangement wise....then there's the picking of the band, engineer, producer, mixing, mastering....

takes time. jon will record some songs i imagine...all of which will be limp acoustic rubbish.

if there's a new band album, it ll arrive in 2016, tour til the following year then Adios!

Bon Jovi puts out an album every two years.

In the 90s DA and Sex Sells would have been back to back.

Its possible to get two out in 3 years

Sometimes I really wonder what sort of shitty deal the band signed. Bands the size of Bon Jovi usually get a ton of leverage (look at Metallica, for example - they own their masters!) whereas Jon had albums rejected by the record company as recent as HAND (I don't really buy the story that it was accepted, and even if then, that means they still have to approve it), and from Crush to TLFR, there was a new product out every year (Crush, OWN, Live in Zurich, Bounce, TLFR, TLFR DVD). It kinda seemed like Jon wanted to fight off another greatest hits compilation as recently as The Circle and actually WANTS to still be creative and put out new music.

It's just too bad that it seems they seem to need to get stuff out every other year, which might be what caused WAN.

Even during the band breaks in the 90's we had Young Guns and Destination which would technically fulfill the album out every 2 years thing from Jon's contract. Weird.....

The only gap without any musical album releases from Jon that go beyond 2 years is the gap between "97 and '00 due to the scrapping of Sex Sells. Even then we got a few songs from soundtracks and Christmas compilations.
(Note - Although the GH was '10 and WAN was '13, the releases only extend the 2 year gap by three months... Plus, Inside Out was also released in between)

The band gap between '95 and '00 is what I'd like to see from Jon again but without those horrible movies. In 5 years Jon will be 57 which is still fairly young compared to the endless list of artists still going today above that age. Bruce, Steven Tyler, The Eagles, heck Sir Paul is still going at 70...

Between now and then, my anticipated list:
(The timeline could be tighter with overlaps to cut this down to 4 years)

2014 - Box Set or some type of Bon Jovi compilation (Fall 2014)
2015 - Solo Album JBJ / RS
2016 - Mini Solo Tour or Jon is a judge on American Idol
2017 - Some songs released for soundtrack and other compilation
2018 - New Bon Jovi Album and World Tour