I really don't think they were as badly received as you are making out. Pretty much every song released by the band gets slated here by some people. A lot of people really saw those songs as the right direction too, myself included. I know a few Bon Jovi fans outisde of this board and they agreed too. And the Backstage fans just think everything is amazing anyways don't they? I really don't think Jon makes decisions on what to do based on any comments made here....

If Jon wanted too he could have done a solo album in this vein but he clearly doesn't. Jon was completely without a label for a while after Burning Bridges, so had no label telling him what to do. He could easily have done a solo album in the Stand Up vein then, but chose not to, Instead he went back to Universal and tried to chase that hit single again. he may have had to go to a smaller label, meaning that illustrious hit would be even futher out of reach, but I think he would have a lot more respect going down this route, instead of churning out the same old Bon Jovi formula again and again. At the end of the day a JBJ solo album and tour like that is not going to make the same money for him that a Bon Jovi album and a big arena tour would, and I guess that's what matters most these days.