Have A Nice Day - original version
 

Hi everyone - hope you all are having a great week so far!

So, I'm a big fan, as we all are, from way back in the early 80's. That being said, my favorite record is Have A Nice Day and in particular, the original versions of the songs on that record. I know they're out there on You Tube and places like that but they all sound fairly awful as far as listening quality. My question is, from reading about this record, were there ever copies pressed up and actually released to industry folks, press, etc.? From what I read, it sounds like there were but I haven't heard any quality copies of these. Can anyone confirm that there are copies out there? For the sake of the forum, I'm not asking but I would like to track these songs down at some point in my life, just to hear quality versions of them. For now, I'm really just wondering out aloud and also wondering what others think of the record and the different versions of the record.

Have a nice evening :)

Have A Nice Day - original version
 

There have been several threads about this over the years. If you use the search function, you’ll find answers there.

There was a CD of the “original” 2004 version of Have a Nice Day which circulated a bit back then but wasn’t shared that widely due to it being digitally watermarked where if an unauthorised copy was discovered, it could be traced back to the original owner and there would be trouble. I wouldn’t want to say if it’s fair game now all these years after the official album has been and gone.

I’ve been on the hunt for this version, on and off, for several years but to no avail. I have low-quality MP3s of some of the songs but not a full quality, complete version of the album. I’m sure someone here said on another thread that the CD versions, whilst better than the more common mp3s, still weren’t very high quality anyway, and soundwise, it was on par with Def Leppard’s Slang Deluxe Edition 2nd CD which had a “rough mix” of the album.

It’s a shame the 2004 tracks weren’t released as b-sides for the singles back then. Instead we got live tracks.

The quality had deliberately been low even on the CDs, especially for Nothing.
I Want To Be Loved exists in pretty much top quality though.

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It would be interesting to hear a complete version of the first version of the album. I definitely prefer the second version of Bells of Freedom though.

Was everything re-done, though?

It's been years since I've listened to, but I vaguely remember that Have A Nice Day, Bells Of Freedem and I Want To Be Loved were different. The others I don't really remember, maybe one line here and there, but no major difference.

I don't think anything was completely re-done. I'm going on memory here, HAND is structurally the same but I feel like the riff is slightly different. The vocals are re-done, the post-solo breakdown was removed and the drum part was shortened before the second chorus.

While Bells's lyrics are different, there's this accidental guitar fret scratch sound in both versions that makes me think it was only the vocals changed.

I know the lyrics are anything from completely different to tweaked on HAND, Bells and loved but that's it. I think. Haha.

thanks for the info everyone! i'm holding out hope i'm going to be able to at least find Bells Of Freedom, Nothing, Have A Nice Day & I Want To Be Loved but the whole thing is a holy grail for me. i totally understand that the quality won't be perfect but as long as i can find it in better quality than what's out there, it would make my day. heck, make my year, haha. need something to get through all of this stuff in the world!

Those were the songs with the biggest differences I think, the title track being the most different. There’s also the Keith Urban duet version of “WSYCGH” that was dropped in favour of the Sugarland duet (on some versions), plus “Nothing” and “These Open Arms” were part of the original track list.

I don’t own the whole 2004 version but the mp3s I do have are rather low quality but very listenable. I don’t know how true they are to the original CD version though. I’ve not heard any better quality versions anywhere else but some people have tried to remaster those mp3s on places like YouTube.

I might be a bit confused but when you say you want to find the song Nothing on better quality then what's out there. AFAIK, the version that's out there is a rip from the source that is in certain circles. I don't think there is a better quality version then what we have, unless what we have was recorded in a different way.

Can anyone who has the elusive CD confirm/deny this?

Nothing was in lower quality on the leaked CD than other tracks. I think a combination of compression, production and deliberately lowering the sound quality. With that track, it had been given to Bo Bice by the time they leaked the "original" album, so I guess it was done on purpose. The CD itself, albeit "lossless" rips circulating, wasn't lossless at all either. The best track to come from this leaked rather by someone in the camp screwing it up. This guy was programming visuals for the Bon Jovi experience and they sent him the pre-release version of I Want To Be Loved for it.

INTRESTING!

I'm trying to figure out the timeline on the Bo Bice thing. That album came out in Dec, Hand came out in September, any idea what month this leaked?

Had no idea that was how we got I Want To Be Loved, neat!

EDIT: All this talk about the album has reminded me how much I loved this band in that time period.

Have A Nice Day - original version
 

This was the earliest thread I could find relating to the song “Nothing”, which started just before the official album was released.

https://drycounty.com/jovitalk/new-b...othing-t31765/

Something to bare in mind, the original album was originally ready to go by the end of 2004 as it was recorded that summer, but was delayed until existing songs were reworked and new songs were written, so that thread may not help establish exactly when the Bo Bice thing came into the equation.

