Originally Posted by Supersonic

So no, I don't think it's the same. I think what they're doing now is different from incorporating a various amount of influences. Nowadays due to the the constant overkill of adding outside influences they're so out of touch with nowadays music in general that it's hard to find out what a Bon Jovi song would sound like nowadays. Bon Jovi were never the most original act but Bon Jovi were also a band easy to identify. I remember when Real Life hit the radio long before the internet gave out samples. You just knew it was Bon Jovi, even when Jon wasn't singing. Compare this to stuff from the Circle. What About Now. This House Is Not For Sale. Take away Jon's voice and you're left with something completely generic and unidentifyable.

I can understand the band not wanting to sound the same. I don't mind the change in sound if the songs are there. These Days doesn't sound like New Jersey, Crush doesn't sound like These Days. These are good steps. But unlike with the first 2, since Crush, the songs just aren't there anymore.

With every subsequent release they're stripped further from their own identity and I don't think the band has ever played a song together in the past 10 years they just enjoyed playing. They're going through the motions. The band sounds tired of just playing what is ultimately Bon Jovi light. "Oh, here's that thing that other artist did before". "Oh here's that intro done by that other artist". The lack of own input is what's halted the creative output and what's ultimately caused Jon's river to run dry.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan