Tribute to The Circle
 

Not to sound too much like that Sexx guy but since the end may have come for The Circle, which as far as I'm concerned is amongst the best material the band has ever produced, and these songs may end up going the way of the Bounce material, I wanted to post some of my favourite performances of each Circle song that's been played live.

We Weren't Born To Follow:

When We Were Beautiful:

Work For The Working Man:

Superman Tonight:

Bullet:

Thorn In My Side:

Brokenpromiseland:

Love's The Only Rule:

Can I Be Happy Now?:

Thank you - I couldn't agree with you more. This particular record is one of the best they have done in my opinion - especially focusing on the lyrics. It's right up there with These Days and KTF for me.

Oh yeah, and like those records, the really impressive thing is how incredibley well each of these songs translated in a live environment.

For me too, and it's so sad that they gave up on it so early. But the band just seems to play what sells well and unfortunately that has always been pretty much that way as I just realized. Unfortunately the crappy LH was more successful :(

I saw 7 of those songs live and consider myself very lucky. At my first shows of the tour (Montreal) they were doing 6 songs from The Circle per night. By my last shows in Chicago, they were down to 3 per night. Sadly Bullet and Brokenpromiseland are the 2 that I didn't see, and those are 2 of my favorites from the album.

Radio won't play new Jovi material for the most part, so casual fans haven't heard it when they get to a show. This leads to beer and bathroom breaks. Then Jon decides the new material is creating a dreaded "lull" in the show, so he starts dropping the new material. Playing less from the new CD means that few casual fans at a show even realize that there IS a new album, so sales aren't helped by the tour. This further convinces the band and the record company that the CD flopped, and here we are. Anyone have the magic answer? :confused:

(Of course, I feel duty-bound to disclose that when the same thing happened on the last Bruce tour, I was glad when he dropped most of the new material. The difference was I didn't like the Working On A Dream album, while I love The Circle. I guess that makes me part of the problem, huh? :roll:)

I couldn’t agree with you more. The Circle has become my third favourite BJ album, right after KTF an TD you mentioned. And I mean musically and lyrically. It even tops SWW and NJ for me, which I thought would not happen after their few previous albums in 2000‘s. It’s such a shame they dropped the album so soon. I actually think they should not drop it at all and play at least 6-7 songs per night. I don’t care how it sells, for me it’s absolutely fantastic and songs like BPL, HN, LTL, TIMS, LTOR should be there as staples every night on this tour and the band should be really really proud of this material. I hope that somehow I will have a chance to witness those songs at least once live next year, as I was not lucky enough for that this summer. Let’s hope the band will not burry them for good for the next European leg.

I agree wholeheartedly, This is the first studio album I followed on this board, from the earliest rumours of "Riff rock" to the finished product and it's ultimate decline. I'm saddened by the unremarkable impact of TC, to a lot of fans it's a respectable collection of tracks, perhaps even the best in 10 years from the band.

Theres a few memories I have of The Circle era...

- The hints Jon gave of "Riff rock" and the sudden performance of WFTWM acoustic that set off debate over the themes of TC.
- The gradual build up of information through interviews and snippets that let us theorize about how the album would sound.
- Seb's infamous TC hoax where a mysterious tape was delivered in the night...
- The release of WWBTF and how there was concern over a rehashed HAND sound and how that ultimately wasn't the case.
- The 30 second snippets that whipped up frenzy and debate on whether or not to listen to them.
- The leak and the majority of glowing reviews that were given (including myself, caught up in the fad!) :D
- How well some of TC tracks worked live, hearing LTOR live for the first time I couldn't believe how good it sounded. TIMS stands out too.

I got to see 5 Circle songs live:
WWBTF
WWWB
WFTWM
Bullet
Happy Now

I just wish I could see TIMS and LTOR once before TC tour is up....

All in all, I'm appreciative of the circle, it had mixed public reaction but gave satisfaction to a lot of fans. Farewell Circle, you might be final good album we ever get...

awww, this post makes me sad.

It is sad in a way but it also makes you appreciate TC and the good things associated with it. I also like to think that TC made some kind of lasting impression to some of the hardocre fans even if it didn't stick in the public eye. Not quite TD but one of those underrated things that goes awry.

I went to a show early in the tour, so I got 6 Circle songs. I saw WWBTF, WWWB, ST, LTOR, WFTWM, and Happy Now.

I loved hearing Happy Now live the first time they played it EVER. It sounded great live. As did Love's the Only Rule. I only wish I could've saw Thorn In My Side. It is an amazing song.

I love the album. I was blown away when I first heard it. When WWBTF came out last August, I think I blew out my iPod pressing the repeat button. :)

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