Here are some other threads relating to the 2004 version;

https://drycounty.com/jovitalk/tags....day+%282004%29

Are we thinking the original tracklisting being
01. Have A Nice Day
02. Welcome To Wherever You Are
03. I Wanna Be Loved
04. Complicated
05. Bells Of Freedom
06. Who Says You Can´t Go Home?
07. Nothing
08. These Open Arms
09. Last Man Standing
10. I Am
11. Dirty Little Secret

I believe this is the original track list;

1. Have A Nice Day
2. Welcome To Wherever You Are
3. I Want To Be Loved
4. Complicated
5. Bells Of Freedom
6. Who Says You Can't Go Home
7. Nothing
8. These Open Arms
9. Last man Standing
10. Unbreakable
11. I Am
12. Who Says You Can't Go Home (Duet with Keith Urban)

Yes, that's the order of the leaked CD. Shame though that, due to the digital fingerprint, all versions of Bells Of Freedom got cut.

Thanks! Funny seeing old threads and the people that no longer post here.

That's no problem. I like looking at old threads as you can probably tell by how many I've revived in recent years. It's weird seeing old accounts from users during the early/mid 2000's you never see anymore.

I decided to add tags to some threads like the ones referring to the song "Nothing", as that can be a nightmare to search for!

I still remember the night when the album leaked. Can't have been more than a week before the official release. You were ECSTATIC about I Am if I remember correctly, and rightfully so. Goddamn, it's been what, 16 years?!

Nope. Nope. We are NOT putting numbers to how long it's been!

Dear God, I wasn't even a fan back then in the sense of knowing that a new single / album was coming until it got played on the radio. I still remember, it was the first of three days at a traineeship we had to do from our school. I had heard the announcement of the new song on the radio in the morning, but missed the premiere. The next day, they played it and the people there told me that I can turn it up if I wanted to. It was such a fresh energetic vibe to the song. The last time I actually felt like that with a new Bon Jovi single. Thinking about it - I was actually exactly half the age I am today when the song was released :D

Took some time today to remaster the original HAND album version and even though it's not like an official release, I really enjoy listening to it. Always liked the original album track list more than the final product.
Shame that YouTube blocks it...

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HAND was the first BJ album where I was able to observe the whole process, like, they're in the studio now! They're live-debuting a new single (one year before the album even dropped)! Song titles make the rounds! A release date! A single! A leak! The album! A promo phase!

And... the last time they really went all out, as far as promoting an album goes, actually. I don't remember as much buzz for anything that came after.

It's probably not much of a coincidence that HAND is, IMO, the best thing they've done after 1992.

I may try listening to it in the intended order tomorrow. I never thought I Want To Be Loved was strong enough to be a track 2.

I Am closing the album feels wild to me.

Hand was such a disappointment.
It’s probably my most unlistened to album with Richie in the band.
There’s just nothing about it. So bland.
I love the title track, last man standing, dirty little secret and don’t mind unbreakable. The rest never get played.


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I was going to give my opinion on the album but I pretty much summed it up for myself here;

It's funny how I used to think it was a strong solid album back in 2005 and now it feels dated and underwhelming. Bounce on the other hand (no pun intended) still holds up for me and is still just as engaging, even though it probably has more flaws than Have a Nice Day. I loved the title track and "I Want To Be Loved" the most back then, and "Dirty Little Secret" was a good bonus track as well.

I still think the final album over all is better than the "original" 2004 version. It would probably help if I actually listen to the whole original album but I think some of the additional songs included for the final album helped beef it up a bit. I think a hybrid of the 2004 and 2005 version would have worked best, like if the original versions of "Have a Nice Day", "I Want To Be Loved" and "Bells of Freedom" were used instead of dumbing down and broadening the lyrics for the final version.

There are some songs I think the tweaking of the lyrics helped and some it hurt. It took the punch out of I Want To Be Loved but some of the original lyrics to Bells were hacky and watered down. Loved the storyline aspect but "So far away from everything and everyone
Can't get away from anything or anyone" I'm glad they got rid of.

My ultimate version of HAND is the chorus they used, the verses they didn't, and the double drum part before the second chorus. I don't know which solo I liked more but the first one is a little too "Go Your Own Way" to my liking.

As far as "original vs. final track listing" goes, Unbreakable is pretty terrible, but so is Wildflower. Story of My Life and Last Cigarette are pretty similar, but Last Cigarette especially is fun. Dirty Little Secret is very good, and Novocaine is okay. So I guess the biggest loss is Nothing.

I remember the anticipation for the album after the box set the year before. I sat up and watched the live stream of Amsterdamn and it was so obvious Jon was in bed form! Anyway, the album sounded very fresh after the compressed sound if Bounce and the tour was the first where we travelled out Ireland to see them, great times! Just a pity Richie started to fall off the rails during that time.....

