You people are obbessed with These Days...
 

Every where I go on here I see people comparing every album to These Days, over and over again. Some people here don't care for it, but the majority does. So I figure I am gonna see if I can solve this....

About 2 years ago, my girlfriend and I broke up, and well I was down. One day I was on the computer trying to find some music that will fit my situation, since I was tired of all the songs I had in my library. I was never a Bon Jovi fan, so I said what the hell, why don't I see if he has any good music videos. So, I go on Windows Media Player and search Bon Jovi, and only 2 music videos came up, These Days and This Ain't a Love Song.

I didn't want to hear This Ain't a Love Song, cause I wanted to hear a love song ;). So I watched These Days. And I watched it again. And again. Everything in that video was perfect to me. Jon even had the same hair I current did :D. The lyrics was great, and I wanted more. So I watch This Ain't a Love Song, and let me tell you, I was speechless. Everything I wanted from a love song was there. I felt like he was telling me what just happened in my life.

I refused to download these songs, I wanted the album. So I constently watched these videos over and over again, until These Days came in the mail. At first the songs that grabbed me was Something for the Pain, This Ain't a Love Song, These Days, Hearts Breaking Even, and If Thats What It Takes. I listened to the whole cd every night. Hearts Breaking Even really stuck in my mind, it sounded so different from everything I heard...ever. And since If Thats What It Takes was two songs away from Hearts, I decided not to skip the one in the middle....

I didnt like Something to Believe In at first, I thought some lines were cheesy, but since it was in the middle of two of my favorite songs, I listened to it anyways. And then one day....wham...the song knocked me on my ass. The pain, the longing for hope...Something to Believe In became more than just a song, it was something I was searching for.

After that, I began to like all the other songs on the cd (except Diamond Ring), each one offered something different. I began to look for performances of these songs and I found the Live in London DVD. After that I saw Yokohama 96. Floored again by these songs, I did some research. I wanted to see how many of these great songs does Bon Jovi put in their set, night after night. To my surprise, none. I found out that These Days didnt sell well in America, but across seas it did very well. The only songs the play off that album is Something to Believe In, These Days, and Diamond Ring, and those are very rare to say the least.

I also noticed how the band was doing during that time. Jon could still sing the high notes if he tried, he didnt have to arrange songs too much differently, and everything still sounded like the records. Bon Jovi did great covers during that time, like Imagine, and all in all, the band was in their prime. But it wasn't the band I recognize today. Jon doesn't sing as well as he did back then, the lyrical value has diminished greatly, the songs are very poppy, the band wasn't the same.

Crossroads should have been released after These Days, because truly thats where the cross between Bon Jovi and New Bon Jovi lies. Nothing today sounds remotley like the first 6 albums, and its a shame. The great songs are missing in setlists, and I dont know why This Aint a Love Song isn't played, especially after American Idol.

All in all, I have to agree with this board with These Days, it is the best record Bon Jovi has released, maybe cause it was different, or in the band's heyday, or maybe everyone loves these songs cause Bon Jovi never plays them, any way.....These Days is where Bon Jovi left their legacy, and maybe one day that legacy will return.

I can tell a nice, long, personal story about Crush, it doesn't make it their best album.
I don't want to belittle your personal story, I really don't.
I just think that TD has a tendancy to get overrated.

Funny, I was listening to These Days today since I was kinda bored with every other cd I had in my car so I put that one on cause I hadn't listened to it in a while.

It's still as great as when I first heard it, no **** that, It's held up so ****ing well through the years, I love that album. Even though It's not my favorite, I could say that it's Bon Jovi's highest quality songwriting wise.

My first new car - Mazda Mx5, July, 30 degrees Celsius, Yorkshire dales, These days.

One of my favorite days ever :)

Aloha !

Please do. Please tell me how songs like Captain Crash, She's A Mystery, Next 100 Years, Two Story Town, I Got The Girl and Say It Isn't So made you feel one with the emotions captured in those songs and tell me how it felt like the singer was singing about your pain and/or happiness in those songs coming from Crush.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

These Days is not "easily" overrated... It just happens to be easy to determine what is actually a great BJ album and what's not, since we've had few "not-as-good" albums over the last 8 years.

Td
 

I happen to think its one of the overriding criteria for being a Jovitalk user - an unequivicable love of 'These Days' and a belief that it was the pinnacle in BJ's career, both lyrically and sonically.

There are few things that join us all together but 'These Days' must be one of them on here, alongside the usual disappointment in the live set lists.

I defy anyone to find more than 1-2 songs on any album since These Days that could match the songs on there. Off the top of my head I can think of 'Its My Life', 'Just Older', 'Have a Nice Day', 'Make a Memory', 'Any Other Day' and maybe 'Last Man Standing' at a push. Nothing else matches the intensity, feeling and passion that they had back then.

Its a crime that 'Hey God', 'Aint a Love Song' and 'Something to Believe In' aren't part of the live shows anymore.

These Days as an album is not as easily accessible, however it is the most growing album Bon Jovi have released. Every time you listen to it, you love it more.

I'm very curious and need a good laugh. I will be waiting impatiently.


Anyway I agree with first poster, TD is a masterpiece - I also listened to it from start to end recently after a long time. And was again very impressed by it.
I also agree that it has some killer live version of a few songs floating aroumd.

There are very few albums that don't get old or boring with time. Very few that you can put on time and time again no matter how you're feeling and say "**** me, this is good!". Few albums you can read the lyrics and see how pretty much every one is relevant. For me These Days is one of these few albums. For me, it's a special album.