What About Now revisited
 

So 5 years on I have listened to What About Now for the first time in maybe 2 years...

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

I'm interested to know what you all think 5 years on and to know your favourite tracks.

Easily the worst Jovi album and most skippable. I'm With You was almost a good song. I tried really hard to like it, had it in my car for months when it came out but there's just no redeeming features. The best track was Into The Echo and it wasn't even on the album.

Sambora mentioned something after he left about the album not being ready for release or rushed and that's what I felt at the time. There's some good songs, but generally most of them sound to me like they needed more work, either rewritten or just different production.

That and the fact I really liked The Fighter until someone here pointed out the Civil Wars song it sounds identical to.

There were a few songs on there I liked, that's what the water made me for example, but I definitely agree it sounded unfinished. If it had released about a year later it probably would have been fine.

I've tried and tried it again over the years, but I just don't start liking the album in any way. There are some decent tunes, but the best one (I'm With You) is hindered by probably the worst production on any Jovi release (or in fact any release at all).

As james_d so rightly said, it sounds unfinished. Like songs that weren't developed past their demo stage and not nearly ready for a release. Box Set material with loads of overproduction added to them.

Even though I'm not a great fan of Burning Bridges or This House, I still find myself listening to those albums occasionally and enjoying them.
But WAN just lacks on all fronts: lyrics get cringeworthy too often even for Jovi standards, musically it's bland and uninspired and there's no flow in there from at least song 7 or so onwards. It all blends into one big mash-up.

To quote Jon from the HoF: This is the album where the shit hits the fan :(

The funny thing is, I like Burning Bridges, but that seemed to be a rushed album to finish their contract. My theory, and I'm probably wrong, is that they spent less time on producing the album, so less chance of over producing the hell out of songs, thus we got less of the problems they had with WAN

It was shit then and it's shit now. Crap album from start to finish.

so could they have released this..?

A Teardrop To The Sea
I'm With You
We Don't Run
Pictures of You
Amen
That's What the Water Made Me
What's Left of Me
Who Would You Die For
Fingerprints
Life Is Beautiful
Room at the End of the World
The Fighter

With These Two Hands
Into the Echo

The worst BJ album along with The Circle.

I knew someone who post this... so predictable

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WAN is horrible. THINFS and BB were acceptable. I agree, I'm With You sounds really bad, and it's a pity, because it could have been a good song.

He's just spoken the truth.

I was actually waiting for your post saying that it actually isn't that bad and that in ten years from now we'll all look back on it as a decent album.
Then something more about your edits of certain versions, playlists you've created etc. [emoji39]

But your post was really almost unpredictable this time!

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Here is a different type of review!!!

First let's just say that it is the weakest album in the Bon Jovi collection... no doubt about that... However, it doesn't mean it's all bad either... One album just has to be the weakest...

I never listen to albums anymore from start to finish unless they are new... Once the newness wears off, I'm just a straight up shuffle guy...

My collection has every song broken down in order, by year and I even include soundboard covers... Album Songs, Bsides, Soundtracks, Box Set, Basically anything JBJ sang on... Even all those covers Jon did in 2014 with the KOS... So basically I'm literally shuffling through 600 (Jon) Bon Jovi songs of everything...

The 12 or 15 songs from WAN aren't the worst out of the 600... There are weaker songs on the box set, there are weaker songs on other albums...

I think there is a fine line with some songs... example: If Into The Echo didn't make the album and ended up on a box set or a bside, I could see someone questioning, how did this not make an album?

In summary, when you are listing to EVERYTHING in a shuffle mode and a song from WAN comes on, it's not nearly as cringe worthy as one might think... and most of the songs are enjoyable....

And for me it's that simple... Weak Album, but Don't Mind Having The Songs As Part Of My Collection...

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I just feel that no one involved had actually any artistic drive for making that album and it reflects. That's something I can't say about any other release in their catalogue.

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Here you go... See Above... Exactly what you wanted... I even added my playlist...

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There's some songs on here that I really like (in theory), but the performances are anemic and the direction is non-existant - the second half is heavy on slow ballads, the first half tries to be midtempo pop, and it doesn't even have a unifying sense of atmosphere (like Bounce did, since the production was rather particular).

