2020: The New Album

Slippery slope, Deb. You're setting yourself up for the answer you know is coming. After all, Shanks is responsible for everything Jon does...

Ha ha...roger that!!


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Aloha !

Jon's definition of "the band" can mean anything nowadays with Shank being in the studio on official records and Phil X not being on every song despite him being "an official member".

First thing I noticed is Jon is behind the beat. The bassline is dull and sounds like it was played by a guitarist as opposed to a bassplayer. As a result the backbeat of the song is lost as the bassplayer and drummer are supposed to work together while on this song they aren't. Technically it'll probably fill all the boxes but it doesn't sound like a band playing an actual song.

I get what you're saying but ultimately it is Shanks who has produced this. It has his sound all over it, it's just that Jon Bon Jovi seems to like this sound a lot. Down the line it's all still mixed and produced the same way like Have A Nice Day was produced but just with a lot less guitar, way more overdubs and a lot more unnecessary noise (reverb, echo, and other stuff) to cover up for the emptiness in the arrangements. All that started to show up once the band stopped creating songs in the studio after stuff had been written by Jon and Richie. So yeah, even though Jon approves of this, it's still Shanks who's created it.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

Seb,
Definitely not challenging what you are saying as to be honest, I didn't listen closely to the clip at all. I trust your ear waaaay more than my own.


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It's Shanks that produced it and has his sound and style of production all over it. HUNDRED percent, agreed it was probably produced fill in the blanks style versus everyone playing at once. I truly think the reason he's still around is his speed of production and knowing how to fit the mold of production around his declining vocals.

Not sure about the bass part, it's still too early to tell and hard to hear but Hugh sticking with the root notes isn't the most uncommon thing in the world.

Pleasantly surprised with the Do What You Can clip. Nothing special, but enjoyable. I like that it's so upbeat.

Iḿ in agreement with all the above.

I wish all bands in general would record the way they once did. Too many technology tricks involved and not enough studio time.

Jonś natural voice has become so unenjoyable lately, Iĺl take option B if I have to choose one over the other. I do however think they (Jon and John) could find a much better balance with Jonś voice. Iḿ not 100% certain how Jon records but Iḿ going to take a shot and say that itś once or twice start to finish and thatś it. Then they go through some note corrector / auto-tune / vocal technology improvement process / etc.

Not to drift too far off topic but I know a lot of bands are anti demo because they believe the demo is the best take. Once it starts to iron out, the song loses that magic. Back to Bon Jovi - I can agree somewhat with that even when comparing the NJ demos to the final release. Maybe Shanks convinced Jon of that somewhere towards the beginning of HAND... And at the time, using technology was a modern breakthrough. The only difference is, Jonś voice was much more recordable back then.

Anyway, I think if Jon took a little extra time in the studio laying down different vocal notes, less technology would be needed for a more natural sound. Studio tricks have been used since the beginning of time so Iḿ not against it. Iḿ just not a fan of apparent shortcuts and digital coverups. Itś just sloppy and lazy.

Unfortunately as far as timing goes, I don't think Jon has the air to keep up.
When I listen to We Don't Run on BB, itś obviously apparent that the song was recorded in a slower speed and sped up. Especially when you listen to the Ohhhhś in Teardrop and then listen to them in WDR. So yes, Do What You Can was most likely recorded the same way...

But at the end of it all, as much as we want Jon to sound like the Jon of yesteryear, and record, and write music, and sing etc, heś not that guy anymore. Itś 2020 and this is where itś at now.

Some artists make a career out of that Electronic vocal. Post Malone just sprang to mind. With this technology, Jon can record for another 20 years.

I don't like agreeing with Seb on principle () but so much this. And those drums sound so lazy I'd go so far as to say that there's no way that was played live either. Or if it was Tico was woken up at 3am, handed a weak coffee and told to play - not given the track, just a BPM and time signature. There are at least 3 fills missing from that 30 second clip.

As it is my money would be that Shanks racked up a shitty country backing track from Jon's acoustic version with a drum machine and him playing everything else.

Jon's voice surprised me. The tricks still work for him in the studio. That's fine.

Now if Richie were here doing her backing vocals and playing the guitar it would be much more enjoyable.

Shanks produced this in 2002. He has a "style" I'll give ya that but he clearly produces to fit the sound that bands want. The sound is crystal clear, the guitars jangle, the drums groove.

The band sounds like Jon wants them to. Or how he has to sound because of what needs to be done to his voice. A natural sound would sound terrible with his thin voice maybe, I really don't know.