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Originally Posted by bonjovi_cro
And now this, 5 minutes ago, just got on my FB feed:
https://ultimateclassicrock.com/bon-...er-chart-fall/
Bon Jovi's new album Forever certainly didn't live up to its name on the charts.
As noted by Forbes, after debuting at No. 5 in its first week of release, the album fell all the way out of the Billboard 200 album sales chart the following week. Unless it returns in the future, Forever will be the first Bon Jovi studio album to only last one week in the Top 200.
EDIT: To be completely honest, when you sell 50k albums in the US and then the sales drop basically to zero, where every two years for past 20 years on average you get best selling tours and millions of people to see you, it's a bad effort from record company. Jon did more promo now than I remember. Streaming is bad. Why don't they market it as iconic rock band making comeback?
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It's not a comeback when they've only been gone for 2 years since the last tour, and it's still "Jon Bon Jovi and Friends", and not Bon Jovi. Can't be advertised as a comeback without the original lineup or something like that.
Absolutely no one buys records anymore (I mean I do, but I don't know anyone else who does). I read this article and I feel the writers at Forbes, and journalists in general, are seemingly oblivious to the real world, but that's another topic. Music isn't what it used to be - 50k records in the first week and Forever made it into top 5???? Some 20-25 years ago that would've barely cracked the top 40.
Bon Jovi fans went out and got the record when it came out. That's what happens with every band now when it comes to physical CDs, even the new bands, but it's especially true for nostalgia acts. Music doesn't work like it did back in the day and no one, especially in the rock genre, has the staying power they once had. We're living in the TikTok culture where everything is a quick fad and the public moves onto the next thing.
Forever not staying on an irrelevant chart that's based on sales which no longer exist isn't important. That's why I'm kinda laughing at Forbes for even taking time to write about that. If the band or management expected sales and hits, they are a lot more naive than I could imagine. Of course, I don't think they expected that, but I am still surprised at the amount of promotion they did given that there's no tour planned to support it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bonjovi_cro
In Europe, Bon Jovi is still iconic rock band, playing into nostalgic, vintage vibes for over a decade and a half at least. Did Jovi completely went out of that style in the US, or is the US completely different market now? I mean, I get that Jovi is not anymore No. 1 act, but to disappear from top200 after one week?
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Top 200 doesn't really matter to anyone. You won't hear Jon talk about this, or any other artist, unless they hit #1 - then they have to go around bragging about it. If Jon's voice was on point and they went out for a tour, it would be an absolute monster and they'd be at the top of earning charts for sure, like they've always been.
Bon Jovi are absolute icons and greats in the US. I feel their reputation has grown in the last 10-15 years because of the overall increase in interest for 80s music and pop-culture. However, corporate radio that owns nearly all radio in the US only plays like 5 of their best known songs on rotation, and all of them from the 80s plus maybe It's My Life. Bon Jovi's 90s catalogue is invisible in the US. This is true of so many other rock artists too. I only hear the same 4-5 songs by Pink Floyd, Queen, AC/DC, Led Zep, or Rolling Stones on the radio, to name a few.
US public is very nostalgic and always prefers any band's earlier stuff. Want proof of this? That same Forbes article talking about Forever dropping out of the top 200 also added that the 2010 Greatest Hits compilation is still up there at like 160.
As for the album, I have listened to Forever a few times and I stick to my initial thoughts that it's the first album since HAND that I enjoy playing again. I think it's almost better than HAND simply because the bad tracks on HAND are REALLY bad, while stuff like Kiss the Bride and Walls of Jericho are meh.... but not God-awful. There are some elements I still dislike which take away from "authentic" Bon Jovi for me, but it's miles better than everything from Lost Highway onward.