I absolutley love Crush and Bounce but...
 

I believe Bon Jovi may have hit their peak with These Days.

An album all starts with the songwriting and no one has more talent as a songwriter than Jon bon Jovi; and Richie compliments Jon very well in that department. These Days features the best songwriting ever on an album. Songs like My Guitar Lies Bleeding In My Arms and Something To Believe In are simply masterpieces, to name a couple.

Vocals are excellent on These Days as it features Jon's best vocals ever. His voice is very energized, for example on a song like Hearts Breaking Even and Damned. You can really feel his voice cut through you throughout the album as he pours his heart and soul into each note on the album. Lie to me gives us a very distinct double dose of Jon on the 2ec and third chours.

Richie's vocals are also utilized to the fullest throughout the album, for example (It's Hard) Letting You Go. These Days is the perfect mixture of having Jon do all the lead vocals while having Richie complementing Jon's voice.

These Days also features Richie's best work on guitar for example Damned see's Richie just let loose on us.

And the thing of it is These Days could have been even better. Replace "If That's What It Takes" and "Diamond Ring", which are great songs, with "All I Want Is Everything" and "Wedding Day" and oh baby you would have more than perfection which is what These Days is.

In closing I will rate the Bon Jovi cds:

Bon Jovi 7.5/10
7800 Fahrenheit 7.5/10
Slippery When Wet 10/10
New Jersey 11.5/10
Keep The Faith 11/10
These Days 12/10
Crush 9/10
Bounce 9/10

solo

Blaze of Glory 10/10
Destination Anywhere 9/10

Stranger in This Town 7/10
Undiscovered Soul 5/10

Sorry, but I absolutely disagree. Yes, there are some nice songs on These Days but all in all it has way to many slow songs to listen to one after another.

I listen to it very rarely.

yours
Christine

These Days is an absolutely great album, no question. BUT, Jon's voice and Richie's guitar a.s.o. are on KTF, SWW, NJ etc. great as well. You know, I don't compare albums, they were written in different eras, the band had different attitudes and feelings and moreover the band has grown. Of course Jon's voice doesn't sound like in 1992 or 1995. The band has become "older" and wiser, so you can hear it in the music.

I totally agree with you. Jbjrsdc!!
These Days is definitely their best album in my opinion!!

Or boring and self-righteous... :twisted: :wink: :D

These Days was very opinionated but not preaching. It lacked the conceit of previous Bon Jovi albums, and was mature but not dull (=Crush).

I don't know.

I liked TD. But I don't think it was their pick. I liked KTF better. And I really like Bounce.

not sure what a.s.o means but I agree that Jon and Richie sound great on those cds. If you look at how I rate their other cds like KTF, NJ thety are not too far behind These Days. I just believe that These Days can not be topped; although I would loved to be proved wrong 8)

I totally agree These Days is far the best album Jovi have ever made and yes there are alot of slow songs after the other but the songwritting is outstanding and if you take time to really listen to all the songs with just a pair of headphones on you can really loose yourself in that album.

Bon Jovi are a great band still. BUT, I believe they were something of a superband during, SWW, NJ and KTF. Those are their three best albums, no doubt.

Personally, I like TD though it has so many slow songs and some may consider boring....More rock-oriented fans may like SWW and NJ better..But I must say KTF has both slow and rock songs propotionately..so it is appealing to both heavy rock lovers and slow ballad lovers alike.

To me, it takes about 6 months to like TD... :wink:

Oh, one thing i don't quite agree with the rating is i think richie's undiscovered soul is far more better than his first stranger album.. well, it is my opinion, anyway :)