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SLIPPERY WHEN WET (1986)

After the slight failure of 7800 Fahrenheit the band were given one more chance to prove themselves. It was never official, but the tone in the air was that the band would "either make it, or else...". So they had some pressure on themselves when they were going into making their third album. They needed a clean break from 7800 Fahrenheit, so the first move was to get rid of Lance Quinn. In were brought two persons who were to have a big contribution in the success of Bon Jovi. Canadian producer Bruce Fairbairn came in to produce the third album, and his work on Slippery and later on New Jersey was a big ingredient in their success. Desmond Child was brought in as a co-writer for the first time. He was a relative unknown at the time, but there's no doubt that he had a big part in their success too. Desmond Child was to become a somewhat important person to the band as he would have his hand in writing many of their hits from You Give Love A Bad Name and Livin' On A Prayer to New Jersey and all the way through the 1990s and beyond.

Slippery When Wet was recorded at Little Mountain Studios in Vancouver and the album was released in August 1986. While there was some talk of hit singles and a big album, nobody had expected what happened. All the time, money and effort invested in Slippery When Wet paid itself and more, as Slippery When Wet became one of the biggest selling records of the 1980s. Slippery spent a total of 15 weeks in two bursts at the top of the US charts, peaked at #6 in the UK and to this day has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide. Slippery gave two number one hit singles for the band and became one of the classic albums of the eighties. If there is one classic Bon Jovi album, it is this one.

Let It Rock

Written by: JBJ, RS
Status: Album track (also released as B-side to You Give Love A Bad Name)

The album begins with a keyboard intro called Pink Flamingos. When the drums and guitars kick in, we are introduced to the new Slippery sound; the heavy guitars and drums are a million miles away from the light synthetic pop of 7800 Fahrenheit. The difference is huge, and needless to say it's only for the better. Let It Rock which opens the album is a big rock song. It's rather simple, but the song has a great swing to it and straight from the first song we are introduced to the style of this album: happy and energetic rock that may not be too ambitious and challenging but is certainly a lot of fun, and a song like Let It Rock is something that some Bon Jovi albums of the future could be jealous about - so wonderful is the spirit of this song. This is a good opener to the album and while it's not really a spectacular song, it's a very good and enjoyable rocker.

Rating: ***

You Give Love A Bad Name

Written by: JBJ, RS, Desmond Child
Status: First single from the album released in August 1986, peaked at #1 in the US, at #14 in the UK

You Give Love A Bad Name was the breakthrough song of Bon Jovi. The single hit number one in the US charts in August 1986 and the band had arrived. Bad Name is an important song for the band, but although it's important, it isn't one of the best Bon Jovi songs albeit its essential status might suggest so.
Bad Name is the ultimate pop metal song. The song has fun, tongue-in-cheek lyrics and it's a song in which Desmond Child's writing skills can be noticed because there weren't any this well written pop songs on the first two albums. Bad Name was an easy hit: the song has simple and fun lyrics, easy and catchy chorus and a heavy but yet a very pop sound. You Give Love A Bad Name is a good song, but it's far from great. It's too brainless and pointless, perhaps a bit too formulaic, and just too... "hit". It sounds a bit too much like a cleverly manufactured hit. In concerts the band got slightly stuck with this song. There has been only a few special occasions when they haven't played the song, on tours it has simply always been in the set, never missing one concert. Obviously the band loves this song and they seem to never get tired of it and as the big hit it was they have to play it, but still, this is a song they should have dropped off the setlists a long time ago.
This is a song that could be considered to be overrated by many, because ultimately Bad Name isn't really that great song. Being the band's breakthrough song is an undeniable positive credit to it, but this is also a song that has suffered with time more than any other important Bon Jovi song. In the end Bad Name is little more than a short, catchy and somewhat formulaic song, the ultimate pop metal song and a big hit, and that's pretty much all there is to it. This isn't among the best songs of this album, and is certainly far from being one of the best Bon Jovi songs.

Rating: ***

Livin' On A Prayer

Written by: JBJ, RS, DC
Status: Second single from the album released in October 1986, peaked at #1 in the US, at #4 in the UK

A song that needs no introduction. Livin' On A Prayer is an immortal Bon Jovi classic. Prayer was another #1 hit for the band but that's really the smallest credit to this song, because this is really an enormous Bon Jovi song. It's a song that almost everybody knows, no matter are they fans or not. Livin' On A Prayer is a lot: along with Wanted Dead Or Alive it is THE Bon Jovi anthem, it is well written, it is a big rock song with a great sing-along chorus, for a long time it was a fantastic live song and altogether it's one of the most essential songs of the band's career.
The lyrics that are about never giving up and surviving through hard times in life are genuinely good - the first really good lyrics by the band - and Tommy and Gina, the characters of the song lived on in a few other songs and in the memory of many fans. Prayer is also a song that works in two completely different forms; it's one of the best and most well-known acoustic songs by the band. A new semi-acoustic version of the song that was recorded and released in 1994 with the name Prayer '94 proves (along with countless acoustic live performances) the versatility of this song. Livin' On A Prayer is a brilliant song; from the atmospheric intro to the great lyrics and the gripping choruses, and from the great live song that it is to its versatility as an acoustic song to finally its legacy as a Bon Jovi anthem, this is one of the greatest Bon Jovi songs of all time.

