You're right.
I do respect opinions here on this board whether I agree with them or not. It was just that several of your points that you referred to in your review of the THINFS while comparing it to previous releases, and especially the Britney Spears comment were outlandish and completely unfair to 2016 Bon Jovi. I guess I feel blessed to be one of many here who understand and accept the 54 year old JBJ, not the 20 or 30 year old one. His voice is never going to be the same and he has done a fantastic job on this album with writing songs and lyrics that fit his new wheelhouse, new direction without Riche.
As much as I love the classic albums, I could complain about These Days having some really cheesy songs on it. Per example: If That's What it Takes.
Or New Jersey's overall production sounding similar and pretty outdated from beginning to end. Sure they rock out to the fullest, and have the hits yet if you really listen to THINFS, it has several styles/types of songs to choose from which makes it more eclectic than any Jovi albums have ever been. Anyways, ultimately I would just like you enjoy the new album.
No hard feelings. We are both passionate which is what really matters

We are fans, there are still things we like, but when Jon says he works hard, makes me laugh, he uses a lot of composers who make half of your work, then use the same tricks when producing an album with John Shanks. There are few original things in your albums, that's what keeps me close. I can even dream that a great album could come someday.

Devils in the Temple, We Don't Run, Who Would You Die For, A Teardrop to the Sea, I'm With You, Brokenpromiseland, Love The Only Rule, Whole Lot Of Leavin', HAND, Last Man Standing, Dirty Little Secret, Undivided, Just Older............

The hyperbole over this album is quite staggering.

The talk of Grammys and 10/10 reviews is madness.

It's a nice safe album and for a man who can't sing and gave up being a rock star years ago, Jon shows signs of being a genuine human with real feelings again.

But a classic?

Nope, and saying it's the best album since These Days is lazy and wrong.

Well for me, your statements here are lazy and unfair to those of us who have listened to every album and song that the band has ever written and have a wide-range of musical tastes beyond Jovi, rock, metal, which gives me the right to express my own early impressions and love for this album. I stand by my review that this is better than any album Jovi has released in the 21st century and I won't back down from that.

This.

The answer to that question already exists. It's called the period post Crush (which is a decent album and was a continuation of the "exploring new ideas/sounds" that started with DA, but many people only see IML and put a "terrible attempt at commercial pop with guitars" stamp on it). Bounce and HAND still had some of their old *spirit* in them but it all went downhill from there. There are very few distinctive moments in LH, TC and WAN because they were made with a kind of "what will the fans expect? what will keep us relevant?" mentality. I'm not talking about songs in particular because everybody has their personal tastes and it's silly arguing who's right. I'm talking about that particular moment (lyric, melody, vocal delivery...) where you really get into the song because that's what your favorite band is capable of doing. It's not a just a song you like and can't stop humming because it's catchy or nice or has a lyric you like, it's a song that you have to stop to really listen and becomes a part of the soundtrack of your live. You will go back to that album because you'll feel the need to do it, it will mean something to you/evoke a feeling or whatever you want to call it. But a too universal album will never touch you individually. It just simply won't. And it won't create that connection.

Draw the line wherever you want, some would say Crush, some would say TC. Personally, I think Bounce and HAND already had very little *magic* moments in them but enough for me, so of course I could be a little bit biased.

I get what the poster is saying, that's what I've thought with every record since 2005. The thing is that even if you liked all the albums that came after TD, even if there are some decent things going on, with each one a little bit of BJ was lost and it's not as simple as saying "we need more guitars". That was a big part of it, I love 7800º Fahrenheit, I love loud 80s guitars, I love hard rock, so count me in the group that still mourns the loss of their rockier sound. But that would only be scratching the surface. Their great ability to craft good songs, to sell them, to make you believe in them, to connect with the listener, that dwindled with every record, with every step they didn't take because of fear of going back to square one. We were left with shells of what the songs could have been. You could feel the potential but they never reached it, there were always good songs but even the ones that you thought "they still have it on them" were not as satisfying as before because there was always that feeling that it wasn't only the natural decline of a band getting older, it was something else, something holding them back, as if they were afraid of stepping out of the line, too comfortable in their number-one-record-biggest-selling-tour-of-the-year shoes. Chasing those trends and trying to reach to a wider audience gave them a false sense of security: if they remained popular by catering to all the fans, critics would leave them alone and they would be relevant because they were delivering what the fans expected. Foolproof strategy. But I think that many of us would agree that the decreasing quality of the output made the hardcore fans unhappy, the regulars tired of the same shit and ultimately made the band out of touch with their fans because like you said you can't create something from the heart when the head is holding you back, doing calculations and letting fear dictate what you should say. Their fanbase has decreased alarmingly in 10 years. Their live shows don't leave the fans wanting for more. Many people were convinced that they were done. So it's obvious that even the most loyal of fans knew they had to do better or it was over.

So while I get what he was saying and I agree that was the case until this album, I think that even if you don't like THINFS it's pretty clear that it came from the heart this time. That's their best, this time is for real. They didn't ONLY do what the fans would expect or what could bring them a wider audience. They created something that made sense as a whole and something that spoke to who they are and what they want to say, without doing a 180º just to prove the naysayers that they can change. They don't have to change if they are comfortable in their skins. It's not about liking it or not liking it, but about giving them credit for fighting their way back.

Like I said in my previous post, I get what you are saying because I was you until this album lol

But I'm curious, HAND is solid, I like it, but it's full of poppy songs, some with a little bit more crunch but overall pretty pop. It got a lot of flack back in the day for being very commercial pop-rock, overproduced, fake vocals on some songs blah blah

What exactly do you like about HAND that THINFS doesn't have? The vocals? The lyrics? Other than the guitars, which are more prominent on HAND, I don't see a lot of difference. Since the first single, even before Jon said that it was going to have a HAND sound, it was clear that was the reference. Do you honestly think that Last Cigarrette, Story of My Life, Complicated, Who Says, Welcome to Wherever You Are or Wildflower are better than similar songs on THINFS? Not judging because god knows I love the poppier songs on HAND a lot and I listen to them frequently, but let's call a spade a spade. Rollercoaster is no worse than Complicated in terms of bubble gum pop.

Good for you.

I wish I was so easily pleased.

I think it's too early for anyone to give this a truly fair review, but personally, I'm not feeling it. And it mostly has to do with the quality of the songs, and part of it has to do with the guitar just seeming so vanilla and generic. Yes, Richie is missed. I'm not going to pan the album yet, and will wait for the official CD to come out and give it a lot of time before I decide one way or another. But for me, The Circle absolutely runs circles around this (pun intended). And I agree, that comparing this to These Days is ridiculous.

But being a fan for over 30 years, I don't have any huge expectations and don't expect them to release New Jersey part 2. Just happy they are still releasing new music, and anything I happen to like is just a nice surprise.

Fair points.
I do believe there is a proceess to one's listening experience and how I feel now may certainly twist and turn a bit down the road. To me Bon Jovi has always had a cheesy element to them on every single album which is part of their charm and element to why I fell in love with them as well as other metal/hard rock bands in the 80's. Listening and enjoying music as long as we both have, I would hope I have learned by now not to fall prey to being over enthusiastic about an album unless warranted. That's why even with my doubts about the band's initial future after WAN, I am pleasantly surprised how much I dig this album after a few days, just like when I listened to TD for the first time.

It's good to read all the positive reviews/comments about the new album. I'm still holding back, less than a week to go here and I haven't been tempted in the slightest to listen to the snippets or any of the songs apart from THINFS.

Hopefully I will share the enthusiasm for the album once I listen to it.