In 1995, Bon Jovi sold out three consecutive nights at Wembley Stadium...

In 1995, Bon Jovi struggled to sell out any decent sized venues in the US.
In 1995, it had been 7 years since their last number 1 album in the US.
In 1995, These Days peaked at number 9 on the Billboard charts.

It's my favourite era and the band were insanely huge over on this side of the world (it was them, U2 and REM as the three biggest groups) but it wasn't all great.

I recall someone posting here that the band used to keep their heads down coming on stage in the US because of the amount of empty seats. They called it the "red seat tour" or something. Sounds exaggerated to me but they were pretty much outcasts in the US whereas, today, that isn't the case.

In 1995, Blur, Oasis, Pulp, Suade, Supergrass were all the rage over here. They've all pretty much disappeared or imploded.
In 1995 One Direction and Justin Beiber were barely born.

Things change. The fact that 18 years later, Bon Jovi can still have one of the biggest tours, chart at number 1 in the US, chart highly in Europe is testament to their longevity and popularity. We might not like the direction of the music but you can't deny that they are still popular.

For a band that were viewed by many (even in Europe) as living on borrowed time in 1995, to still be doing it nearly 20 years later, that's a hell of an achievement.

great post..

Hah- look what a drunken midnight post leads to I actually enjoyed the taco posts... more in the spirit of what I was thinking last night!!

This post was merely an observation. No comparison intended. At their peak, they sold out 3 nights at Wembley. Massive. And on the back of the best album they had ever recorded.

Yet trust me, I'd take half empty arenas over 3 nights at Wembley, if only the quality of the music and the intensity of the live performances was comparable to 1995. Popularity alone means nothing. People like all kinds of shit.I read a statement in some critic review saying something along the lines that Nirvana was only the second time in history that the best band in the world was also the most popular one. The other case was the Beatles. Now weather one agrees with that or not, the essence is still important. I feel like Bon Jovi with These Days was in a similar position (everywhere other than the US). The one and only time. And that makes its popularity and success a lot more impressive.

Again - I don't mean to compare. It was more a tribute to Bon Jovi. That was a genuine, honest band, reaching the peak of their creativity and technical ability and kicking everybody else's ass in the process. A fond memory, not much else.

Nothing wrong with drunken posts. They're the lifeblood of any message board

It's probably a fair point about the best band/popular band. However, most times, the most popular band disappears after a couple of albums. I remember Bon Jovi couldn't play Wembley in the 80s because Bros had booked it and it pissed Jon off. Bros were absolutely massive at the time. Bros disappeared in 1990 pretty much. There have been dozens of acts like that that have been the next big thing over the last 30 years.

That's what irks the critics I believe. They think Bon Jovi should have gone the same way in the late 80s/early 90s. And that's why, regardless of anyone's opinion of them, Bon Jovi demand respect. Not because they are popular, because that in itself means little, but because they have been popular for 30 years.

I can't think of many bands that have done that on the same scale as Bon Jovi with no critical acclaim.

I do agree on the These Days point. What a f**king album. And I don't accept that that sort of songwriting is gone. The era is but the ability to write those types of song isn't.

I listened to AOTL the last few days and when I hear Seven Years Gone and You Can Only Get So High, they start me on a road to a place that albums like Keep the Faith and These Days bring me to. You can feel that Richie pulled those songs out of somewhere deep inside. Contrast that with Jon pulling What About Now off of Obama's election leaflets.

I still get something out of the new albums but, Christ, I really wish I could get so much more.

Two weeks ago I was with my brother in his loft, going through all his Bon Jovi memorabilia and magazines/programmes/vinyls/tickets/concert pictures etc. before heading to see them in sunderland.

I found some great stuff in there in old magazines like Kerrang! etc. which only highlighted how massive and popular they were in 1995.

I took a picture of one page in a Kerrang! issue which was labelled 'Kerrang! awards', as I was in disbelief at just how cool things were back then for a Bon Jovi fan.



Kerrang, January '96...
Best band - Bon Jovi
Worst band - Bon Jovi
Best album - These Days (Bon Jovi)
Worst album - These Days (Bon Jovi)
Tasty Bloke of the year - Jon Bon Jovi
Best Promo Video - Sonething For The Pain (Bon Jovi)
Dick of the year - Jon Bon Jovi

Hahahah! How the **** is that even possible??? LOL

Great post.

"...Making Bon Jovi the biggest rock band all over the world but in America."


And because of this we were forced to It's My Life and its brothers.

This is exactly the type of point I was trying to make in the no Richie on current tour topic.
http://www.drycounty.com/jovitalk/sh...postcount=7177

Certainly, you can hear a bit of that honesty in Richie. No it's not perfect. 10 years of doing stupid bubble-gum over-produce pop-rock junk will clearly obliterate some of that creativity. But it's THERE. You can feel and hear it. Whereas with Bon Jovi, it's been missing ever since These Days. That's why I want Richie to go on and do it on his own, because I lost the belief that Bon Jovi as a band will ever be able again to jump out of the predictable, ordinary, expected, uncreative etc.

I'm glad somebody else sees that too. For a second, in the other thread, I thought it was just me and when it's just yourself, you need to question whether what you hear is what you hear or what you want to hear.

KTF2211 - would you mind typing up the blurbs from that article. Just the Jovi related ones? Would love to read all of them and am having a bit of trouble! Thanks so much!

That was big news back in the day, when Jovi won all awards. Just shows how polarising the band was. You either loved them or hated them. That's something only relevant bands achieve. Nobody gives a **** about good old nostalgia.