Bon Jovi is where my love for music started. I'll never be able to thank an other band for influencing me like they have.

If music were a tree, Bon Jovi, for me, would be the trunk. It's got to be thanks to Bon Jovi that I've discovered other bands. I've gone back to their influences (the roots ;)) - Thin Lizzy, The Beatles, Bruce, Led Zeppelin. I've fallen in love with their contempories (erm, the bark - I'm starting to loose this metaphor) - Van Halen, Def Leppard, Aerosmith, Guns N' Roses. Even bands linked with Bon Jovi like support bands (the branches) - Live, Goo Goo Dolls, Skid Row.

That wasn't too bad, really.

That wasnt bad at all, that was a totally cool analogy, made me smile. I got it all the way.

THERE WILL no another bon jovi for me!!!

Same here. There won't be another Bon Jovi for me, although I love Van Halen more than I do Bon Jovi. Bon Jovi was there first. That's why, even though their last 4 albums are sort of hit and miss to me (there are great songs accompanied by real turds), I always bought the albums.

No, I doubt I'll ever have another Bon Jovi.

I listen to music all the time, so when I have some huge event in my life I tend to tie it to whatever I'm really into at the time. Bon Jovi music has gotten me through two deaths, graduating high school, my mom getting cancer, starting college...I was conceived to Slippery When Wet (I could have lived without knowing that). So even if at some point I find a band I like better, there's stuff I connect Bon Jovi with that just isn't going to happen again.

No, there's only one Bon Jovi. They're the music-makers who have provided most of the soundtrack for my life since I was 11 years old. They're music has been there during most of the good and bad times in my life. Being a Bon Jovi fan has opened doors to friendships that go far beyond music, yet there never would have been an initial connection if not for Bon Jovi.

I got away from them a bit after my father died. I couldn't find comfort in their music because there were too many Bon Jovi memories associated with my father--from our trips to the way he sang "Green Medicine." That's when I found another world through Keith Urban's music and concerts. His show in April 2004 was the first thing to make me really SMILE and lift a burden since my dad had died the previous December. He has a couple of songs that helped me immensely through that grief. It shocked no one more than myself when another artist came along and captured my attention and put on a good enough show that I would travel to see him (the next weekend as a matter of fact).

After seeing the kind of performer Keith is, I have to admit, I honestly wondered if Bon Jovi would still be the most impressive live act I had ever seen when I went to see them in Omaha last November. I was afraid that they would not be. The real test was going to be 3 weeks later when I went to see Keith in the same venue. The end result was that I'd pick a Bon Jovi show over a Keith show, but that's partly due to the fact that Bon Jovi does much fewer dates and there's less opportunity to see them.

If you had asked me 3 years ago if there could be "another Bon Jovi" for me, I'd have laughed and emphatically answered, "No." There still is not "another Bon Jovi" and I don't want another Bon Jovi. I love them for what they are. They have a special, irreplaceable place in my heart. But I'm not closed to the idea of someone else giving them a run for their money performance-wise or even reaching me on an emotional level the way Bon Jovi has or opening doors to other friendships and adventures. But Bon Jovi will always be first. They did get a 20 year start on the "competition" after-all. ;)

There are other bands that I like very much and where I visit more than one concert per tour but I don't think that there will be another band that I follow as much as BJ with collecting stuff, always keeping up-to-date with what is happening etc.

Well Bon Jovi has always been my first favourite band and they have stayed that way until I found out about Def Leppard who in my opinion are right up there with them. So its Bon Jovi and Def Leppard for me, both bands seem genuine down to earth guys, great musicians and superb frontmen and their live shows absolutely rock. The thing with Bon Jovi though is that they create rock anthems that you can sing your heart out to, their songs are can be fun, emotional, uplifting among various other feelings, they have great choruses and Richie is just a master at every aspect of the guitar and importantly their music has changed with the times yet it still retains that Jovi feeling. The only thing I can complain about is the albums have dropped in quality after These Days, with Have A Nice Day in my opinion being the weakest probably made worse that they kept saying it was gonna be an all out rock album. I will always buy their albums, see them on tour and state them as one of my prime influence's for buying a guitar and wanting to be a musician, I just hope they can pick up form for whats in store for us in the future.

I'm thinking no. I've had those two-three month worship periods for other bands and artists but none of them ever came close to Bon Jovi. Their lyrics, their music, and their determination will always run with me.

Damn... Proteus, you have awesome taste in music...