This was the most I've enjoyed BJ in the last 5 years I guess. Yeah he struggles, but the harmonies are great and the songs seem more sincere that way.

Yeah same here :-) Thumps Up

Totally agree Dominic.

Love the guitar sound.

Aloha !

I might be wrong here, but reading your post you're making it sound as if Bon Jovi's THINFS has deep layers and needs to be put into the right context in order to enjoy it? What context might that be?

The album is just very bland, there's no depth to the lyrics, it's just a bunch of cliches strung together and then Jon subsequently pretending to be some poet during the promo's by saying there's a lot going on in the lyrics. Clearly loads of fans fall for that nonsense and actually believe the bullshit he comes up with, but the absolute lack of emotion on the album, both in the lyrics and in the music winds up killing the album completely.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

Good to see you are on the more positive side. I think the whole album is a turd and it is no bette than WAN although I’ll drive you home is a masterpiece.

In my opinion, lyrics don't make a great song or album... Does Bad Medicine or Lay You Hands On Me have great lyrics with depths... No... It's all in the vocal delivery and production...

Bang A Drum is one of my favorite songs on Blaze but the duet country version is pure shit... Same lyrics but shitty production and vocal delivery by both Jon and Chris...

I think THINFS was a step in the right direction... If they could somehow combine the best of both studio and live versions, the album could even be better...

I always say when we get new music, are we getting the TLFR versions of potentially great songs?

I mean if the 1990 version of Jon sang on THINFS, it would have more passion, different production, which would ultimately change the entire structure of certain songs...

Steel Hearts, I'll Never Let You Go is a great song because the guy sings the shit out of it and no other reason...

Sent from my HTCD160LVW using Tapatalk

Well, yes and no. Analyzing things in a vacuum can invalidate an argument. It doesn’t make the argument false, but cherry-picking the examples that fit what you want to say and leaving out what could weaken your argument is lazy. Imagine if you read a review of a BJ fan that didn’t listen to modern Top40 music and they were gushing about how the band created a never-before heard sound with Bounce or HAND, or that they were astonished at the genius idea that BJ had when they decided to delve into country music because no rock band had ever tried to crossover into that, and those fans wouldn’t even mention WSYCGH as a factor.
If the guy had said “Well, according to Jon, after all the pain and heartache he suffered due to Richie leaving, trouble with the label and the failure of the Buffalo Bills bid, he had a lot to say and he would bare his soul on this record, but honestly that’s a bunch of crap and the lyrics are as generic as they come” I’d say he has a point and I do agree with most of it, even though I like the album. But he would've made his point across in a fair way.

Lyric quality and “depth” it’s absolutely personal. You can acknowledge that a lyric is shit but it means something to you for whatever reason and that’s as valid as liking a Bob Dylan lyric. It is valid to like it without acknowledging it is shit, as long as you don’t try to cram your opinions down other peoples throat or get upset when somebody points it out. You are entitled to your own (shitty or else) opinions.
My father was a teen when the Beatles broke big and because he had 0 knowledge of English, he enjoyed those first songs. Over the years his obsession grew and he got tons of material to helped him understand the lyrics and the evolution of the band (lyrically and musically), but he never reneged of the first albums. Why would he, there were memories attached to them. I used to mock my dad growing up because I thought those lyrics were ridiculous and childish and how the hell are they considered the best band in history! But it is hypocritical because I do like many shitty songs so *shrugs*

My connection to THINFS is personal, not in the sense that I’ve gone through things described in the album but in a “I can’t explain it, it is how I feel about it and that’s enough for me”. I shouldn't like some of the songs because of their style or the lyrics or whatever, but the album works for me as a whole. More than LH which has better music and better lyrics but I can’t connect to it at all (I’m choosing LH as an example because it is also “based on personal experiences”).

Living with the Ghost was the most played song on my Spotify in 2017, i can really relate to the lyrics, although could it be better with a ´not so WAN` sound of guitar

I´m also fond of Drive You Home and i like few others in different degrees.

Sometimes it´s the rhythm that connects you to a song, sometimes it´s the lyrics and sometimes the vocals. When it´s all connected, it´s a ****ing masterpiece.

This is how good they were !
 

https://youtu.be/s-kbNZe4q-w

Lucky enough to see them in the early years, this is how it's done !

Brings back great memories