Happy Birthday to The Circle!
 

9 years since it was released today (in the UK at least).

The last good album by the real Bon Jovi.

The beginning of the end for me... never really found much redeeming about this album at all. I feel it was a big drop in quality after Lost Highway, with an even bigger dip to follow with What About Now...

The last proper band album, IMO. WAN was a hodgepodge and without Richie, the dynamics are just way different (the amount of outside writers, for one). That said, the performances are a tad too anemic to make the songs come to their full potential. Some really good stuff on here, but the pace is a tad plodding.

last great album for me, followed by the last great tour.

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Jesus.. It seems like just yesterday.

Yes, I do regard it as the last great album and the final great tour. It's why I am at peace today with the state of things. I invested in that tour and it fully delivered. There is really nothing the band can do to exceed it at this point short of new songs (While WAN was a dip, Thick As Thieves is way up there in the top group of all time favorite Bon Jovi songs,) which is why I got excited over the THINFS live listening parties. Jon will never be able to sing the songs I got to hear on that tour and I accept that reality. It was going to come.

Meanwhile, I have memories like this one from the tour:

Happy Birthday to The Circle!
 

Average album that sounds better than it is due to WAN andTHINFS.
TC was voted one of the worst albums of the year and is hard to disagree.
3 or 4 good songs and the rest are dull and boring.
Enjoyed the 02 gigs even though they didn’t play an album In full as they hinted they would

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This album is very "meh" for me.

Half of the songs are boring and half are very good as songs, but the performance/sound/production/orchestration is mediocre.

Love's the only rule, Brokenpromiseland, Thorn in my side, Bullet are highlights IMO.

I don't like WWWB as much. Maybe if it was performed by '95 BJ I d like it.

Yeah, last great (band) album for me, too. And nice to see Thick As Thieves getting some appreciation, I just love that song :-)

Poor album.

I consider it their worst work post-Slippery, even if WAN gives it a run for their (our?) money. Superman Tonight is the only song that has some replayable qualities for me; even stuff I initially liked (e.g. Love's The Only Rule, Thorn in My Side, Happy Now) just sounds boring now.

The tour, on the other hand, start to finish, was their late-career renaissance and I'm so happy to be able to see them before it all went downhill.

It's the album that brought us Love's the Only Rule, so I'm quite glad about it. Except for this song I haven't listened to any of my other (early) favorites in a long time. On the other hand I've started to enjoy Fast Cars.

Missed the tour but have seen the video of Thorn in my side with Jon and Richie ending on guitars. Nice version.

I honestly love this album. When I first became a fan, The Circle was their most recent album. Superman Tonight is my favorite from the album, with Fast Cars in a close second. It's the only BJ album that I continue to listen to as a whole, as most of their other albums have terrible pacing, even of many of the songs are better.

I remember you and I were probably the only two fans of Fast Cars. As far as The Circle, I actually find myself liking it more than I initially did when it was released. Big fan of Happy Now, Brokenpromiseland, Bullet, and Superman Tonight.


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I have been a fan of The Circle since it first came out. Considering what came out after - I am more of a fan than ever. Though Burning Bridges gets an honorable mention.

It was released during a very difficult time in my life and so it has a special meaning for me. Happy Now and LITOR are mean a lot to me.

I can still appreciate about almost half the album and songs I actually still listen to. The other half is skipped but I definitely regard this album as their last good one and the last real Bon Jovi album. It was also the last tour I ever saw them live and I'm perfectly happy with it staying that way.

Some good songs, some fillers.

I still hate the video to Superman Tonight.


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Real last great album, with some mediocre songs in it.

Still sad they didn't make a proper video for Superman Tonight, the song deserved better.

Their last real good effort. The last album where they actually felt like a band and you didn't have to second guess who was playing what (if at all).

Shanks has confirmed he's played on it and having a better idea now what his playing style and tone is like I think I can hear him. But it's less obvious about it.

My favs are: Brokenpromiseland, Thorn in my side, Superman Tonight and Bullet!

I remember JBJ saying that that Thorn is "his motivation", his motivation to wake up everyday, to work, to live in general...
Awesome song indeed.

Even when it came out, I always found myself singing right along with Fast Cars. The melody just sucks you in. I think most people hate it purely based on the title, which gave way to a running gag of ridicule.. making up other song titles in that vein. The chorus is actually quite good. I love how it builds out from the first chorus to the second.

The only thing I don't like is the bridge. I don't hate "Sha Las" as much as some do here, but it just doesn't add anything to the song.

To me it's filler because the metaphor of cars and highways has been done to death by Jon and I wish something a little more groundbreaking was used in place of that song. Melody wise it's.....fine!

Matt you are totally on point and my brain agrees but for whatever the reason I still gravitate back to it and always listen to it when it shuffles in rotation.

Well, he got it right with I Will Drive You Home :D

Yepper! And since Fast Cars is one of my favorites anyway, it plays like a great sequel to me. :)