I agree, I'm With You is the best song in terms of melody, and it also has a GREAT solo, but it sounds overproduced as hell. Other than that, I dig Room At The End Of The World, Beautiful World (awful lyrics aside), Pictures Of You and Amen (yes, Amen). What's Left Of Me sounds like a good LH outtake, so that's nice, as is Thick As Thieves (that one could have REALLY benefited from a bit more work; the ideas that are there are great but the execution comes up slightly short). And yeah, that's pretty much half the album. But again, there's just now flow to it all.

Since some of these songs were written after WAN was released, no, they could not have.

Listened to it not long ago and was pleasantly surprised too...

As stated above, let’s start with it being BJ’s worst album (along with THINFS and for me Crush) I actually think it has a lot in common with Crush, it just doesn’t flow as an album (THINFS does for example), but anway...good points:
- Last glimpses of good Richie: Army of one (don’t even find the lyrics that cringy 5 years down the line lol), I’m with you (shame about production)
- Jon songs in the direction he should be going due to his age and voice, although most fans prefer him to write and ‘perform’ shit he can’t even sing: Stand up guy acoustic stuff, Amen,...
- Uplifting positive lyrics: BWC, AOO, LIB
- A decent ballad: TAT

So yep, not all bad 😊

I don't think it was all about Jon trying to make money to buy his football team as most people insinuated...

For a guy worth anywhere between a half and full billion, the 20 million he'd make from the tour meant nothing... Jon was scouting out teams way before WAN anyway...

As we learned with Burning Bridges, Jon's contract was up in 2015 and by the end of the greatest hits tour in 2011, Jon had four years to get out 2 albums and 2 tours...

I think WAN was done in a panic and not necessarily about money... It's almost certain to think that THINFS would have been the album after and BB would have never happened if Jon's record deal was instantly renewed...

In reality THINFS was done and ready to go in 2015... It was just as rushed as WAN... When the record company screwed Jon over, he held the album back and gave them BB... It was after that, Shanks went back and retweaked the production even finer...

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Oddly I don’t mind it but like most jovi albums of last decade, when good, it’s good, when bad, it absolutely dreadful.

Take out the dirge like BWC, Amen, The Fighter, Not Running , army of one, old habits and lose the Sambora song.

Add into the echo to what you have left and it’s ok.

I’ll put it this way, when I read the thread title “What about Now revisited,” my reaction was, “Do I have to?”

Having said that, I will revisit it in the next few weeks and reply later.

I thought The Circle was the only album you really didn't like?

Of course he was scouting for teams before and had been interested in things like that, but the bid to buy the Buffalo Bills simply got the better of him in 2012.

Sure he has a net worth of 300-400 million, but that doesn't mean that he had all the money needed available to bid for the team's ownership. And I'm certain that Dorothea also put in a veto in terms of him using all family savings for something like that.

So money had to come in and hindsight it all adds up perfectly. Near the end of the 2011 tour, Jon had said that they'd all take a break for some time and that's why Richie was gearing up for the solo record. As we learned in hindsight, Richie had to switch between NJ and LA to work on both records and WAN had effectively been done before Aftermath of the Lowdown. Furthermore, Tico declined to play on demos in late 2011 because Jon had broken the promise of a break and he didn't have the motivation to go back again.
The tour was essentially sold and promoted (ticket sales started in Novemeber 2012) before there was a single, let alone an album, being ready to build upon. They've never done this before or after since it strategically doesn't make too much sense. If I remember correctly, even the first leg had quite a number of shows played before the album was even launched. Yet again, this was due to the time pressure. Once an album is ready, record company executives start to set up a strategy for marketing, promotion and distribution. That takes some time and waiting wasn't an option. If we think back, we all bought our tickets not knowing what kind of album/musical direction was to come. And the tour itself had a gruelling schedule as well. Where TC tour had been spread over the course of 18 months, they visited all the places here within 10 months (USA arena & stadium, Europe, Asia, Australia). Even for Bon Jovi standards that was enormous and effectively a suicide ride. But then again, money had to be there by the end of 2013/start of 2014 because that was when the bid to buy the team was just around the corner.

Also, the album itself shows it was rushed. Not only due to the songs sounding like having been at a demo stage, as some here have pointed out. With all the other recent albums, you can somewhere sense why they were written and what was the creative force behind it. The personal turmoils on Lost Highway, the current political and econmical state on The Circle. Even if songs like Born To Follow or Working Man are dreaded among the most, it's clear where they came from. This House also was very clearly about Jon working off on his demons from the past 2 years.
In 2013 interviews, Jon said that they had to put out WAN now, because it captured the current polticial and economical situation and it only fit at this specific moment in time. Yet I don't hear that in any song anywhere on the album.

