The bands body of work - does this irratate you?
 

I was bored in class the other day and I got to thinking. Does it bother you that the bands body of work goes largely un-noticed. I assume it's a problem most bands have. I'll explain, to the general public, the band has done (depending on the area, I'll do North America as that's where I am) Wanted, Prayer, Bad Name, It's my Life, Bed of Roses, Always, It's my Life, Have a nice day and who says you can't go home. You can't go up to a casual fan and talk about Fear, As my guitar lies bleeding, Without Love, etc.

What is your opinion on this. I find it frustrating becuase the majority of the interviews are about the songs themselves, and if they are, it's about the hits. I'm curious to hear whats your take on this. I like nothing more than talking about the music, and I wish more people did too.

So, Matt... are we sharing a brain now? I've been thinking about this lately too. I've often said that Bon Jovi is a much better band than their singles would indicate. The best songs are often unnoticed by the general population because the band doesn't even push them.

Take a song like Mystery Train which Jon said was his favorite from Crush and the one he was most looking forward to playing live. That's a GREAT song lyrically, vocally, and musically. They played it a few times and Jon later said it broke his heart because it wasn't received well. So they haven't played it since. They release crap songs like Thank You and All About Loving You because they're by-the-numbers-should-be-hits-cater-to-the-masses songs. A song like "Postcards from the Wasteland" could have broken them into the country market a few years ago, but they relegated it to a Japanese bonus track. (And now it's on the CROSSROAD reissue.)

They never bother to release many of their most well-crafted songs. I Am could have been a single that would have appealed top 40 and AC radio. They play monotonous crowd-pleasing set lists (though this last tour was much better than previous tours).

I think they could be so much more than they are. They could alternate hits and still keep set lists fresh by pulling out older songs and non-singles to keep people guessing. It would be awesome if when you went to a show you didn't know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you would hear a, b, and c.

The sad thing is, I can actually understand why a lot of people don't think of Bon Jovi as one of the greatest band in the world. If all I had to go on was Bad Name, Prayer, Wanted, Bad Medicine, It's My Life, Always, Who Says, and Thank You For Loving Me I wouldn't necessarily think there was a lot of depth there either. Do they get it right sometimes? Sure. But their catalogue is so much better than their singles and set lists indicate.

Haaa...weird but I was thinking about this very topic on my 5 mile run this afternoon. I was playing my "top 15" Bon Jovi songs (includes DA and Blaze songs too) and I realized that NONE of my top 15 contains the actual hits that made them famous.

deb

This part summed it up perfectly. As soon as you tell someone you're a fan of the band, they immediately judge the band on the big singles, which is fair. Anyone else would. If they only knew what was beyond the hits, it'd be interesting to see peoples reactions.

I was thinking of making one of these the other day. I may do so right now. What's in yours?

This is hardly a new or suprising thing, or limited to Bon Jovi. The reason bands release singles is to grab potential fans, and hope they buy the album, and hope that based on that they will become a fan and then would ultimately hear more of the back catalogue. Most bands will have a large portion of their fanbase made up of people who only know the hits.There are bands that I like but don't know much more than their greatest hits album. Potentially I might in future buy other of their albums based on that, but yes most bands are remembered perhaps for having sold however many albums, but ultimately people remember a handful of songs. The longer the career the more hits to choose from, and some bands will achieve this better than others. Queen for example (one I know to use) have 2 greatest hits albums; near 40 songs that a lot of people would recognise and probably like, here anyway. As for not playing old/rare/non-hits as often, they know that a large percentage of their fans at a concert will not know them and maybe not appreciate them. Also with more and more hits to choose from they have less space to add these rarities, without fear of dropping older hits and losing fans.

It all makes sense. I wasn't sure if it's limited to Bon Jovi fans or something that happens to most bands, thanks for clearing it up.

Duh, I do have one major hit and that is Always. And TAALS wasn't really big hit in the US but it was released. Here is what is in my top 15:

Always
It's Just Me
Lie To Me
Something To Believe In
Postcards
Cold Hard Heart
If I Was Your Mother
Stick To Your Guns
Just Older
Everyday (TLFR)
One Last Cigarette
Miracle
This Ain't A Love Song
Love Lies
The Distance

Some interesting choices! I just made one and didn't count and just threw in songs I really liked it came to exactly 15. Odd. I have:

Novocaine
Last Man standing (Rock)
Born to be my baby (TLFR)
Postcards from the Wasteland
The Distance
Ordinary People
Mystery Train
The one that got away
Gimme Some
(It's hard) Letting you go
These Days
Bed of Roses
In these Arms
River Runs Dry
Living in Sin.

----

I didn't expect to only have one 80's song. That surprised me.

Oh good list. Yea, I think I'd throw in

The One That Got Away
Satellite
Too Much Of A Good Thing
In These Arms
Novocaine

To make a top 20.