Oh no! I don’t like those songs!!!

Sigh... If only JBJ could remember his own words: "Some of the pop songs on the radio as well as the rap stuff are products of a studio environment but then us go in and record an organic rock record."

He came in late but "co-wrote" 5 of the songs, he gave enough input. If he's the producer and the songs make the record he is in the position to say "this won't do, let's re-record this, are we sure this is the vibe we want etc" so it coming out like it did falls on him as well. Look at what he's produced since 2014 (Though it's even odder that Radio Free America slid so far under the radar that whoever edits his Instagram didn't even know about it):

2014 – The Offspring – Summer Nationals (EP)
2014 – Black Veil Brides – Black Veil Brides IV
2014 – Sarah McLachlan – Shine On
2014 – Jann Arden – Everything Almost
2014 – Bryan Adams – Tracks of My Years
2015 – The Offspring – Coming for You (Single)
2016 – The Cult – Hidden City
2018 – Jann Arden – These Are the Days

I don't think he's the producing type he used to be. He's not going to come back and whip an aging band back into shape, I think it's just too far gone and Jon is too comfortable.

I truly think Shanks and Jon butt heads to make what they want to make. I have no reason to think there's no conflict sometimes. It's just the end product is so mediocre.

I don't agree with much of that to be honest. I don't get why you are putting such a big emphases on the RSO record.

Bob has done everything from Pop to Metal...all listing his recent jobs does is is prove how versitile he is, probably one of the reasons he was what Richie wanted to help fix the RSO album. say whatever you like about that album, it is certainky varied in styles!

I wouldn't take much notice on Wiki either. Shanks' page only lists What About Now from Bon Jovi onhis production discography, none of the others!

Look at Shanks stuff and it's mainly pop artists, mainly solo artists or vocal groups. One of my main problems with Shanks is that he used a very similar sound on a lot of his records. I recognised his production style on a Melissa Etheridge album, before I knew it was him! His most recent jobs are Take That, Boyzone and Babara Steisand. Again the Steisand song has been all over BBC Radio 2 and it definitely has a Shanks sound on it too...

For me, a poor producer is one that imprints his sound on everything he does, rather than bringing out the best of the artists sound, which is what I believe Bob does...

I still see Shanks as a yes man and that's why Jon likes him. He's not going to disagree with Jon and rock the boat. He's got a cushy gig there! And he's not a band guy and he's not a rock guy. But regardless, we all know it's not going to change because Jon is too comfortable with him, his vocal insecurities probably have a lot to do with that. Shanks is never going to be the one to push Jon to try something different, or interesting. I still believe that the right producer could do that, but I guess we will never know....

I like those songs.... :) ,anyway....i think that maybe the new album could reserve some surprises.... but we'll find out more probably the next year....

I think that in this time of inactivity of the band until the summer concerts, they should edit is doing Bruce Springsteen, historical concerts. Christmas would have been a perfect time to edit some of the concerts they did in the previous Christmases.

Hi!

I hadn´t listened to "1000000 BJ Fans can´t be wrong" for ages, until this week. I remember thinking many of the songs not being that good, but now I think they have gotten better thanks to the years and albums between. I have realised once again that the past doesn´t have to be just a photo.

I wish they could release a record that made their best albums seem less superb, but maybe they´re not in that wave anymore.

I think they´re content with their legacy and that that prevents them from looking for more, it´s just like they have no ambition (voice troubles an others appart).

I think.:)

My emphasis on the RSO example was people are making it the be-all end-all that if they get a producer like Bob Rock it will produce a well crafted product that will bring the fans back and make everyone happy. My point was in doesn't work that way when you're as big as Jon and Richie, they're going to make the album they want to make and it doesn't matter who is producing. 30+ years in, no producer is going to tell them to re-write a song and everyone's examples of producers doing so are very outdated. IF any producer comes along and pushes them to change then the hardcore fans will accuse them of pandering to modern styles. It's a lose/lose.

Agreed with Shanks's style. The overly compressed sound, the guitar parts. Like I said in a previous post, it's easier to hear the parts he played on WAN knowing what his playing is like. One of Michelle Branch's hits came on and it was very easy to realize it was him playing.

This may be true in Jon or Richie's case, but certainly not every band. I recently watched a documentary on the making on the last Deep Purple record, which was released last year, and Bob Ezrin (the producer) was very critical of their perfomances and their songs and suggested some major changes to them. Of course at the end of the day it's up to the band, but if they don't listen to the producer then they are wasting their money hiring him. He's there to be critical and get the best out of them. There is absolutely no point in one that just agress to whatever the artist wants.

But isn't that contradictory to say he's agreeing to whatever the band wants but it also sounds like his style? I mean Jon clearly likes working with him and likes how the records sound and I guess that's the sound he's chasing and John gets it dialed up the fastest. It's sad when someone you respect falls into routine, he needs to push himself to do better.