And the record contract expiring doesn't add up either. Yeah, it was up in 2015 and I personally doubt that they would've been obliged to give them 3 albums in 3 years to start with. Even if that was the case, the next studio album could've been released easily in 2014. And I'm pretty sure that had been the plan any way. In 2011, there had been talks of roughly 2 years of a break. So they would have gathered back up in 2013 and the album would've been released in 2014. For 2013, the New Jersey special addition had probably been planned since that was the year of album's 25th anniversary. Putting it out 26 years after its original launch didn't add up.

We'll never know the full truth, but there's too much that adds up to the theory that he wanted to play in the big money league and needed x amount of money from a world tour on a short notice to do so. Otherwise, risking all that came with it (and he could've seen this coming) would've just been idiotic.

Dead. Frigging. On.

What a post.

Spot on!

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Figures...

Why? Cause it was long?

Oh Really, Dorothea is now in charge of Jon's Investments? I'm sorry but I'm not buying the fact that the BWC Tour was the deal breaker with his NFL Investment... He wasn't bidding alone and had other partners as well.

And no it doesn't add up in theory! Explain why he needed to rush an album/tour by 6 months to earn 20 million dollars quicker for a team he never had in the first place? The last studio album came out in 2009. 2013 is 4 years later (3 and a half since TC's release). They were due for a new album. I think he was getting pressure from the label.

Your other 4 paragraphs are fillers and nothing more than you filling in a timeline that we all agree with... Thanks for copy and pasting from Wikipedia!!! Yes, the albums was rushed!!! We all know it however someone (I believe it was Shanks) put out some behind the scenes footage showing that more time and effort went into that album then most want to believe...

I'm still sticking with my theory. Jon owed 2 albums and 2 tours by the end of 2015. And I'm even going one step further stating that THINFS would have been released in 2015 if he didn't have record company turmoil. Burning Bridges would have never happened. The song Burning Bridges would have never been written. I also think THINFS would have been rushed too and it would have been a combo of BB, THINFS, and some of those demos from THINFS... They held it back for a year, Shanks reproduced it. WDR is a perfect example of the before and after.

Finally, You don't even know what kind of record deal he had. He could have gotten paid upfront and was only receiving a small royalty fee from each tour for all you know...

You're always sticking with your theories and if you want so, do that. But stop acting like they're the truth and nothing but that.
Makes discussions with you absolutely pointless.

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My theories are based on facts...

Jon signed a multi album record deal... Fact... BB albums and tour was a Record Company fulfilment. Fact... Jon rushing an album and tour to raise money to buy a team he never had in the first place doesn't add up. Fact... Jon having other partners and investors. Fact...

I'm just filling in the blanks brother...

Your theory about Dorothea's veto is so far out there, I need to debunk it.. Sorry!!!

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None of your facts interfere with what I've written. Burning Bridges being a contractual obligation has nothing to do with What About Note being shoved down everyone's throat in 2013.

And yes, if you aspire to buy something, you usually save up money before owning it. And if you're talking about multi-million dollar packages it's no different. No matter if it's about TV rights, superstar players, sponsorships or buying teams. These offers have to be rock solid and the money has to be there beforehand. Jon can't just go and say "fine, I got the deal, I'll go and earn the money within the next two years, wait for me". That's nonsense and no one would've partnered with him then.

And who are you to debunk any theory here? Dorothea is the boss at home, Jon has hinted at that on numerous occasions. He's also been quoted saying that she has kicked his ass on a regular basis (direct quote in the book "In their own words"). In 2017, he said about their upcoming tour that he had told her he was gonna do some shows just to make money to which she had replied that that's a shitty reason and he rethought his attitude.
The same way I can very much imagine him telling her that he wanted to spend x amount on the football team and her flat out saying that he had to go out and earn that because family savings for the kids etc. wouldn't be touched for such an adventure. Happens in all families.
That's called common sense.

I'm fine with you not agreeing on this, but stop attacking others for thinking outside the box and bringing up theories that don't match yours. No one wants a Trump in here.


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Nah, I like his theory better then yours and that's just fine.

Burning Bridges shows the end date of a contract so yes, it has everything to do with it... There was a reason why that tour started before the albums release... It could have been a cool way to get the songs heard as a way to promote the album... or maybe the record company made that choice due to time fulfilments... However I don't think it was Jon's decision to start the tour a month early because he was so desperate to raise the capital to purchase an NFL Team... You have to think much bigger... You make it seem like they were all reaching in their pockets to pull out as much change as possible... it's not only monetary but very political as well...

