I found it very interesting to see peoples opinions on "Crush" and "Bounce" so what the hell, as long as there's intrest I'll just keep going through the albums to see peoples opinions.

So this one should be fun . I wasn't on this board when this one was released so I really have no idea what you all think of it, I'm sure there will be alot of haters out there but I also wouldn't be at all surprised if alot of people like this one. Thankfully I fall into the later category.

I goota say, I was so nervous before listening to it, I was thinking, "well **** if I hate this album, will it ruin what I think of the origionals", thankfully it turned out the complete opposite. Not only did I love (for the most part) the changes they made, it also made me recapture exactly why I loved the origionals so much. Bringing out new meanings of the lyrics made me see, and appreciate, the meaning behind alot of the songs in their origional form, it was also very cool going back and listening to the origional versions after becoming so familiar with the songs in this form.

Wanted Dead or Alive - Very cool version. Very funky and very modern but still keeping the classic lick. Very, very cool version. Studio wise, I actually prefer this to the origional, when the origional is played live, there's no contest, that wins every time. 5/5

Livin' On A Prayer - Hard to see how they could've come up with yet another interesting reinterpretation of this song, but they did. I like the accoustic guitar and the keyboards and I also like the duet with Aliva D'abo. She certainly has a distinctive voice, and I like it. I think it was even better when they played it live with Richie singing. 5/5

Bad Medicine - It'd be hard for me to explain just how much I hate the origional studio version of this song. Live, I love it but I don't think I've ever been able to bring myself to sit through it on cd. Needless to say then I prefer this version. I love the bluesy feel on this one, Jon's vocals are very good and all round a very good song that's even better live. 4/5

It's My Life - A perfect example of bringing out completely different meanings to these songs. This one shows all the hurt and soul-searching that these lyrics contain. Musically it's superb, I love the minor echo effect, it gives it that church-hymn like sound that really fits the song. 5/5

Lay Your Hands On Me - What a cool version, it's nothing compared to the origional but it's fun, it's got a certain carribean beach vibe to it and a great vocal from JBJ. 4.5/5

You Give Love A Bad Name - Maybe my favourite on the album and vastly, vastly better then the origional. Giving it a jazzy sound totally works for these lyrics, it suits the tounge-in-cheek nature of the song much better then the origional. I love Jon's gravely vocals and sounds so good live. 5/5

Bed Of Roses - How can you really bring out new meanings in a ballad? You can't, so why bother, all you do is slow the song down and remove all the power and passion that it once had. Despite that and despite the distinct lack of a difference in sound, I do like this one alot. On it's own it really is a beautiful song but as a reinterpretation, it ain't very successful. 3.5/5

Everyday - This is a beautiful version. I prefer the origional but I think the meaning and depth of the lyrics come across much better here. You get a better sense of the emotion and sadness of the song then you do in the origional and I love the keyboard parts in the first half of the song. 5/5

Born To Be My Baby - This is another phenomenal version. It really captures the emotion in the lyrics perfectly. The guitars sound amazing and I love the way Jon hums along at the end. I'll take the origional anyday over this but it's still fantastic. 5/5

Keep The Faith - Probably the best songs here. Musically it's absolutely gorgeous and brings out the other side of these lyrics perfectly. 5/5

I'll Be There For You- Same goes here for what I said about BOR except this one is an utter failure. Every bit of the passion and power has been sucked out and they didn't even change the instrumentation at all. It's sounds like a bad, watered down accoustic version of the origional. 1/5

Always - Ditto for what I said about the other two ballads. Atleast this one dose sound somewhat removed from the origional and brings out some new meanings but ballads just don't work in this format. 3/5


All things considered I think this was a wonderful experiment and I also think it's a hugely important step forward for the future of this band. With "Bounce" they were getting a bit too commercial, this album took them straight out of that mode and brought them back to working for the love of music and for the art, rather then the sales and that alone has to be worth it, and I do believe we'll see that pay dividens on the new album. It also sems like they recaptured alot of love for creating music when you listen to Jon and Richie talk about this one and I think as songwriters and as producers in the future they may be able to create even better songs from lessons they learnt from doing this.

On another postive note, it was nice to see them back working with an obviously talented producer. Imagine if Luke Ebbin had done this one *shudders*.

On a more negative note, I know they were under time constraints but the songs they choose to re-do were very predictible. Why no songs from These Days? Why not take a few album tracks and re-do those rather then just the classics? It all seems a bit predictable, which is something Bon jovi can frequently be very guilty of these days.

Even though I love this album, I couldn't tell you the last I actually pulled it out and listened to it. If I get an urge I generally watch the TLFR DVD, which is superb, but I don't mind that, in the end I just look at it as a very interesting, very welcome experiment that shows Bon Jovi are still extremely creative and aren't afraid to try new things. Who said they're not pioneers in music. Show me another band who have done something on this scale and I'll be very surprised.


Phil