Rating: *****

Social Disease

Written by: JBJ, RS
Status: Album track

Here's a song pretty badly misplaced. Social Disease suffers from being placed between Livin' On A Prayer and Wanted Dead Or Alive, two Bon Jovi classics and superb songs. Between those songs Social Disease has little impact on the listener. But still, were it anywhere on the album, Social Disease would still be the weakest song on it. This is an ordinary, and slightly below-average rock song. I don't like the word "filler", but this is a sort of a filler-type song. The lyrics are kind of interesting, but there's nothing too special about this song. This is kind of stuffing on the album, just something to have between the preceding song and the following song. The weakest song on this album.

Rating: **

Wanted Dead Or Alive

Written by: JBJ, RS
Status: Third single from the album released in March 1987, peaked at #7 in the US, at #13 in the UK

Wanted Dead Or Alive is another essential classic and timeless Bon Jovi anthem. Jon's fascination with the lifestyle of 19th century cowboys led him and Richie write this song that explores the cowboy theme and compares the touring of a rock band to the lifestyle of the cowboys. Cowboys may not be the most mature theme to write music about, but hey, it's a fun theme and at least better than tons of dull lyrics about youth and love.
Musically Wanted Dead Or Alive is brilliant. It has an incredibly atmospheric intro that is so well done that it doesn't cease to amaze you every time, the acoustic guitar (and electric, too) work by Richie throughout the song is excellent, and the lyrics are great. It's slightly difficult to praise Wanted because it's such a huge and classic Bon Jovi song, but whatever words used, it deserves them all. Some reasons for genuine acclaim are its all-around musical excellency in its lyrics, musical development and acoustic passages, its interesting "touring cowboys" theme, the fact that it was a truly magical live song all the way up to 1996 and the fact that it's an immortal, timeless classic and an essential part of Bon Jovi's repertoire and phenomenon. Wanted Dead Or Alive is the best song on Slippery When Wet and one of the greatest Bon Jovi songs ever.

Rating: *****

Raise Your Hands

Written by: JBJ, RS
Status: Album track (also released as B-side to Never Say Goodbye)

The second side of the album begins with this simple little rock song. Raise Your Hands is a song that was made mainly for playing live. The lyrics aren't really related to anything; the point of the song is to list a few cities of the world and order the audience to raise their hands, getting them jumping and excited with the show. Unsurprisingly, the song was used to open concerts on the long tour for Slippery in 1986-87. The song was dropped off the set after the Slippery tour probably because it was just too simple and not good enough for long term playing, and Lay Your Hands On Me soon filled its place perfectly. But although it's a simple song, made mainly for playing live and something that you could call "filler", Raise Your Hands does fit Slippery well and it's a rather good song on the album too. It's this raw, fun and energetic rock that this album is all about.

Rating: ***

Without Love

Written by: JBJ, RS, DC
Status: Album track

This is probably the most neglected song on the album as the song was never played live and never really given much attention. Without Love is a nice rock ballad. It's about love, but it's not even nearly as accomplished and straightforward love song as the later ballads were to be. There isn't yet anyone crying and vowing their eternal love for their loved one who is about to leave the relationship, but instead the lyrics tell the ultimate truth that everybody needs love in their life. The lyrics are nice, and this is not a bad song. It's not great but it can be perhaps considered to be a slightly underrated song. Without Love is nice, and I guess it could well be one of those "fan's favourite" songs.

Rating: ***

I'd Die For You

Written by: JBJ, RS
Status: Album track

From the title you could expect a ballad, but I'd Die For You is actually the hardest-rocking song on the album. Hard-hitting keyboards, pounding drums and crashing guitars dominate this speedy and somewhat raw rocker. Lyrically it's that what you could expect from the title, but it's the fast-bursting choruses and booming instrumentals that make this a great song. I'd Die For You was also an integral part of the band's live set all the way up to 1995, and in 1996 they worked a new acoustic version from the song that they played during that second These Days tour. I'd Die For You isn't quite a Bon Jovi classic, but it's a great speedy rock song and an essential part of this album.