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Hmm to my ears Hand sounded far more compressed than Bounce BUT it was so nice to hear Tico's kick drum again.

Richie was in fine form until the Japanese leg and the outdoor tour. I thought the band was on fire for the first leg of the arena run but a bunch of people don't agree with that. It might have been how long it was between the Bounce amphitheatre leg and the Hand Arena run which was I guess....2.5 years?

I still have the single edit of the title track with a radio DJ talking over the intro. I remember having it on a CD-RW in my discman and listening to it all over again.
It sounded so cool back then. I remember waiting for the Live 8 show to hear it live. And I also remember the AMA show in 2004 when they played a snippet of the demo version. I still have the video somewhere. I was 16 back then and I remember buying a Milky Way bar and eating while watching this video = having a good time :D
The Bon Jovi innocence was so great back then. A little was enough to amaze me :)

I remember exactly where I was watching the AMA thing on TV too! What a time.

That was such an exciting time as soon as they dropped that short performance of the original "Have a Nice Day" and the AMA's. It felt like such a long wait for the album to come out 9 months later. The hype was unreal for me back then. Finally seeing them perform the whole song at Live8, downloading the single as soon as it leaked a month later and playing the sh!t out of it.

Haven't felt anything like it with this band since.

yes agree the first leg was so good up to Xmas then Richie and Heather, after that Richie was still in good form but by the time Japan came he was both physically hurt and mentally wrecked and the medication started taking a toll...

Much preferred the sound of HAND to Bounce as always thought they were chasing a Creed sound. Little did we know however that Shanks was here to stay....

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yes agree the first leg was so good up to Xmas then Richie and Heather split, after that Richie was still in good form but by the time Japan came he was both physically hurt and mentally wrecked and the medication started taking a toll...

Much preferred the sound of HAND to Bounce as always thought they were chasing a Creed sound. Little did we know however that Shanks was here to stay....

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I think to that point the song HAND is equal parts American Idiot and U2's Beautiful Day. Iv'e always thought the difference between Bounce and HAND was Bounce was trying to chase the sound and mimic 5 popular things and HAND was just 1, maybe 2.

Oh yeah I forgot about the breakup. I remember listening to Jon's speech during Novocaine during the Nashville show a lot.

HAND has, especially looking back and knowing Shanks' other work, pop rock guitars in the vein of mall pop punk of the day. Stuff like Alive from Bounce had Creed guitar tones, but Jon's voice clashed heavily with that. HAND's sound is "warmer", more Les Paul-y.

I've long thought HAND was the last real rock album by the band, and their last really good one in general. It definitely sounds like a product of its time already (which first feels crazy to notice after such a "short" time - then you realize it's been more than 15 years, though), but at the same time I think it still has its consistency as a full album (apart from Who Says) and remains thoroughly enjoyable to listen to.

Have A Nice Day was the first "real" album cycle I witnessed as a die-hard.
I became a fan during Bounce. So This Left Feels Right was the first new album afterwards, that was nice. The Box Set a year later was awesome.
But with Have A Nice Day it was a different kind of release with a different kind of excitement. The first time I really witnessed the Bon Jovi machine warming up for promotion, album release, tour.
The day of the album release was the first day in school after summer holidays in Germany. So right after school I went to our record store to get the album. I know I liked the album and of course it went on heavy rotation in my cd player - but only a few songs had an instant impact. The title track was a great lead single with great energy. Last Man Standing was awesome because of its heavy guitar. The rest was ok but didn't catch me right from the beginning.
After the leaked snippets I expected more from Bells Of Freedom - actually I was really disappointed how that one turned out.
The chorus of Last Cigarette first sounded like a nursery rhyme to me. And Who Says was catchy but got annoying real fast.
And I remember that I wasn't too excited about Novocaine in the first place. After all those years it's my favourite from that album.

Every once in a while I still listen to the album. I think it works well as a whole album. But it lacks songs which stand out, which make it something special.

Ironically - or in regards to Bon Jovi it's better said: traditionally - the outtakes could have been those kind of songs. I really really like Nothing. I think that one could have been a major radio hit back then. These Open Arms is a nice ballad and Unbreakable and Dirty Little Secret would have been some great rockers to replace Wildflower, which does absolutely nothing for me and I Wanna Be Loved, to which I didn't connect either.

When I worked for the label we used to get a industry weekly DVD featuring artists who were bring out new stuff. So when the Bon Jovi one landed I was first to borrow it.
The way the band talked about the album - no ballads and back to rock- got me excited and the dvd premiered the HAND video plus a few snippets of songs which sounded decent.
So when the album dropped I was gutted it was massively disappointing.
I was made redundant in 06 so HAND was the last album I was at label for.
I had a good run from 01 to 06.
The wife was still there for Lost Highway and got me the album about 2 weeks before it come out plus a ton of promo stuff. Then she was made redundant in 08.

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