Let's rate: THINFS, the abum

As a first listen experience, it's an easy 10. No other album since TD has meant so much to me. I never thought I'd feel the magic of listening to a whole album and enjoying (almost) every song and hitting repeat immediately after it ended. And again, and again

Does it mean it's their best in 20 years? I feel it is, as a whole, the themes, the right balance of serious/fun/passionate lyrics., the way it flows. But I need some time to digest the songs. I still love Teardrop, Who Would You Die For and Fingerprints more than anything released since DA but they feel more like solo songs than band songs so I still need to sort my mind lol.

A solid 8 for the moment. Vocals matter to me a lot and that's obviously the weakest point but it's much much better than I expected. It's a shame BB gave the illusion they would choose another sound, a more natural vocal approach, but the passion is there again an at the end of the day that's what draws me to the songs.

When I finally have my CD and I can listen properly I'm sure it'll be at least a 9

I gave What About Now 8 from the initial excitement. It's probably dropped to a 6.5 now because familiarity breeds contempt. The great songs are still great, but the not so great ones don't even get listened to and hearing the live versions of Because We Can and What About Now flattened the experience of them.

Just like then though I will probably wait til I get the proper album in my hands, digest it, and then decide.

But pretty excited by the comments so far.

I don't need to wait to rate this album....

The writing is perfect - Jon even stated that he put time into these lyrics and it shows... Deep and meaningful lyrics that don't exist in today's music anymore...

Jon sounds believable and it's a perfect balance for his now vocals. I'm not getting TD meets HAND... I'm getting DA meets The Circle...

The production is very 2016 - There are songs I like better from the live stream with a more natural sound and songs that work better with studio productions... I would like to see Jon record and album live in the studio and then do auto-tunes / overdubs just correct the small mistakes...

Here is how/why I know I love this album... I could not wait to get up this morning and drive to work just to hear it in my car even though I listened to it a bunch of time last night... The past few albums got old quick and this one is sticking with me... Labor Of Love got me first, then came Roller Coaster, now Drive You Home... I'm obsessed with these songs to point of listening nonstop... They are all so good...

It took Jon 7 albums to get it right but he finally did...

I don't think we should look at it this way. Of course it's not as good as the classics. We should be rating it as 2016 Bon Jovi, comparing it to the last few albums.
To me 10 doesn't mean as good as the classics, it means the best that Bon Jovi could produce in 2016.
I gave it a 9 because it's a huge improvement over WAN.

The real test will be in a months time. Right now the songs are so fresh it can sometimes sway your initial thoughts about them. That said, we've had the live versions for a few weeks now.

I wonder how many times a professional reviewer listens to a new album before rating it?


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I gave it a 9, this is the only album they have released since TD on which I enjoyed every single track from the first listen. I do enjoy some tracks more than others, for example I LOVE "I Will Drive You Home" while Knockout is mediocre but it's still ok to my ears.


The most important thing that this album is missing are Richie's backing vocals, some songs like Scars On This Guitar and Labor Of Love would've been even better with Richie's awesome harmonies. But if Richie were still in the band most likely we would've gotten another WAN..

7

New Jersey, Keep The Faith and These Days are 10s
SWW/Have A Nice Day are 9s
Lost Highway/Self titled are 8s

THINFS would site comfortably as a 7 for me.

above
Crush/Bounce which are 6's
7800 5
The Circle 4
WAN 3

That's how I justify a 7....might change over time...

I will offer some tentative first impressions.

The first point I want to make is that I think this is a modern Bon Jovi masterpiece. Of course, I think comparing it to the band's classic catalog will see it fall short, but the music has shifted so much since 2000 that those comparisons would be unfair anyway.

On the first couple of listens, I feel comfortable saying it is the best post-2000 release. It has more depth than any albums this century and is probably the most coherent collection of songs too (Lost Highway maybe too).

I know the general consensus is we should wait to offer opinions after the album sinks in. I agree with this for lasting opinions. However, I will not go from thinking something is excellent to thinking something stinks, personally, so this album is strong no matter what. There may be a middle ground one the initial excitement wears off, but this is the most interested I have been in a Bon Jovi album for a decade.

I don't love every song. In fact, I don't love many of them at all. Aside from Knockout, though, each song is listenable to me and many are very good. I am someone who has perhaps like five songs from the last five albums, so I am not someone who simply loves everything this band does. I am one of the biggest critics.

The strongest collection of lyrics since These Days easily. A distinct lack of rock punch would be my main criticism of the album.

Early impressions, 8.5 out of 10.

Edit: One more thing. This is the first Bon Jovi album in years that I have been unhappy when the songs end. They are too short and are interesting enough that I want most to continue.

Good ratings, overall I agree with you on this, but wouldn't this mean THINFS would be a 9 or at least 9.5?

At least as good as Slippery? I'm not sure it will reach those heights, even after multiple plays.

Have A Nice Day is an album I have great memories from, so it's quite a special record for me.

I love everything on the first album and Lost Highway has been a favourite since release for me. (I still think 'Walk Like A Man' is one of Jon's finest song writing moments in the last 20 years and it didn't even make the record - a decision I will never understand)

So I'm good with a 7