Rating: ****

Never Say Goodbye

Written by: JBJ, RS
Status: Fourth single from the album released in August 1987, peaked at #15 in the US, at #21 in the UK

Never Say Goodbye is one of the most famous songs of Slippery because of its (no doubt worthy) inclusion on the Crossroad compilation. It's also famous for being written in Richie's mother's basement (a fact they rarely forgot to mention). The lyrics are a walk through the youth of the speaker, a nostalgic reminiscence of high-school times. The lyrics aren't really great but they're good, and definitely good if compared to the lyrics of the two previous albums. In concerts the band started to neglect the song pretty badly after the Slippery tour, but an acoustic rendition of the song became a rare and great treat and was used to close concerts from time to time. Never Say Goodbye is an unashamed tribute to friendship and love. It is an excellent song, one of the best songs of Slippery and an essential Bon Jovi rock ballad.

Rating: ****

Wild In The Streets

Written by: JBJ
Status: Album track (also released as B-side to Livin' On A Prayer)

The fun, happy and energetic rock of this album culminates in this truly sublime rock song. Wild In The Streets is one of the greatest Bon Jovi rockers of all time. Jon wrote the lyrics that are about youth, kids having the time of their lives in the streets of their hometown. The lyrics are nice, but the most distinct thing about this fast-paced rocker is its energy. The song has such a wonderful spirit and feel to it that there probably is no other song in the Bon Jovi catalogue reaching the same kind of genuine joy of rock'n'roll and life as this song. Featuring both a piano solo from David and a guitar solo from Richie and vivid and energetic performances from all, it's a wonderful song in many ways. The song was also an important live song for the band, it was great live and was featured in the set on all of the band's tours. It's really a superb rock song. One of my favourite Bon Jovi songs and pure class what comes to these energetic "feel-good" rock songs, Wild In The Streets is one of the best rockers this band ever made.

Rating: *****

THE BEST SONG: Wanted Dead Or Alive, which is a Bon Jovi masterpiece and the cowboy song of them all. It's a superb Bon Jovi anthem and one of the greatest Bon Jovi songs ever. Livin' On A Prayer is surely not much weaker, it's another brilliant song and another anthem. And Wild In The Streets is a truly energetic, joyful and sublime rock song.

OVERALL: Slippery When Wet was 'it' for Bon Jovi, their big breakthrough. It was one of the biggest selling records of the 1980s, remains the band's biggest selling album and it was one of the defining albums of the decade. If there's one classic Bon Jovi album, it is this one. But, as classic as Slippery may be, it's not the best Bon Jovi album.

Slippery When Wet is a big, crunching rock album. Or, a "pop metal" album. Bon Jovi and Slippery When Wet fitted perfectly to the 1980s' hair metal genre, and Slippery planted that label so firmly on them that they later never could get rid of it. You Give Love A Bad Name sounds like the ultimate pop metal song, and even though there's some mockery tone in the pop metal tag, Slippery When Wet is just that through and through. The band drifted away from the hair music later but that was what they were always remembered for, perhaps to their disappointment as they were one of the few 80s hair bands that survived grunge and could hold the success in the long run. The 1980s' hair era music isn't generally considered by music fans to be very... well, good, and I'm not too fond of any other bands of that genre - in fact I would dare to hold Bon Jovi as much better than most of those 80s' bands. Well, at least you couldn't beat Jon's hair, could you?

It's hardly surprising that Slippery isn't a really great achievement lyrically and musically. Meaning, that often the lyrics aren't great, and overall the album is rather noisy and one-dimensional. But of course, it's important to know that this was never meant to be an album of great things, important lyrics and meaningful songs. This is a fun, happy rock album, vivid, straightforward and energetic, and that's how it was intended to be all along.

Slippery has some huge Bon Jovi classics, but after those songs the rest of the material on the album is little more than a bit noisy and average rock. Wanted Dead Or Alive, Livin' On A Prayer and Wild In The Streets are superb rock songs and some of the best Bon Jovi songs of all time. But then things like You Give Love A Bad Name, Social Disease and Raise Your Hands are only mediocre stuff, certainly not terrible songs but neither that great or special either. But while Slippery is a bit inconsistent in quality and for the most part only rather average rock, it is also a very lively and energetic album. Such raw and pure energy as this album has you can't really find from any other later Bon Jovi album. Not as genuine, at least. This is an album made by people who clearly had great time making it, and it shows on the record.

Slippery is a great rock album, but it's not as good as the next three Bon Jovi albums were to be. All three are more complete records, more consistent in quality and have more depth. It does perhaps sound a bit dumb to say that this is an album that lacks depth when it was never intended to have much depth in the first place (and we're talking of Bon Jovi here), but because there's so little variety in the songs of this album and the other albums do have much better lyrics, musicianship and overall touch, it still suffers slightly from that lack of depth. But although Slippery is a bit noisy, very commercial, largely not much more than than only average rock and regardless of the huge sales I wouldn't call it one of the best albums of the 1980s, it's still a great rock record. And of course, it's a classic album, for both this band and even for the entire decade of 1980s.

OVERALL SCORE: 15 OUT OF 20