Why can't they just give us proper live recordings?

All great points...

No one knows the details for sure so it's difficult to say what was required as far as the type of release.

Would a Jon solo album or a compilation be enough fulfill the contract? Was a 100 plus massive tour attached to it? Could they have waited an shift the release 6 months?

All very good possibilities.

Don't forget, in the year 2000 when Jon made this album deal, album sales were still relevant and I don't think anyone saw this massive shift so a Greatest Hits might have had more weight then new material... I guess the point I'm making is, there also might have been required breakdown of each. X amount of new material vs X amount of compilations.

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Yep, it is as well. The second solo is cut out. Knowing the original live versions I can't listen to those edits. I really miss the second chorus at the end of Prayer for example. If I ever listen to it, I only play IML, Keep The Faith, Rockin' In The Free World, Wanted and Just Older, all the other were somehow crippled.

Despite my comment above, it really did what you write. It was my first BJ CD and after knowing a few tracks from the radio and totally loving IML which was just everywhere at that time, I really got into listening to live songs and it made me search for bootlegs were early on and it kinda defines me now

On the other hand - the whole collection is strange. There are a few obvious choices but some other are not. Why I Don't Like Mondays? Or Rockin' In The Free World? I love the latter one and I'm happy to have but being allowed to release a one disc live album, it makes no sense to include two covers there given the catalogue they had. Also Something To Believe In on Something For The Pain make no sense as they didn't play them live during that period and even after. And I could live without Runaway and In And Out Of Love.
It would totally make sense to make an album from 1995-2000 to keep the songs vocally close to what Jon sounded in 2001. LOAP, Bad Name, KTF, Bad Medicine all make sense. Just Older as a cool new live track too to represent Crush. Then Bed Of Roses or I'll Be There For You, These Days if they felt the need to include something from that album. I know it would be boring for diehard fans but to serve the purpose in times before internet providing chances to listen to live tracks, it would make sense to present their biggest hits in live setting to motivate people to see them live.

Amen! (Not the song.. )

To have a best-of live release to capitalize on a new fanbase and educate them on a back catalogue, it's a tracklist that makes no sense. Two cover songs, two songs from These Days not really in any sort of rotation, three songs from the previous album (albeit one heavily remixed). It's like it was designed to be for the collectors or the newbies and it wound up being for neither.

It was supposed to be a second greatest hits... 7 years after crossroads, new contract, new fan base, pull a couple from These Days and Crush plus some of the missed hits from Crossroads, throw in a remix or two and bang... Jon said No Way!

So instead, they had one 80 minute CD to cater to both, the casual and die hard listeners... That's why the remix, cover, and a rarity... To be honest, it's not that bad for a casual listener but most don't want a live album. They want the album tracks to sound like the album. On the flip side, there wasn't enough muscle to attract the die hards so they totally missed on both levels.

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There's a lot about this album that doesn't make any sense...(besides the points you already mentioned)
- calling it One Wild Night Live and the only song of which a studio version is added is the title track
- adding 2 coversongs and not even playing them during the respective tour
- releasing Tokyo Road in Japan only instead of OWN but finally releasing OWN over there as well

I can see the label wanting to capitalise on the new fans but at the same time, as far as North America is concerned, it would have just been Crossroads + It's My Life. Europe, Japan etc I could see the point but it's blatantly clear it'd be pointless stateside.

I don't blame Jon.

However, the other songs released from Crush didn't appeal to many casual fans so putting It's My Life on another release with a refreshed hits collection would have been a great marketing move..

Taking off Prayer 94 and maybe even Saturday Night...Then adding It's My Life, Thank You, Something for The Pain and Love Song (or These Days) along with another missed hit from the 80's / 90s.



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Which is why I'm mentioning North America specifically. They would have to take OFF hits to include songs that weren't hits for that region specifically to put it out. Europe could have done it right, absolutely.

I don't get what you mean.

Crossroads didn't fill an 80 minute CD. Prayer 94 and Saturday Night weren't hits so if you chop those and maybe even In and Out of Love, there is definitely some room for a handful of news songs and a nice revision. It's My Life clocks in at like 3 minutes so that takes up hardly any space.

For a song as big as Its My Life, Crush sold poorly. If I was the record company executive, I would have told Jon to stick his nostalgia up his ass and demanded that greatest hits.

I think they tried multiple times too. This Left and Lost Highway were other attempts.




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The International version clocks in at 77 minutes. It's My Life is 3:45 so you can't fit it on there without taking something off. All the tracks were bonafide hits internationally, apart from Runaway and In And Out Of Love, but I think it's important that each album is represented.

If Cross Road had been expanded a 2 disc set in place of the live album it could easily have been a 2 disc set, but some of the "hits" would have been baffeling for US audiences. I don't think they had enough for a 2 disc set in 1994, unless they included fan favourites like Blood on Blood and Wild In The Streets etc, but I think it's too much for 2 discs from 5 albums.