Its not THAT bad when you consider the previous 3 albums...

Bounce lasted 5 weeks on in the top 50. After 3 tour dates in Australia in re-entered for another 2 weeks for a total of 7 weeks.

HAND did a little better spending 8 weeks in the top 50 despite no tour dates in Australia. HAND the single did well over here which is why I think the album did better.

Lost Highway spent 7 weeks in the top 50, peaking at #5 and then dropped out. It re-entered, like Bounce, after 5 shows down under where it bet it's previous position and went to #2. 11 weeks in total in the top 50.

So far, The Circle has gone from #4 > #12 > #18 > #26 > #42, giving it 5 weeks in total. Australia has been confirmed for the 2011 tour so it may still have a couple of weeks to go during that year. So in perspective, it really hasnt done any worse than the previous 3 albums. It went Gold in it's first week here and that shows that the boys still have it.

So summarising...

Bounce = 7 weeks (mildly successful lead single, 2 not so successful follow up singles, 3 tour dates).
HAND = 8 weeks (successful lead single, no tour dates, only 1 charting single)
Lost Highway = 11 weeks (5 sold out shows, no singles charting in the top 100)
The Circle = 5 weeks (tour dates expected, a not very successful lead single peaking @ #62).

We cant expect them to spend several weeks in the top 20 anymore. Can they do it? I think so (just like they did with Crush), but do they need to? No. Bon Jovi have prooved they are a successful band and the fact of the matter is that after 26 years, they still have what it takes to reach to the top 10 in several countries around the globe. Thats enough for me!

As a side note, it's still charting better after 5 weeks than it did in UK.