Last Cigarette: Nicely different from typical BJ. Love the idea, especially love the drumming in the verses. Good solo as well. Not too keen on all of the lyrics, the “don’t ask the past to last bit” for example I’m not too sure about. The chorus is cool, and I like the fact that it’s pretty harmony driven, although sometimes the backing vocals seem a bit odd. And of course, the infamous Beach Boys breakdown is great, I love bits in songs that are just so unexpected that they demand you take notice. A good song, I’ll give it 7 / 10

I Am : I don’t quite know what to make of this song. I do quite like it, probably more so than Welcome, which it bears similarities to, but I don’t seem to like it quite as much as everything. The chorus is pretty powerful due to it being quite high for this era of BJ, and the lyrics are simple yet effective … again Jon does a good job with this one. Musically it’s pretty good, but not really outstanding … I dunno, I feel like I’m overlooking something important. I’ll give it 7 or 8 /10

Complicated: Controversially … I like it. I can identify with it. Maybe it is a bit odd for a band generally in their 40’s to be singing such a thing, but the band’s greatest strength IMO has always been to write songs that people can identify with, and this one gets me in that way. Although, the lyrics in general aren’t really all that great … mainly I like it cos of “Is there any body out there just like me?”, especially in the bridge, which is cool. Not an incredible strong by any stretch of the imagination, but I’ll probably give it 7 /10

Novocaine: Now this is a highlight of the album. It has a real stream-of-conciousness feel to it, and the lyrics are fantastic … not poetic, just brutally straightforward and honest. You’ve got to love “there’s a different kind of meaning now to living on a prayer”, and at the end Jon asserting that “I feel no pain”. The whole idea is a great one. And I especially love the breakdown and building back up … and the outro, I may not entirely be able to understand what Jon is saying, but it’s still a pretty heartwrenching moment … you can almost see him saying those things (whatever they may be) to Dave. Great song, 8 or 9 / 10 for this one

Story Of My Life: Yeah, so the chorus is almost the same as Last Cigarette’s, but in general terms the song is nearly completely different. Pretty good rock song actually, manages to sound like typical BJ but not so much so that it doesn’t offer anything new. I like the theme, it seems an appropriate way to end this album imparticular for the band be saying like “this is where we are in our lives right now”. I especially like the “I hope you’re by my side when I’m writing the last page” bit, just seems like a very good way to end the album. Some quite nice guitar on this track. I also like the way the chorus develops as the song goes on. So perhaps not a classic song, but a good song to end the album on. 7/10 sounds about right

Dirty Little Secret: Good rock song. Actually sounds a bit dance-y as well … kinda reminds me of a song by a band called Head Automatica, if anyone knows them. Nice drumming throughout, good guitar as well, nice solo. Like most of the songs I think Jon does a good job with this one, he really gives it some on, for example, “I wanna feel alive!”. The lyrics for the most part are great: “I light a candle in the garden of love, to blind the angels looking down from above” … how deviant, almost like Damned all over again. Would probably have been a worthy inclusion on the album proper, I’ll give it 7 or 8 / 10

Unbreakable: Yeah, it sounds pretty much like a heavier Backstreet Boys. Yeah, it has ridiculous lyrics. Yeah, it is completely over the top. But for all those reasons, I actually quite like it. It’s not particularly pretending to be anything it’s not, no one’s trying to pretend it should have been on the album. Plus, it actually kind of rocks in a cheesy heavy pop kind of way. I think the absolute ridiculousness of the lyrics just contributes to it. Love the chorus near the end, where the instruments drop out and Jon repeats the one word from each line, just great! Cheesy as hell, but great! Don’t think by any means that it should have been on the album, but it’s a fun song. I’d say 6 or 7 /10

Nothing: Officially my most listened to song on the album, which is odd considering it’s not even on the album. I love it, it’s kinda like I Am, but better IMO. Absolutely great chorus, great opening with the acoustic guitar before the drums and everything else kicks in, love the general acoustic/electric feel of it. No guitar solo perhaps, but I reckon the chorus near the end makes up for it, with Jon’s “I could learn to live without you, but I WOULD DIE!” and the “I won’t give up, cos you know I won’t let you down” outro. I have very little bad to say about this song, definetly should have been on the album, in place of I Am if the reason that it wasn’t on there was because they are too similar. 8 or 9 / 10

These Open Arms: Not too much to say about it, doesn’t really do anything for me. Quite nice lyrics I suppose. Pretty nice vocal harmonies I guess. Meh, it’s alright, but I think they made the right choice in pulling it from the album. 5 or 6 /10

And there we have it. In general I think that this is a good album … the band seem to have found a place where they seem pretty comfortable, which I’m not sure if I consider to be a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand, it’s good that they don’t sound as awkward and forced as some of the Crush and Bounce material, but on the other hand, I enjoyed Bounce mainly because of its experimentation and branching out into new directions. I may prefer the harder – rock Jovi of old, but the type of sound they have on this album does kinda suit them … more in some places that others though. I would really like them to release a live album at the end of this year, then take a good long break to do some more solo stuff.

Overall I’ll give the album 7.5 / 10, which is probably the same rating I’d give Bounce, but for different reasons. Dunno which one I prefer of the two