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That's why I never take you serious...

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Back on the original topic, I gave the full album another spin today and it was merely okay. But usually, when I listen to a Jovi record in full, there always is at least one moment where a song or a certain passage grabs me and I repeat it again and again. Didn't happen this time around. In fact, I had a hard time concentrating on the songs.
It's not just the flow, there's something else that this album lacks for me in particular. But I can't put my finger on it just yet.

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Because HE Can

Maybe because Ralph Wilson's health didn't start failing until after July 2011 and then rumors started flying that the Bills might soon be on the market. And yes, Jon had partners; but he wasn't interested in being a mere partner. He wanted to be the majority team owner; and that required substantially more cash than he had at the time. (And it wasn't 6 months. It was rushed by at least a year, maybe more, if you believe what Jon said.)

Do you?

And here's a better question: Do you think JON knew what kind of record deal he had?

Don't you think Jon would have known, in the Spring of 2011 (or even earlier), exactly when he needed to release another album in order to meet the terms of his contract?

Because in 2010, this is what Jon was saying about his plans for after the GH tour finished...

http://www.billboard.com/articles/ne...cle-tour-wraps

And then in Spring 2011, he had THIS to say...
http://vonthenet.com/?p=1547

There is NOTHING in there to indicate that Jon was the least bit concerned about getting another album out by the beginning of 2013. The plan was "to take a load off, for a few years", NOT the few months that it turned out to be.

It may have been that Jon just couldn't stay at home for more than a few weeks at a time back then (or so it seemed). Or maybe he was getting pressure from the label. But as long as he was meeting deadlines required by his contract, sucks to be them.

Maybe it wasn't the Bills. But it seems awfully coincidental that Jon's Toronto group was formed and had ordered a feasibility study for buying the Bills and building a stadium in Toronto, less than a month after promotion for WAN started.

It could have been any number of things, but the one thing that doesn't make sense is that it was the demands of his recording contract and pressure from the label that led to rushing WAN.

I'll squash everything you just posted very easily...

First of all, how do you know how much cash Jon had at any given time? I think Jon is worth way more than the 400M google search gives you... but for you to say like a fact that he didn't have the cash to cover his portion of the team is pure speculation...

Second...The record company chooses what they want... They want a greatest hits, they get a greatest hits... (Jon has been able to persuade them into other types of releases like Blaze Of Glory, LH and TLFR - but they will eventually get their way)... I think he had every intention of doing a solo album and maybe even some movie soundtracks but the record company squashed it and made him do a band album...




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Try again, hotshot! :p

First, you're right about one thing: I DON'T know what Jon's net worth is. But I'll guaran-damn-tee you that before the Toronto group went into business with him, they knew, to the penny, how much he could bring to the table - based on what he had when they signed on, plus what he could be expected to gather before the bidding started. And according to published reports, which is all any of us have to go on, when it came time to put up or shut up, Jon didn't have enough to make it feasible for them - whatever he's worth.

https://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/..._on_bills.html

Second... Aren't you the same RDK that is forever reminding me that Bon Jovi is a business and Jon is a businessman? So, I'll ask the question again: Do you really believe that an astute businessman like Jon didn't know exactly what the terms of his contract were? And that he didn't know exactly what would, and what would not, satisfy those terms? Hell, Kopper, I've got more business sense than that. Even I don't sign a contract unless I know explicitly what the terms are; and I don't have a team of lawyers working for me to read the fine print.

1. So if Jon Bon Jovi didn't have enough money to buy the team, you are saying that he frantically created and album and major world tour because of why??? He lost the Bills so there was no rush anymore... Just fill in the blanks with a logical reason? That's all I'm asking for.

2. Here is my theory... Jon has some freedom to pitch ideas to his Record Company... They allowed Lost Highway - TLFR - Etc... I think Jon wanted to pickup a soundtrack to a movie but nothing was offered... I think they give him the respect to hear him out but once he pitched the idea and they saw zero potential, they demanded a Band Album....

I truly believe he wanted to give the guys a break but the Record Company demands wouldn't accept any solo projects Jon offered...

Don't forget, it's Jon's name on the contract but the record company ultimately decides the final output...

No. I agreed with his post. Problem?

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