| symbeline |
01-28-2016 10:54 PM |
Am I the only one dreading the new album?
After the euphoria post Burning Bridges waned, I realized that my high expectations for the next album were based in a misunderstanding and the reality was probably the same as before and now I wish they took a longer break, I still need to process everything that has happened since 2012.
When they said that “We Don’t Run” was (paraphrasing) “the direction the band was headed” I took it meant lyrically and musically. Which made sense since their usual uplifting live-your-life-get-up-off-your-knees-stand-up-and-fight crap had lately become slightly better and different from the “It’s My Life” carbon copies (“Everyday”, “Have a Nice Day”, “We Weren’t Born to Follow”) to the still pretty unoriginal but increasingly darker and more inspired (“No Apologies”, “This is Love, This is Life” to an extent, and “Because We Can”). And WDR was a logical progression, same old shit (weak chorus, awful autotune) but more in-your-face lyrics and aggressive music, reminiscent of “Bounce”. Rest of the album was pretty consistent (well, except for “We All Fall Down”, what a song...) and the next album was called “This House is Not For Sale”, so surely it meant their (artistic) integrity is all they have left and they don’t give a shit anymore about critics, popularity and charts. Jon letting the gray out cemented that idea in my mind. So yeah, I kinda made castles in the air out of nothing, I envisioned the darker, angrier, anguished lyrics that would follow based in the BB songs and the turbulent couple of years prior to that. But I didn’t realize that as far as we know ONLY the title song, WDR and Teardrop are confirmed new. Two other are old (Saturday, “Blind Love” as per Jon), another one is probably old as well judging by the vocals and style (“I’m Your Man”) and the good ones which I thought would be the “prototype” for the upcoming tracks (“Who Would You Die For”,”Fingerprints”), nobody knows where they came from. All my dreams went up in ashes and my future blew away… :P
One thing I’ve been mulling over for a very long time is, do they need to make an *artistic* album? And for me the answer is the key to everything.
I always thought that they want to feel appreciated as songwriters more than performers, but I have also come to terms with the fact that critics will always dismiss them as “same old, same old” and their core fanbase is casuals who love the hits because... who wouldn’t love a band that delivers a 2hr+ concert full of songs everybody knows? Nobody complains except for a dozen die-hards and most husbands who are not amused at seeing Jon shake his old ass and flirt with females of all ages. People love to be entertained, they love fun, fast, innocuous, highly satisfying but highly forgettable too, nothing too complicated. That’s what BJ post 2000 is. I don’t even think they are just going through the motions, I am convinced they FEEL that’s all they have to offer to keep their audience happy. Sadly, they’ll be remember as just that, a hugely commercial band who sold out stadiums until they died, which is in itself quite the achievement, but I bet that’s not what they really have in their veins, specially Jon & Richie.
Yeah, I know they never shied away from being very commercial. Heck, I was extremely disappointed when I saw Desmond Child had three credits in These Days (not counting “Diamond Ring”, only the new songs), the cynical in me thinks that maybe, just maybe, they didn’t write this ****ing masterpiece of an album just out of the goodness of their hearts-they saw that music post-grunge was raw, dark, angry, the opposite of fun, and they tagged along like they did with most of their albums. I don’t really think that’s exactly what happened, but the fact that they insisted in being in a happy place while writing that album and the actual output seemingly contradicting that affirmation… from time to time the devil in my shoulder cackles maniacally at my naivety and says that even when they go *artistic* they always keep an eye on the popular/commercial and draw some inspiration from it. Always had, always will.
(For the record, I think that being in a happy place is not at odds with writing dark songs. To me, their happy place came from having successfully survived the grunge massacre with KTF and specially from selling a shitload of copies of Crossroad and having a huge monster hit with Always. Obvious reasons for being in an extremely happy place. But it wasn’t that long before that their future as a band was in shambles and they had all that bottled up inside, waiting for the right moment to pour their hearts out. And that was These Days. “Miss 4th of July” and Radio didn’t make KTF because the wounds were too fresh. I’m sure that if Crossroad didn’t happen or wasn’t the huge success it was, “Something to Believe In” and half of TD would be in the boxset instead of the album. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it)
So for me, it’s clear they won’t release another TD, another *artistic* album because they risk alienating their fanbase. The fanbase that has made them top the charts, specially the touring ones, since Crush. Why would they lose that fanbase? Because the die-hards like the 90s? Where were those fans when they did the 95 tour? I’m not saying they should pander to the fans (US fans, that is), just playing devil’s advocate here… they have a steady following since Crush, their older fans seemed more fickle, business is business, they worked hard to get where they are now, they finally got the recognition and respect they craved for so long (respect means the critics just shrug when they talk about them, but acknowledge they are big and have survived and give them credit for that) and they put on one hell of a show according to the regulars. It would take lots of guts to say “screw it, we are worth more than this middle-of-the-road, uninspired, safe music”. I’m sure they have the guts, but really, they are damned if they do, damned if they don’t (if it’s more guitar oriented album, I’ll be seen as a dig. If it’s not, as a victory for Richie, same with the quality, the music, the lyrics...). My prediction is that they’ll stick to what it works, make a few minimal changes. Richie’s situation puts a lot of pressure on them, much more than the departure from the label. They are really back to square one in this unforgiving industry. One last chance or be a nostalgia act forever. Again, why would they risk it?
“This House Is Not For Sale”: WAN part 2 + more guitars + more singer songwriter stuff from Dylan wannabe Jon Bon Jovi (if you want tiny glimpses of what he’s really capable of, hope for the return of the b-sides… or another boxset). Nothing more, nothing less
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Does a promise really break if nobody sees it fall?
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