I wrote exactly the same without reading your post :p

It's hard to find a fault in the rest of the band so to me they've given their best like they always do. The huge difference is that Jon means it when he sings. Of course it doesn't hurt that there are some lyrics that just blow my mind, but how many times it's been discussed that if they released TD as it is but with the amount of passion WAN had (zero lol), everybody would hate most of it and tear it to pieces, specially the weakest lyrics? Why the hell do I like New Years Day when similar songs in recent releases made me cringe and I never listened to them again? Why didn't I care about songs that have very solid lyrics and you can see they put an extra effort on them (LH bonus tracks would be the perfect example)?

The answer is pretty simple. Anybody can write a nice lyric. Anybody can get a thesaurus and turn a simple lyric into something poetic. Even good metaphors are not that difficult to create. But words are just words and it takes more than a good voice to make that lyric come alive, to have the listener feel it and believe it. One thing that Jon always had was selling whatever he sung. Even the worst cliché. Their most vocal critics had no problem admitting that Jon was good at making you believe the songs. He lost that magic touch, or didn't care. Or whatever was going on with the band held him back, it's true that could be another possible scenario.

So yeah, it was that simple. Welcome back Jon, don't ever leave again.

Has the fact reunion sounds like a Mumford & Sons rip off been discussed yet?

The only song that doesn't grab me one iota is God Bless This Mess. All Hail The King is my second least favourite. All of the others on the whole are the dog's. Well done BJ. Long may it continue...

Yes, I asked for the connection after the first show I think. It bugged me until I remember it was THAT song that was on the radio 24/7 some years ago :D

I didn't like Reunion acoustic back then, don't like it now, can't listen without thinking about I Will Wait

But this time they get a pass, a slight faux pas in an excellent album, so all is good 8-)

Was mentioned in one of the online gig reviews that it was a Mumford and Sons type song.

I like it God Bless This Mess. I accelerated the pace a bit to fit the live version, and is now perfect for me.

On that Spain Bon Jovi FB page it says file cannot be found. Just my luck, I missed out! :(

Yeah, it has been discussed, and I listened to the Mumford & Sons song, but other than a similarity in the beginning of the chorus on Reunion, I can't find too many similarities. In fact I find the BJ take on that kind of song way better, as I can't stand Mumford & Sons to be honest ;-) There are far worse cases of rip-offs, for example The Fighter, August 7 4:15, and so on. Reunion is as similar to I Will Wait as Labor Of Love is to Wicked Game. You can tell it's (probably) been influenced by it, but it's not a carbon copy by all means...

Nicely put. That's about what I meant when I wrote that Jon telling all those stories during the live shows made us feel the songs/lyrics more, and thus probably like the songs even more than we would have otherwise...

Hard to believe that most of the people on here are raving about this album. Sure it is better than WAN but have you really lowered your standards or forgot how mighty this band once was until TD? Reading comments like "almost as good as TD" "in my Top 3" makes me wonder if I heard another album.

Or am I too oldschool and love Rocking and "raw" Jovi instead of this light pop stuff. The only ROCK song is "Devil's in The Temple" which has a guitar riff. The other songs lack guitar punch, lack depth and it still makes me wanna cry listening to Jon trying to be Pink like on light pop songs like "Rollercoaster" and similar songs. Pink does them better and it is almost satirical that Jon is trying to do these pop songs without any depth and meaning. The songs are decent but they go in one ear and leave thru the other and you forgot about them. THINFS (the song) is the usual formula heard 1000 times before, the ballads are written by numbers and Jovi trying EDM on "Born again..." is just laughable hearing these fake electronic drums - this is elevator music. Is this really the same guy who wrote "My guitar lies bleeding..." or "I Believe" or even "Blood on Blood"??? Hard to believe and pretty sad if you ask me.
"Knockout" with its laughable "Boom Boom Boom "lyrics is cringeworthy, sounds like Britney Spears trying to do a rock song. "Labour Of Love" is a rip off to Isaak's "Wicked Game" almost note for note and a snoozefest. "God Bless this Mess" is THISFS Part 2 - it seems like every lil guitar breakout was meant to be mixed in the back. The solos are just bad (if there are any).
This is still not a band effort. It sounds like a JBJ solo album."I WIll Drive You home" sounds like "Midnight in Chelsea" - pure pop fluff.
"We Don't run" was decent on BB, the remix ruins it completely.
"New Years Day" would be kinda ok if it had more punch, "All Hail The King" as well, not a bad song but put it back to back to gems like "These Days" or "In These arms" and you'll notice how mediocre these songs really are.
The only really good song for me was "Living with the Ghost", even though the production killed it as well. No edges anyhwere but this song gives me the only "old" Jovi feeling I had when I was waiting for a BJ album which is ages ago. How the mighty have fallen. The Bonus tracks are just that - fillers. Where are those "great" songs you all hear? I hear a band which was well known for great rock music until HAND doing middle of the road pop stuff trying to stay as tame as possible. What do you guys think makes this album a standout? All I hear is mediocrity. I could live with JBJ 's voice (he cannot sing live anymore to save his life and what happened to him as a performer ?? Seeing him glued to the mic stand makes me think "WTF happened"?? This guy once OWNED a stage - now he is barely moving and hiding behind the mic stand not able to pull off an easy song like Bad Medicine. Sad if you ask me really really sad for an old fan. Look at older guys like Springsteen or Dickinson what happened to the mighty Jon until 2005???).
I really would love to have seen this album as a return to form - it is not. It is almost as meaningless as the last few ones. They lost their edge completely. I doubt there will ever be a great BJ album and the might band is gone for good. Seeing the Richie performances makes me sad as well. He could not have saved this sinking ship. And TBH - most of you are living in denial that this is shows a band in their peak. You really think so? I don't. I think this is just a sad effort and another nail in the coffing especially for old school rock fans on BJ. And I don't wanna see JBJ being a shadow of his former self trying to fill stadiums (which he won't be able to anymore - most staiums where half empty the last tim) with his completely shot voice. It would certainly ruin their legacy. They are way past their time - they had a great run until 2005 (if I am optimisitic) but that's it. Sadly.....