These Days... Damn, What A Masterpiece

I love These Days right up to track 7. and then skip to 10..and then thats it. Far too many silly songs on it

You need a bit of patciene, When I first bought the album years and years ago I hated any songs from 5 and above.I then started listening to the other songs and I am so glad I did as they are now some of my favorite tracks,
Hearts Breaking even and bitter wine I like of the album ( non singels )
Dont skip them!

No, what I need is for those songs not to be shit!

Just a few points, firstly the inflatable Elvis devil and topless chick was on the Crossroads tour. The These Days tour was their best but never went to the US. The live album was shit, no other word for it. I think every song on it was either a Bside, from a radio broadcast or from a TV broadcast. How is that the best versions of the best songs ?!! It was overdubbed to the max and didn't sound live at all, none of the excitement of a Bon Jovi show. All they had to do was release a double cd of the Live At London show in it's entirety and I would have been happy. How easy would that have been ? After waiting nearly 20 years for a live album to get a single cd of crap versions of not their best live songs. I thought it was a huge betrayal. I like These Days and it is probably their most mature record but the second half of the album as usual was very patchy. I also could never stand Something For The Pain. The Pope/Dope lyric was very embarrassing but live at the show I saw that song was amazing with all extra guitar work from Richie (much better than OWN version). I would probably say New Jersey or Keep The Faith are their best albums although KTF also tailed off a bit after Dry County. The opening 7 tracks (apart from If I was your mother) are some of their best ever though and I always liked Save a Prayer. New Jersey is their most consistent but is beginning to sound a bit dated. It's their only album strangely apart from the new one where I don't have to skip tracks.

Aloha !

Erm...aren't you contradicting yourself right now?

In the end it's like this. I can probably never write songs like they did in the eighties and nineties, but I can actually make a better live album like they did. A much better live album.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

It does sound a bit like that when you take the quotes out of context. It was two separate points. The first being that if you are just going to use stuff from TV and Radio broadcasts you can't call it the best versions of the best songs which I believe was the tag line. The second point was that I wanted a double album and it would have been easy to release a double live cd of a show they already had recorded in full. Just as lazy I know but at least you would have got a full show and unedited songs. Most bands release live cd's and dvd's of the same show simultaneously. I'm just saying I'd be happy with that, a full 2 and a half hour Bon Jovi show on cd even if it is a carbon copy of what's on the DVD.

Aloha !

It's actually lazier to release the full Wembley show than to edit all the stuff they did for One Wild Night, but I get your point. However, I'd been upset if they would've done that, it's probably the most shared bootleg of all Bon Jovi shows!

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

That is not true at all. Maybe the 96 version of the These Days tour didn't, but in 1995, it most certainly was the These Days tour I saw in August in Boston and Hartford. Not just because the album had been out for 2 months, and because I bought a shirt and hat that said "These Days" on it, but the setlist shows it. They performed:

Hey God
Something For The Pain
This Ain't A Love Song
These Days
Lie To Me
Damned
Diamond Ring

Hers' just a few of the US THESE DAYS setlists from 1995:

Dallas 95:
Rockin' In a free world
Hey God
Prayer
Bad Name
Wanted
I'd Die for you
LYHOM
Bad Medicine
KTF
I'll Sleep when I'm dead/Papa was a rolling stone/ Jumping Jackfish
Blaze
Always
SIBSN
SFTP
TAALS
These Days
Lie to Me
Damned
Fever.
Blood on Blood

Raliegh 95:

Rockin' in the Free World
Shout
Blaze of Glory
You Give Love a Bad Name
Livin' On a Prayer
Wanted Dead or Alive
Wild in the Streets
I'd Die for You
Bad Medicine
Lay Your Hands on Me
Born to be my Baby
Blood on Blood
Ride Cowboy Ride
Keep the Faith
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Runaway
Someday I'll be Saturday Night
Always
Hey God
Something for the Pain
This Ain't a Love Song
These Days
Lie to Me
Damned
Diamond Ring

Michigan 95:
Helter Skelter
Hey God
Keep The Faith
These Days
Something For the Pain
Lie To Me
Damned
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night (with an added verse not on album)
Livin on a Prayer
Bad Name
Medley: Sleep When I'm Dead, Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye, Mama Was A Rolling Stone, Jumpin Jack Flash, (and back to) Sleep When I'm Dead
Lay Your Hands On Me
Medley: Bad Medicine, Shout, (and back to) Bad Medicine
Encore:
Always
Blaze of Glory
Wanted, Dead or Alive
Encore II:
Runaway
Blood on Blood
This Ain't a Love Song

Chicago 95:
Keep On Rockin' in the Free World
Hey God
Livin' On a Prayer
Lay Your Hands On Me
Something For the Pain
Blood On Blood
Runaway
Blood Money
Blaze of Glory
Keep the Faith
Always
Damned
You Give Love a Bad Name
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (with Na Na Na Na Hey Hey Hey* and Jumpin' Jack Flash)
Bad Medecine (with Shout!)
Wanted Dead or Alive
This Ain't A Love Song
These Days
Lie To Me
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
With a Little Help From My Friends

THESE DAYS is simply their best, most innovative and creative album. It's melancholic, yes - but what's the problem? It's truely work of art and you can experience the emotion of passioned musicians on there, who really have something to say. Lyrically and musically. They never got better than that.
It has everything I miss on the latest two albums (though their still good - but compared to this masterpiece, they fail).

KEEP THE FAITH is a close second, and according to my personal oppinion, CRUSH (surprise, surprise!) is on number three, followed by NEW JERSEY and BOUNCE.