Not really, a producer having their own sound on the records and pushing the band to be better are really two different conversations, one doesn't contardict the other. Personally, I think it boils down to lazyness on both parts.

Lines get blurry here becuade Jon is also producing, and Shanks is also writing and playing.

thats true, a great song/album involves so many different factors that cant be controlled...thats why being a great player, singer or producer doesnt equals a great song...
jon clearly wants a relevant sound, with pop elements that matches his age...the song writing process from his part i dont think that has drastically changed, it may be the constant in this whole equation...i think richie is obviously missing songwriting wise, even if in the past decade he wasnt what he used to be, i think Rich was always an artist who needed special treatment from everyone around him in order to gain artistically the best out of him. the guy surely has music in him though no doubt..
To me its sadly clear that as long as shanks and phil x are involved the way they are its not going to work...shanks doesnt fit as a guitar player and phil x is in a totally different phase music wise making them not compimenting the bands output..
bobby bandiera, a guy who i also didnt like in bj had such a remarkable contribution guitar wise in destination ... he put his self in it and destination is a great album with some guitar highlights, nice tones, melodies, textures...
bobby mastered more in one album than shanks has in 3-4.
and personally i dont buy the underusing of phil x. i think jon has listened to his material and realises theeir styles dont match. i wonder if phil has even try to make jon listen a couple of riffs and chord progressions for future use...(by their sayings none of them has even tried which in my mind is weird)
the new album will have some nice hooks as always. it will be safe and by numbers..i d like to see some going left though for sure..and i really like billy falcons song writing though i believe in a more acoustic environment the raw emotions would come across much better!!

Destination Anywhere was such an interesting album because Jon was opne to experimenting and trying new ideas. I'd love for him to do another solo album which saw him trying out different things again, with different producers. But I think the chance of that happening is long gone.

I think that's the problem when the producer is also a member of the band...there is no outside point of view. No one to tell them it could be better....

Any word on when this album will be released?

No, but i think that new album could be released in the early months of 2020...

For now we only know that Jon is writing new songs…

4:32 min
https://youtube.com/watch?v=lwjj0dvv...ature=youtu.be

1. Isn't that Richie's boy? I've never heard of this guy before and now he's everywhere.

2. Labor Of Love is a Chris Isaak tribute and he just so happens to be great friends with Shanks. Coincident?

3. March 9th in Nashville. Lost Highway Part 2?

the same shit again

For me the next album could be a country rock album like i said some week ago...

A mix of Lost Highway and THINFS sonorities could has the new album.....

He and Richie have been friends since SWW; but Norm's business is vintage guitars, so he's good friends with a lot of professional guitarists.

If you look on YT, you can find a ton of videos where guitarists drop in play, chat, etc.; but here's the Readers Digest version:
https://youtu.be/xoC5oWUqofE

(BTW, check out the credits in the description. Norm wrote the song and co-produced it with Tim Pierce, who played guitar and bass, as well.)

Here's another "Who Shops at Norm's":
https://youtu.be/bmmLOSqETUM


We should be so lucky! :)
I've always loved LH. Couldn't believe all the negative comments when I first started lurking here. I still say a lot of people were just thrown by the whole "Nashville influence" marketing schtick, and expected it to be "cuntry"; so they were set up to dislike it to start with. Glad to see, when it was revisited years later, that a lot of them had changed their minds. I'd be more than happy with another Lost Highway.

Thanks for the overview on Norm. I'll take your word on it all. Not overly interested to click any additional links pertaining to him. But I do appreciate it.

Here is my long take on Lost Highway along with the possibilities of this new album being country:

The mainstream rock scene doesn't exist anymore in the States. It's now morphed into today's country. I always said Lost Highway was a little ahead of its time. Not only with trying to hit the mark a little early but with Bon Jovi, being nothing more than a rock band at that time, crossing over as well.

Lost Highway isn't a country album. It's "Nashville Influenced" which is a mistake Jon said he made for not referring to it as that since inception. Memory is not a country song. Any Other Day is not a country song.

The reason why I'm not a fan of Lost Highway has nothing to do with "Country". Although not my first choice, I don't dislike country. I've probably listened to Chicken Fried more times than anything off of WAN. I'm just not a fan of the songs on Lost Highway. Beside Memory and maybe one other, it's all just overproduced Post 2K Bon Jovi. Songs like Everybody's Broken and Till We Ain't Strangers Anymore put me to sleep.

However fast forward to 2019, factors are different now. We need something outside this current formula. Anything! Jon's voice, Richie's absence, the current music scene in the states. One thing about Country Songs are, you don't need a big voice to pull them off. They are not rock songs so production and vocals don't play a major role. Acoustic guitar, lyrics, and a story. Something as such could be a good place for a current day JBJ.

The band wrote and recorded numerous songs in Nashville pre LH, especially in the 90s so I'd pump the breaks before the "Another LH is coming" train starts. Travelling to write and record means a change from the usual system so I'm all for it. I don't want a country album but a rootsy sounding album with organic sounding drums and well thought out lyrics YES PLEASE.

