[Matrix15]

Because We Can - Hate how catchy it is but I think thats the mark of a a good pop song so I approve.

I'm With You - Best track on the album. Sound better live.

What About Now - Absolutely middle of the road post-2000 jovi. Incredibly average.

Pictures of You - Like BWC I dont want to like it but I do, its fast paced and a bit different.

Amen - Yeah not the most exciting ballad and some syrupy lyrics but its nice to have it on the album.

That's What The Water Made Me - Nice song, better than What about now and better live. Probably in the top 3 tracks on the album.

What's Left of Me - Im not a fan, sounds whingey to me. Still suppose you need some socially conscious stuff.

Army of One - I think its unusual but they pull it off pretty well to be fair. Not something id have on my playlist though.

Thick As Thieves - Lyrics ruin it for me, especially the electric chair line

Beautiful World - I think its a rip off from matchbox 20 but its energetic and fun. silly words but the tune carries it through.

Room At The End of the World - Just find it boring to be honest.

The Fighter - Nice to see a bit of introspection but dont have it on my playlist, gets slow.

Overall, maybe 4 good songs which still suffer from production issues or grating lyrics. Not the best Jovi effort but not the worst. I feel the songs are very average but still better on average than those on bounce.

[Savvi]

Originally Posted by steel_horse75

I detest these songs. Slow borefests. If the JBJ album sounded like this Id buy it for the collection and never play it!

Really liked In The Echo which was the German bonus track. Really good song.

100% AGREE!

The Fighter and Jon's two solo songs always get a skip from me. They bore me to tears. Into the Echo though I think is brilliant. I love everything about it, especially the lyrics.

Echo, Water and Beautiful World get big ticks from me, and to a lesser extent Pictures of You.

I enjoy I'm With You and What About Now, as well as BWC despite the cheese factor.

Army of One, Thick as Thieves and Amen I listen to on occasion.

That leaves Room at the End of the World, What's Left of Me, These Two Hands, The Fighter and Jon's tracks... all of which I never listen to.

[rolo_tomachi]

An album very weak in general terms, but there are some redeemable songs, or at least interesting if they were outtakes/b-sides.

Im with You - this well, the solo is great, but the mix is terribly bad.

Pictures of you - a medium song, until exploit all in the end, this immense choir accompanied by guitar.

What's Left Of Me - One of my favorites, I love the lyrics, but Jon does not preach by example (The Bills on Canada). It looks like Saturday Night, but this is not a problem for me.

The remaining songs are not as interesting, could be acceptable filler (Thick As Thieves, Into The Echo, With These Two Hands) but would remain that, filler.

[Alphavictim]

Because We Can - Good verses, chorus tries too hard and fails for it. 5/10

I'm With You - very good song. Great solo too. Production is too busy. 8/10

What About Now - Boring as hell. Lazy songwriting. 5/10

Pictures of You - Good, not great song. Good solo. 7/10

Amen - I like that one. 7/10

That's What The Water Made Me - Never got the hype for this one on this board. Does nothing for me. 5/10

What's Left of Me - Used to like it quite a bit more. The emphasis on the country twang of the studio version doesn't do it too many favours IMO. 7/10

Army of One - Lazy as **** songwriting. 4/10

Thick As Thieves - Sounds promising, but never really excels. Should have been worked on more. 6/10

Beautiful World - Some shitty lyrics, but I really like the music. 7/10

Room At The End of the World - Weird lyrics. Music is good, but I think with some additional work (longer outro or something like that) it would have made a perfect closer. 7/10

The Fighter - Meh. It's no Atlantic City, that's for sure. 4/10

With These Two Hands - Super lazy lyrics. Music is... there. 4/10

Not Running Anymore / Old Habits Die Hard - Yawn. Which one has the "you look like shit"-line? That line is especially awful. 3/10

Every Road Leads Home To You - Okay track. Production (especially the strings) sound totally out of place on this album. 6/10

[Dave 1986]

It was crap then and it's still crap now. "I'm With You" is the only good song on there. One of the better songs out of the last 6 albums ironically. If the rest of the album was up to a similar standard, I'd have been quite happy. Aside from that, I have no urge or reason to revisit it.

I was going through a very dark time back when it was released so I really could have done with a solid album by them to get me through.

By far Bon Jovi's worst album, and I have virtually no hope for anything else they release in future.

They're still my favourite band ever though.

[Faceman]

I've never seen it as bad as so many other here. There are some nice songs on it (With you, Army of one, Whats left of me, Pictures of you) and some songs I keep skipping. So during those 2 years my opinion didn't really change.
It's a mediocre Bon Jovi album which would have gained a lot more if Richie had more influence during the recording sessions.

[Javier]

For me it's still a mediocre effort on behalf of all of them. Just listening to it, the writing, the singing, the playing, the production, it all just screams half assed to me. There's still good songs on there, and other great ideas that could have been developed well but it just didn't hit me. After I basically fell in love with the Circle and loving 9 out of 12 songs on that record, trying to find my favorite 5 on this one and not finding it worth the time was disheartening. With time I have found that I was a bit hard on the album at first, as there's really nothing embarrassing or horrible about it, but there's nothing great either, it's just a big pile of meh.

While listening to it the first time I remember thinking that maybe I've just finally outgrown my favorite band, I guess the next album will tell me if I'm right or not. At least there's always the live shows

[Bounce7800]

I still think it's a fairly decent enough album with some nice enough songs on it.

I suppose it depends on your expectations for the bands output these days. Although my opinion is probably helped by the fact that I totally ignore The Fighter, Old Habits & Not Running, cannot stand them and they didn't make it across onto my playlist. Maybe if I included them in my thinking for the album rating thread it would have dropped a couple of points, but as it is they simply don't exist for me.

What's Left Of Me is a decent song, although similar in theme to Sat Night and very similar to The More Things Change (but superior imo). Shame the horrible effects on Jon's vocals ruins it.

I'm With You, I've gone off a little since release, the robotic production kills some of the charm, especially after we heard it live first then to hear the mess Shanks had made of it was really annoying.

I made my peace with Because We Can thanks to it being as catchy as ebola. Although the disgusting guitar work is still unforgiveable.

The title track is a bore- Jovi by numbers. Beautiful World & Room at the end of the world are decent enough when you come across them, although not tracks you would specifically seek out to listen to.

I think the album suffers from all the Richie shit and the mess the tour became. We need to realise that Bon Jovi are never going to make albums like they did back in the 80s. They are 50+ year old men who have other commitments in life, so they are going to do an album with the bare minimum of work so they can go on another tour cycle. Once you realise that and don't wish for another Slippery/NJ/TD you can appreciate some of the new music for what it is.

Although on the flip side, we would have appreciated the album tracks more if they pushed them more live.

[Matrix15]

Originally Posted by Bounce7800

I still think it's a fairly decent enough album with some nice enough songs on it.

I think the album suffers from all the Richie shit and the mess the tour became. We need to realise that Bon Jovi are never going to make albums like they did back in the 80s. They are 50+ year old men who have other commitments in life, so they are going to do an album with the bare minimum of work so they can go on another tour cycle.

I think this sums it up. the album probably has as a couple of listenable songs bu for me WAN will forever be associated with the departure of Richie and stagnant tour which poisons its legacy.

I have fond memories of both LH and the circle (pretty average albums) because the tours were excellent and especially at the o2 the band were on fire. I think What about now is a mediocre album that has been dragged down further by the politics going on in the jovi camp.

[Fredrik]

**** no. I will never overcome the fact that this album even saw the light of day.