This House Is Not For Sale (2016) - Post Album Release Discussion

I've had the album pretty much on repeat at any opportunity I've had to play it...
After one day I'd listened to it more times than I've listened to WAN in 3 years, so that can only be a good thing.

This House is Not For Sale - 7/10 - Didn't really like it at the time it was initially released, and it's the standard sort of album opener we expect, but it's not as bad as I thought.

Living With the Ghost - 7/10 - Largely about the relationship with Richie apparently, and it's sold, if a little uninspiring.

Knockout - 7/10 - Pretty much this album's "Have a Nice Day". Solid

Born Again Tomorrow - 9/10 - Bon Jovi meets Calvin Harris & Coldplay. I really like it and I think, should it be released as a single, with regular air play, it would do well. Unfortunately that won't be the case!!

Roller Coaster - 6.5/10 - All I hear is "The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World

New Year's Day - 7.5/10 - Powerful, especially considering the topic is the rebirth of the band under it's new guise

The Devil's In the Temple - 9/10 - Sticks out a bit like "If I Were Your Mother" on KTF in terms of it being quite heavy. Very much of the late 90s sound. Surprised they decided to pull it from Burning Bridges and stick it on here.

Scars on This Guitar - 7/10 - First of the real ballad songs on the album, but nowhere as bad as some of the turgid ballads we've had recently.

God Bless This Mess - 5/10 - Sounds like something from Lost Highway (an album I don't really like). It's just filler really

Reunion - 9/10 - I really shouldn't like this song.... but I love it! Definitely has an echo of "Whole Lot of Leaving" in the opening bars, and I personally find the chorus is a bit of a rip-off of "I Will Wait" by Mumford & Sons, but it works really well. I remember seeing the acoustic version from the actual graduation ceremony and being very meh about it... Shows what getting together with the band in the studio can do!

Come On Up To Our House - 7/10 - A fairly pleasant album closer. I'd like them to start finishing albums off with a punch, but recently they've been more closing time at the pub sort of songs.

Real Love - 4/10 - Blind Love Pt 2. Enough said...

All Hail The King - 8/10 - First time listening to it I suddenly thought Jon had had a revelation moment and found God, then I saw the Broadway stream, with explanation. I preferred my interpretation...

We Don't Run - 8.5/10 - It's My Life Pt2. Screw the haters... I love this song.

I Will Drive You Home - 8/10 - There's just something about this song that, for me, makes it hard to dislike. Jon's voice is way down to a level we've never heard, and it actually sounds really good.

Goodnight New York - 5/10 - It's a fun song, but it's the sort of thing that you'd imagine being played on TV during an ad campaign.

Overall - 7.5/10

You could probably listen to every song and pick out it's near equivalent from previous albums, not that this is a bad thing!
However, it's not an album that screams out that it's a Stadium Tour album. I wouldn't pay for a ticket to go and hear the songs played live. I don't want to pay money just to go and hear the old songs again either, so this time around, after 20 years, unless they play MK Bowl, I'm out...

It's also one thing to criticize as a fan and another to just criticize as a troll... At the end of the day this is still a fan board not an open forum for non-jovi fans to come here and stir the pot...

Jon said that this is about the re-birth of the band and dedicated to them when he explained how it came together in the studio and that it's anything "but a date on the calendar".

It won't change when he knows the lyrics believe me

I've been a fan longer than you I guess - even if you're the world's most..... person
There are BJ fans who still love their stuff until 1995 and always will and hate their decline from then on. I am one of them. Live with it.

The thing you should have noticed from watching the Tidal stream was that Jon is fighting for every word. If there is anything that always pulled me in as a fan it was how hard Jon worked within the context of ability to give what had and continues to do so, even if that ability is much diminished from what he was able to do before. You aren't watching a man who is bored and is putting out minimal output on that stage. It's obvious to most all of us he is putting up a battle.

You are pretty much doing the equivalent of putting down a man who has been wheelchair ridden and is fighting to walk again for not dancing around. You don't have any idea as to what or why Jon is in his current condition, but it is his reality. You can prattle on about Steven Tyler or whoever else while disregarding the fact that Jon isn't any of those people. You don't have to like his current condition, but you should at least have enough ability to perceive the fact he's doing the best he can today. Is it a shame? Yes. Is it pitiful? No.

I'm a big KISS fan. You hear people just like you bagging on Paul Stanley... making fun of his voice and physical condition. Then you go back and watch any KISS performance from the 1980s and all you'll see is a man who gave his all every night, abusing his body and voice for your entertainment. Jon wasn't any different...except Paul was actually able to keep that up longer than Jon could. Mourn the loss of what you loved, but at least respect the dedication to doing the best they can with what they have.

I don't necessarily disagree with you. I have mostly hated all albums since These Days, although I like the new one.

However, you seem very bitter about Bon Jovi's demise. Let it go dude, can't be nice to have been as let down as you seem for 20 years.

this is great,well done

While I agree with you to some extent, there wasn't some accident or disaster that caused Jon to lose his voice suddenly. It happen gradually over the years, because he didn't protect his instrument; largely by his lifestyle choices. So you can't praise him for 'fighting for every word' while not blaming for being in a situation where he has to fight for the most simple notes.

We tend to assume it was his smoking that did it... except you have people pointing to smokers the same age or older than Jon that haven't suffered similar decline. We don't actually know why his voice is in the condition it is in. We can speculate all day long, but the fact is we don't really know the root cause. We can see the evidence that he is working as hard as he can with what he has.

I'm 43. I look closer to 33, quite matter of fact. My brother is 9 months younger than I am. He looks 45. The difference? Genes, for one. I'm adopted, whereas my brother is my mom and dad's biological son. He also has a family with 3 kids to contend with. No one could accuse my brother of not taking care of himself. It's a combination of luck of the draw genetically and different life paths.