So now that it leaked (the day before, just like the previous album). let's give proper first impression ratings.

My 2 cents: I've only listened to it once yet, but I'm leaning towards a decent 7. Limitless is a stinker of an opener and American Reckoning kills any kind of momentum built by DWYC, but the second half really flows nicely. Others have noted Blood on the Water, which I also agree is the best song on there. I'll also add that Unbroken, which I didn't care for when it was first released, fits very well as an album closer.

I find these threads useful for comparison purposes with previous albums - I'll put links to these threads when I find it. I hope at least some of you will agree to it and will forgive me for duplicating an existing ratings thread, which is more of a "yay or nay" type poll.

EDIT: A couple of thoughts after the second listen - I think it deserves an 8, even if I voted for 7. It's very much comparable to THINFS which I consider a good enough modern Bon Jovi record that is an improvement over both TC and WAN. American Reckoning is fine where it is - it fits with the album. The best part about Blood on the Water is not the melody or the instruments - it's the fact that it BREATHES, which is such a rare thing in modern Bon Jovi. This song, as well as Unbroken as a closer - both do a good job in reversing that trend and using extra couple minutes to build the climax, similar to Living With The Ghost. But overall, apart from Limitless, there isn't another true stinker and the songs are good enough to be listenable now and hypothetically great if we had a great voice to sing them. Oh well.