Originally Posted by Rdkopper

When KTF and TD's first came out, a lot of fans in the US had a hard time accepting them because they didn't have those same 80's elements that the first 6 (including solo) albums had... The music was different, Jon cut his hair which people had a hard time accepting, his style was different, and the music had completely changed...

Back then, Keep The Faith had some gems like BOR, In These Arms, & Dry County because of those 80's element and ballad like songs people craved for... But KTF as a single was like 'WHAT!!!!!' Others like Little Bit Of Soul & Women In Love were considered filler tracks when you compare them to the 2 monster prior albums like Slipper and Jersey where every track was killer... If I Was Your Mother was cool because it was the closest to grunge and rocked but it wasn't Blood on Blood...

TD's took on that same similar vibe too. I think after Always, everyone thought Jon was going back to old school 80's but he obviously didn't...

It wasn't until after the fact, post Crush where fans looked back on those albums and realized how great they really where from top to bottom... The fashion and trends were both removed and it was solely about the songs and entire albums...

I feel like history is kinda repeating itself a little here... BB is KTF and THINFS is TDs... Jon now has the gray hair, similar to when he cut it back in the 90's.. These albums are different and have some depth... Some people are embracing it while others are still trying to figure it all out... I'm not saying that THINFS is as good as TDs... I'm just saying that it all feels a little familiar... I feel that Jon is no longer going for IML part 2 3 4 5 6... There is an honesty here that I haven't seen in a while... These songs are more than just some manufactured piece of garbage...

I think these albums will be albums that we look back on in 5 to 7 to 10 years when Jon's voice is completely shot out and say "If Jon could just give us those albums again, I'd be satisfied"...