You people are obbessed with These Days...

Originally Posted by Belzik

Every where I go on here I see people comparing every album to These Days, over and over again. Some people here don't care for it, but the majority does. So I figure I am gonna see if I can solve this....

About 2 years ago, my girlfriend and I broke up, and well I was down. One day I was on the computer trying to find some music that will fit my situation, since I was tired of all the songs I had in my library. I was never a Bon Jovi fan, so I said what the hell, why don't I see if he has any good music videos. So, I go on Windows Media Player and search Bon Jovi, and only 2 music videos came up, These Days and This Ain't a Love Song.

I didn't want to hear This Ain't a Love Song, cause I wanted to hear a love song . So I watched These Days. And I watched it again. And again. Everything in that video was perfect to me. Jon even had the same hair I current did . The lyrics was great, and I wanted more. So I watch This Ain't a Love Song, and let me tell you, I was speechless. Everything I wanted from a love song was there. I felt like he was telling me what just happened in my life.

I refused to download these songs, I wanted the album. So I constently watched these videos over and over again, until These Days came in the mail. At first the songs that grabbed me was Something for the Pain, This Ain't a Love Song, These Days, Hearts Breaking Even, and If Thats What It Takes. I listened to the whole cd every night. Hearts Breaking Even really stuck in my mind, it sounded so different from everything I heard...ever. And since If Thats What It Takes was two songs away from Hearts, I decided not to skip the one in the middle....

I didnt like Something to Believe In at first, I thought some lines were cheesy, but since it was in the middle of two of my favorite songs, I listened to it anyways. And then one day....wham...the song knocked me on my ass. The pain, the longing for hope...Something to Believe In became more than just a song, it was something I was searching for.

After that, I began to like all the other songs on the cd (except Diamond Ring), each one offered something different. I began to look for performances of these songs and I found the Live in London DVD. After that I saw Yokohama 96. Floored again by these songs, I did some research. I wanted to see how many of these great songs does Bon Jovi put in their set, night after night. To my surprise, none. I found out that These Days didnt sell well in America, but across seas it did very well. The only songs the play off that album is Something to Believe In, These Days, and Diamond Ring, and those are very rare to say the least.

I also noticed how the band was doing during that time. Jon could still sing the high notes if he tried, he didnt have to arrange songs too much differently, and everything still sounded like the records. Bon Jovi did great covers during that time, like Imagine, and all in all, the band was in their prime. But it wasn't the band I recognize today. Jon doesn't sing as well as he did back then, the lyrical value has diminished greatly, the songs are very poppy, the band wasn't the same.

Crossroads should have been released after These Days, because truly thats where the cross between Bon Jovi and New Bon Jovi lies. Nothing today sounds remotley like the first 6 albums, and its a shame. The great songs are missing in setlists, and I dont know why This Aint a Love Song isn't played, especially after American Idol.

All in all, I have to agree with this board with These Days, it is the best record Bon Jovi has released, maybe cause it was different, or in the band's heyday, or maybe everyone loves these songs cause Bon Jovi never plays them, any way.....These Days is where Bon Jovi left their legacy, and maybe one day that legacy will return.

Originally Posted by pwnedshot117

You directly implied it. And did again with what you just said. With guitar solos, I have no idea what is harder to play and what isn't as hard to play. Fact, and I admit that. I don't play guitar. But that's not the point.

Originally Posted by pwnedshot117

I don't need to play guitar at all to appreciate a solo and make an opinion on it. Hence, I said what you quoted next...

Originally Posted by pwnedshot117

The solo is killer, but I think that there are comparable guitar solos that Richie has written after These Days that are just as enjoyable to LISTEN to, if not more enjoyable.

Originally Posted by Supersonic

Aloha !



Yes it is. Myguitar mentioned Damned because of Richie about trashing his guitar during the guitar solo, which is something that rarely happens on studio albums nowadays, and the guitar solo's you mentioned are a perfect example of that.



Which is not what I said either.



And that's what you think. However, your opinion obviously doesn't make any sense. There's a reason why many people think the current guitar solo's are shit, exactly because of them being pop solo's, and not the rock stuff Richie pulled out in the nineties. As long as you do not understand this, you're missing the entire point of the discussion and might as well post your own topic in which you state which solo's you like and leave it to that.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

Originally Posted by pwnedshot117

And pop solos? That is the dumbest thing I've heard in weeks, are you serious? A guitar solo is a guitar solo is a guitar solo.

Originally Posted by Superosnic

There's a reason why many people think the current guitar solo's are shit, exactly because of them being pop solo's, and not the rock stuff Richie pulled out in the nineties. As long as you do not understand this, you're missing the entire point of the discussion and might as well post your own topic in which you state which solo's you like and leave it to that.

Originally Posted by Supersonic

Aloha !



Ah ah, first learn the differences between a rock solo and a pop solo, then get back into this topic discussing guitar solo's. As long as you don't understand what we are talking about, you're not supposed to get involved into this.



Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

Originally Posted by pwnedshot117

Tell me the difference between a rock solo and a pop solo and how that applies to Bon Jovi now and then, and then see if you can tell me why a more technical solo is "better" than a simpler one. I'm waiting...

Originally Posted by Myguitar

Rock solos tend to be longer and have more technical accents to them like bending, sweeps, time changes, techniques like high-pitching and finger-tapping are very common (even today) and of course addition of effects.

Compare...
Sweet Child o' Mine (rock) - Living on a Prayer (pop-rock)
Tesla solos (rock) - U2 solos (pop)

Very easy to tell when you have a ear for it.

Originally Posted by DevilsSon

Although I mainly agree, I still think that a solo sounds completely different when isolated from the songs it is part of. For example, I would have agreed that prayer is a pop solo, but after I listened to all these sort of compilations of Richie solo's on youtube, obviously Prayer was in there, it sounded like a killer hard rock solo. Then again, it is difficult to find solos of the level of Prayer on any post-Crush album.


And regarding pwnedshot117 not seeing any difference. Give me a break man! Just listen to Keep the Faith. It's fast, it's clever, and I've never heard a tribute band doing it right. Listen to If I was Your Mother or to Good Guys. The guitar is what distinguishes hard rock from pop-rock. At least from a guitar solo perspective, Bon jovi have been a heavy rock act. Then Crush came and they tried to sound like Matchbox20 meets The Cardigans meets the Backstreet Boys meets Bruce Springsteen. On WHICH song of Crush would a solo like one in Keep the Faith have worked? And don't give me Next 100 Years cause that's something completely different. I tell you, on NONE! Besides, it is not a handful of people who have this opinion, it's all the rock audience which Bon Jovi had. Go to a rock forum where random people discuss Bon Jovi. What do they say? Mostly "they were awesome but now they are embarrassing, much like Metallica". I once did a poll on an Iron Maiden forum and over 70% of the people were saying that Bon Jovi used to be a hard rock/pop-metal band while now they are just teenie-boppers. When I posted that here, some "die-hards" went "ahh! how can Iron Maiden fans assess the music better than us, who listen to it all the time?!" Easy! Iron Maiden fans can tell the difference between a ROCK solo and a few chords put together so you get a nice pleasant sounding interlude.

Originally Posted by pwnedshot117

I Believe -> Next 100 Years
Bed of Roses/I Want You -> TYFLM
Woman in Love -> I Got the Girl
Sleep/Blame it -> Crash (in terms of playing style, not so much speed)
In These Arms -> Just Older