[hackster73]

One things for sure, I like the title.

Had this album come out in 1999 would anything be different. Was this album a different direction than Crush? I think the contents of the album are not fully known but I know that it was different to Crush.

Was there ever a track called Sex Sells?

I can remember Jon saying in 1998 that it is an all out rock record, if so what happened in 1999 to change it to what we know as Crush? I think Sex Sells would have suited the band at this time.

What do you know or think?

[Donna]

Sex Sells was just the working title and at the time Jon didn't know weather to make another solo album or a band album. There was a song called Sex Sells plus a bunch of other demo's that never made the light of day. We got to hear some of them at the 10th anniversary fan club bash in New Jersey and were asked by Jon to vote on which ones we liked best. A rich man living in a poor mans house was one and also Just Older. But Just Older was called "Older" to begin with and was slightly different to the version that made it onto Crush.
I guess in the end Jon decided to go with another band album. If anyone was around in 2000 they would have been able to see the making of Crush every day from the studio as it was streaming on Bon Jovi.com.

Hope this helps!!

[Mongoose]

Originally Posted by Donna

If anyone was around in 2000 they would have been able to see the making of Crush every day from the studio as it was streaming on Bon Jovi.com.

Hope this helps!!

I remember trying to watch that from the IT suite at school, never sodding worked

[hackster73]

It was more than a working title as there are posters of it in the Real Life video from 1999.

[Neurotica33]

From what I understand quite a few songs made Crush anyway - and a few others are on the box set..
None of us have crystal balls so who knows what might have happened. It couldnt' have been any worse that Crush though because I consider that to be the bands weakest album other than the first 2.

[Chica Guacamole]

I'm undecided on this one, we haven't heard enough of the material to determine whether it was a complete different direction from Crush, IMO. I do think that some of the songs on Crush should have been replaced with the demos- Temptation, I Don't Want To Live Forever, etc.

[KeepTheFaith2211]

Yeah not enough material to be able to know which would have been better. I am quite happy the way Crush turned out, with some great songs(Just Older, Save The World, One Wild Night, Mystery Train etc.)

[Becky]

It's My Life was the song that gave the band their first big hit in the USA since Always in 1994/1995. That song was one of the last ones written for Crush. I really think it made a huge mark on the trajectory of their career post-2000--and I don't mean just in the consistent references to living life (they've always had those)! I believe It's My Life showed that they were still viable in the marketplace and had a huge impact on their ability to tour consistently on a large scale. It reminded people of a certain age that Bon Jovi was one of those acts that they loved when they were young and won over a new audience and another generation. The timing of Crush also coincided with Jon being able to cross-promote it and U-571 (which was a top-grossing movie) so it really put his face out there in the media at the time. To me, it looks like everything came together at the right time and in the right way for them.

[jade4jovi]

Originally Posted by Becky

It's My Life was the song that gave the band their first big hit in the USA since Always in 1994/1995. That song was one of the last ones written for Crush. I really think it made a huge mark on the trajectory of their career post-2000--and I don't mean just in the consistent references to living life (they've always had those)! I believe It's My Life showed that they were still viable in the marketplace and had a huge impact on their ability to tour consistently on a large scale. It reminded people of a certain age that Bon Jovi was one of those acts that they loved when they were young and won over a new audience and another generation. The timing of Crush also coincided with Jon being able to cross-promote it and U-571 (which was a top-grossing movie) so it really put his face out there in the media at the time. To me, it looks like everything came together at the right time and in the right way for them.

I totally agree with this. It;s My Life had a huge impact on the band, IMO. I'm not a big fan of Crush myself. I only really like about 5 songs on there. It has some total garbage IMO. But anyway, IML was certainly a big mark for Jovi. I agree that it opend them up to a whole new audience. I know this for facts, from people that I know. I now know of 13, 14 year old's that love Jovi all because of that song. It kicked it off for them. So atlough Crush is certainly not a great album, IMO - it worked. Nobody knows enough to say much about Sex Sells, really. As said before, we don't have a crystal ball to see what could have happend. I do wonder though, if it wasn't for Crush/IML and the impact - maybe we would be having more of the Rock? But then probably not, because they chose to do that, and probably would have continued anyway?

[Neurotica33]

Originally Posted by jade4jovi

I totally agree with this. It;s My Life had a huge impact on the band, IMO. I'm not a big fan of Crush myself. I only really like about 5 songs on there. It has some total garbage IMO. But anyway, IML was certainly a big mark for Jovi. I agree that it opend them up to a whole new audience. I know this for facts, from people that I know. I now know of 13, 14 year old's that love Jovi all because of that song. It kicked it off for them. So atlough Crush is certainly not a great album, IMO - it worked. Nobody knows enough to say much about Sex Sells, really. As said before, we don't have a crystal ball to see what could have happend. I do wonder though, if it wasn't for Crush/IML and the impact - maybe we would be having more of the Rock? But then probably not, because they chose to do that, and probably would have continued anyway?

If it wasn't for IML, Crush would have bombed. No other songs on that album were strong enough to make an impact. Even though I think it's quite an average song both lyrically and musically, had they not released it I think they would be in a very different place now.