But yeah Norm's been around forever, especially on Youtube for the past few years.

I think at this point I'd prefer them to try something and fail instead of just reproducing what they've done in the last decade or so

1. Nashville always been JBJ’s exercise town for many reasons... one of them because co-writers, other of course the studio, etc... Who knows about it this time.
2. Make A Memory is a gorgeous ballad with an acoustic guitar, but of course I would like some rock songs, as well.
3. Norm has good guitars and Shanks didn’t play anything nice???

it would be great if we got sth a little bit different, darker, less polished...
i really like all the songs jon wrote with billy falcon, nashville based song writer..
unfortunately jon songwrites in a certain way, so poor vocal performance will always affects his songs..making them a bit poor imo.
i have faith in jon as songwriter but the chemistry with Rich and the harmonies is what made it magic for me.
always looking forward for new material from the band though...

ps. i really want to go to Wembley, it would be like a full circle for me, with all the history involved with this building but nowdays i m leaning towards the idea of not going.. . seeing them without richie leaves a bittersweet taste

Not another LH please!
Mam is best ballad since Always after any ballad after.
Really like Any other day but that’s about it.

I wouldn't read too much into them going to Nashville. Jon has retired his Sanctuary II home studio for good, so they need someplace to go.
And major parts of the Crossroad and These Days material was recorded in Nashville as well.

Yeah, i forgot about that…..major parts of the Crossroad and These Days material was recorded in Nashville.

Anyway if the new album will be a rock album with Nashville influences i'm happy because Lost Highway is a good album,however i'd like something that reminds Bounce or HAND stile but nowdays and without Richie i don't think that could be possible… but the hope is the last to die :)

If we talk about studios only; JBJ has said before that unfortunately there are only a few Studios left in NYC because all the other big quality-studios had to close because many artists record their records at home. And when he talks about studios now... he basically thinks in Los Angeles, Nashville or New York.

With Lost Highway, they went to Nashville to WRITE... At this point based on the few interviews where Jon mentioned the album, it sounds like the writing part is mostly complete.

Not sure why he'd record in Nashville considering BB and THINFS was recorded at the old Power Station right in NYC...

Not very uncommon to record an album in multiple studios or maybe just a change of environment for inspiration.

If they are going in the Studio on March 9th, it sounds more like a fall release... September/October... Maybe a first single in July...

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I do not think it's another country album, but who knows, Jon likes to repeat himself.

If they begining in March, I do not think we have the album until 2020, but I could be wrong, it all depends on how this production is advanced, maybe Shanks has already recorded a lot of things, and just needs the band to fill.

In any case, I still think that the album will come out next year.

I think maybe in January if we're lucky a new single come out…. and in February/March the album.

I just say that HAND it would have been released more probably in February 2005 and for various reasons between Jon and the record company the album is came out in September 2005, so….. all can happen

WAN was if i'm not wrong recorded in big part in spring 2012 and the first single was released in January 2013.

Bounce and HAND get re-done because the record company had rejected the first versions of the albums.

WAN was put out later because a) Jon had originally promised the band a break and b) Richie needed the time to do his solo album.

THINFS had been finished for more than a year before it got released.

There are various reasons for album delays, but I think the last time they really pushed it that far back back because they weren't satisfied with the material yet was probably These Days.

According to you ,now that we know that the place for the recording is Nashville , the new album could be a Rock album with Country influences?

Bon Jovi hasn't done a rock album in more than a decade, so I'd rather say that we'll probably get some of the same old pop formula. Songs like Reunion or What's Left of Me from recent albums could've been, sound wise, from Lost Highway as well. Maybe a fiddle added here and there, who knows, but them recording in Nashville doesn't necessarily mean a country album.
Jon hates Los Angeles and if, for some reason, they can't/don't want to record in New York, a place like Nashville is the obvious choice.

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I don't know about NYC, because I'm sure there are other studios he could use; but I doubt Jon will be using The Power Station again any time soon.

Since THINFS was recorded, Berklee College of Music has taken over the studio and Cousin Tony is involved again.

https://www.mycentraljersey.com/stor...ack/770268001/

There's your answer!!!

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Aloha !

It doesn't really matter where they'll record it as pretty much everything sounds the same due to Shanks' way of mixing and producing things. Everything up from HAND with the exception of Lost Highway could've been from any album because it just sounds so similar. It's been over 10 years since Tico's drum sound changed and I've a feeling it's just a drumcomputer we're listening to nowadays anyway.

At this point I've no idea why Jon's releasing music anyway. He's got **** all to say, refuses to play it unless it's some kind of hit, it's not got much to do with music as anything is written by formula, no one buys it anymore apart from die hards who buy it because it's Bon Jovi and no one listens to it either apart from those few delusional idiots who think "it's a step in the right direction".

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan