1984-2004, 2005-2016 Two different eras

I've been listening to all the Bon Jovi albums in chronological order. I have to say that from 'Bon Jovi: Bon Jovi' through to 'Bounce' the albums really rocked. Even when they didn't their were some really good ballads. Even 'This Left Feels Right' has some original touches.

Then I listen to the John Shanks era. 'Have A Nice Day' is where it all started going wrong. Though the opening track is very strong, the rest of the album is no where near as good as the previous records. Then after that the albums get less and less rock and more pop and terrible.

For me it goes like
Bon Jovi-These Days : The Glam-Rock Years (Glam until NJ)
Crush-Bounce : The transisional period
HAND-now : The .i. years...... (Worst moment:Lost Highway.....i just can't stand this country CRAP........well i can't stand WAN too but LH just drives me crazy)

One of the biggest transitions for me was from 2000 going further. Crush was a make-or-break point for BJ in the US. Since Crush, outside writers have been used more and more.

It was These Days tanking in the US which brought about all that follows. Who knows what could have followed if it had worked out better in 95/96. Absolutely huge over here, absolute peak of their popularity.

I will always make the divide 1984 - 1995 and 2000 - 2016. What came after 2005 fits perfectly in the world of the watered down pop sound Crush brought on. It's not the big rock album everyone seems to mistake it for, it was super poppy. More organic instrumentation and a more natural drum sound though. Heck, the Shanks era was a RETURN to bigger sounding guitars if anything. The problem is the album tracks starting getting indistinguishable from each other.

Completely agree. The 1984-95/96 era of albums can be grouped together and flow very nicely. I always thought this since I really dug deep into the past albums by the end of 2001. By that time Crush seemed out of place even then. Every album after that flows seamlessly in terms of tone/quality (Obviously none of them sound the same).

I never mark the split between the pre/post Shanks eras. I doubt history would have changed much had the band never used him. Have a Nice Day sounded like a more back-to-basics album than it's two effects-driven predecessors in terms of being more organic-sounding.

Pretty much yes yes yes. Bounce had a more aggressive guitar sound but it wasn't a sound they'd really had prior. Drop D and baritone guitars were never that much part of the sound they used and it's no coincidence how much they had the sound that was big on the radio at the time (Creed especially).

For me, I enjoy most of the post 2005 collection just as much as the pre-2005 material. ...And that's an opinion coming from a 43 year old male, growing up with 80's Bon Jovi and purchasing TD in my college years on the day of its release.

In fact, my three least favorite Jovi albums are 7800* Fahrenheit, Bounce, & WAN. All happen to come from entirely different eras.

I think that Crush makes sense more as a follow up to Destination Anywhere & Undiscovered Soul than These Days, both of them went in a bit more poppy direction which they obviously extended for the next band album