What is it that keeps you hangin on??
 

Just got thought about it myself. Another brainstorm :)
Even if they aren't delivering what I'd wish by now they are still on top of my personal Hall Of Fame.

For me:

- the songs are telling how real life with all the shades not just the nice stuff
- it is real music, you can sit down and do every song unplugged if you want - everywhere in the world
- the atmosphere at live gigs is just like no other. I saw lots of other big bands but it isn't nearly the same, the whole action going on...
- that guitar guy I think RS is his name turned me on to guitar music, before I didn't care for any music and now I'm a real junkie for almost 10 years and never ever see
- it changed my life, helped me through all the bad times
- they gave me some of my favourite records from a time I was a little kid and couldn't even speak :p but i feel so connected to that time
- the lyrics still matter in these times
- the music still matters in these times
- the band still matters in these times

Funnily enough - i was round a mates last night and we were talking about music.
I booted up his laptop and said listen to this its the new Jovi song.

He listened and after 1 minute said "this is like everything they have ever released, you know what kind of music it is? its music for dads with kids, the music my dad listened to in the car - why do you listen to this shit?"

To be honest i think he summed it up quite well (my dad is into rock and we had everything from Beatles to ELO in the car as kids).

My mate used to like Jovi up until Keep the Faith then went of them. Jovi was his first gig in 1990 and he loved it.
We are the same age but our lives are totaly different. I am married with 2 kids, job and house.
He is unemployed, rents my sisters house with my other mate, No kids & no woman and still goes round his mums for dinner 4 times a week. A mummys boy. He has no idea of real life.

The point is maybe I can (still) relate to Bon Jovi as maybe the music is now aimed at people like me? Bon Jovi arent 25 anymore either. They have also grown up.
Im 34 and have listened to Jovi since I was 13. I cant stop listening now even if I think the new stuff (Crush +) has been average at best. I live in hope that another New Jersey will be released but know that deep down there will never be another NJ.

Maybe The Circle is 2009s New Jersey who knows? I cant wait to find out.

You make a good point here but I pretty much have liked the same sort of music most of my life. There is no major change between before I was married and after (with kids). Then again - I think that sixties music (what I grew up on) was more pop oriented and radio friendly to begin with - very much like Jovi. And I'm still a sucker for a gorgeous melody and good lyrical content.

Why am I still here? The live shows are some of the best in the business. I seldom listen to any of the albums anymore with the exception of These Days on occasion. I do listen to some of my favorite live shows though. I keep hoping that Jon will write another unforgettable song. I don't hate everything from Crush on - but I do think that there are only a small handfull of good songs on each subsequent record.

What keeps me hanging on mainly is hope. I know that Jon and Co have the ability to write another unforgetable song or 2, and I just hope that one day, they will, and release it, and it will kick the butt of everything else out there. Then there's the live shows- I haven't been to that many concerts, but there is defnately something special about a Jovi show. I first saw them on The Bounce tour, and although Jon's voice was pretty bad then, the atmosphere was amazing, and then when I saw the band again on the HAND tour, they just blew me away and they have done every time I've seen them since.

Then there's the fact that I've been listening to the band since I was born. Pretty much every single memory of my childhood involves a Jovi song playing in the background. And as I've gotten older, the songs have helped me through some pretty touch times, I've made friends through the band and made new memories with the band and their music. And what I think is quite a big factor in why I'm still interested in the band is the fact that even though things have changed - I'm not a 4 year-old-kid any more, or a 15-year-old anorexic girl, or a stressed-out friendless 16-year-old any more- I can still relate to the songs and they still mean something to me when other music that I listened to at those point in time is irrelevant and ignored by me now.

Also, I guess I'd have to say that the buzz and run-up to a new album release is pretty awesome. I'm not a huge lover of the new single, but still, I can't wait to hear what the new album has to offer. And that is why I am still obsessed with the band :)

Simply because they are not only the best band in the world but also my favourite. That's all that needs to be said in my opinion.

It's sad I know, but I'm not even sure if I'm even hanging on anymore.

I enjoy them, and I quite like the new song, and I really like Working Man. But I feel like I'm just looking forward to the new album because I feel like I should be and not because I actually am :(

Oh well, we had a nice 4 year run Bon Jovi. It's been fun.

:o I'm disappointed in you. You coulda atleast given em a decade.

Well I'm sorry that I met someone better <_<

Me too, Oliver, me too.