Originally Posted by Walleris (Post 1215241)

I agree with the notion that Desmond is not a plus, nor a minus.

I feel like the band's post-TD output is not limited by songwriting. It is either limited by 1) band's desire for radio-friendly modern commercial rock genre (more so in 2000s) and 2) decline in Jon's vocal delivery and thus absence of high notes (more so in 2010s). Desmond does not influence either of these things; he only co-writes and that part Jon, John, Billy and whoever else contributes can handle just fine.

I wouldn't mind if Desmond contributes to like one song per album just for tradition sake, but if he doesn't, the end result won't suffer.

Originally Posted by Jeeper (Post 1215262)

Still loving THINFS. It's a great driving album - mainly as that's the best time for me to listen uninterrupted.


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Originally Posted by bjcrazycpa (Post 1215291)

I'm with you. I'm also finding myself listening to the entire thing when I run and no skipping of songs! Haven't done that in a loooooong time!!

Originally Posted by Burlhouse (Post 1215302)

From Bon Jovi FB page:

Experience #THINFS Live! 'This House Is Not For Sale - Live from The London Palladium' out December 16!

Pre-orders to begin this week at Walmart and iTunes.

Anyone knows whether this is audio or video?


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Originally Posted by jovifan93 (Post 1215310)

Seems to be audio ("physical CD"):

https://www.bonjovi.com/live-from-th...t-december-16/

Originally Posted by Rdkopper (Post 1215315)

I wish is was Red Bank or Toronto considering we already have an FM Broadcast of London....

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Originally Posted by steel_horse75 (Post 1215348)

I still think that Living with the Ghost, God Bless this mess and Devil in temple are the 3 best songs the band have wrote since TD

Originally Posted by steel_horse75 (Post 1215348)

I still think that Living with the Ghost, God Bless this mess and Devil in temple are the 3 best songs the band have wrote since TD

Originally Posted by bjcrazycpa (Post 1215352)

I agree with you!! Those songs showcases more complexity in the lyrics for sure!!

Originally Posted by Kukoc7 (Post 1215354)

I agree as well.
Those three are the most versatile tracks on the album.
With Scars, All Hail the King, and IWDYH being a close second for me.

Originally Posted by bjcrazycpa (Post 1215355)

All Hail the King has definitely become a favorite with Scars and IWDYH!!

Originally Posted by Burlhouse (Post 1215302)

From Bon Jovi FB page:

Experience #THINFS Live! 'This House Is Not For Sale - Live from The London Palladium' out December 16!

Pre-orders to begin this week at Walmart and iTunes.

Originally Posted by rolo_tomachi (Post 1215358)

Pretty cool! Jon seems still to feed the fans little by little. I hope that next year, at some point, we will have some edition tour with Rage Of Angel and All We Are.

Originally Posted by GabrielC (Post 1215369)

All the track commentaries are in the band's channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkB...fYHsacwUjriC-w

Originally Posted by Jeeper (Post 1215377)

Thanks.

As we already knew, Ghost is about Richie. I thought the best commentary was on God Bless This Mess. Very honest.

Crappy audio though. Is that an upload issue or how it was recorded?


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Originally Posted by Jeeper (Post 1215377)

Thanks.

As we already knew, Ghost is about Richie. I thought the best commentary was on God Bless This Mess. Very honest.

Crappy audio though. Is that an upload issue or how it was recorded?

Originally Posted by jazzsta (Post 1215478)

Okay so after all this time I finally write some words about the new album.



The first point which is already mentioned numerous times, and something which really pisses me off, is the sound.



Seriously. Listen to an average song from the BOX SET. Take "Crazy Love" for example. You can hear a band playing some music. You can hear every instrument, there are dynamics, there are variations/perturbations in the playing, there are here and there several little additions to the orchestration, that are more or less inspired. It is alive!!



Sorry for making such a strong metaphor, but there is a certain morbidity to a song that has an utterly compressed sound, indistinguishable instruments & sounds, totally repetitive and inelastic orchestration, particularly when we are talking about a pop song. This kind of morbidity I started to sense when I listened to some songs of Have A Nice Day, but became stronger around "The Circle" era.



Don't get me wrong, I am all for new sounds and modern shit. Indeed I find Born Again Tomorrow to be a clear highlight of this album! I like it much, they totally succeeded in what they wanted to do there. It is very electronic yes, but it is meant to be like that, it makes total sense, it has a very interesting guitar input (the licks and the obscure solo! ), it still has the Bon Jovi element on top, it is perfect :-D



(Yeah I started with the fifth song.. )



But Ghost, NYD, GBTM are totally ruined by the sound. I mean the drums are sounding so damn . . distorted/weak or fake. The guitar solos are highly uninspired, almost robotic. But the songs have not taken the full path to be electronic, as BAT, and in the end they sound just bad.



Listen to A Little Bit Of Soul. It is a band playing music. SOUL. I mean, ok, let's not go so far back, in the album LH, the compression is rather much, but in songs like Any Other Day, or even We Got It Going On, you have a much more clear, vibrant orchestration and performance and.. sound. I mean, even most songs in the BB album sound rather good in comparison to THINFS.



The Devil's In The Temple: ok it is rock. But I can't enjoy it as much as other songs of the album. I suppose that this is also because I (also here) don't like the sound. I mean a rock song has to sound grand. This sounds distorted. Just put "If I was your mother" next to it (adjusting the volume accordingly, as the latter is not supercompressed) and compare.



Even Scars on this guitar, lacks the natural sound it needs. I mean I liked how Not Running Anymore sounds. Even a shiny TLFR production would be better for Scars.



Ok after all this complaining, here is what I liked:



I agree this is from a songwriting perspective the best effort since.. .. the nineties. But that's also why I am pissed at this production.



I like BAT, Reunion, Real Love and Drive you Home as they are. I mean they are all inspired and interesting. I like much LWTG, GBTM and NYD as compositions, but I hate their guitar parts and the overall sounding. Rollercoaster is sooo poor. The main single is just uber-generic. Knockout is funny, I ve gotten used to it, but it could be elevated with a different production. All Hail The King is ok. LOL needs a solo and a backing vocal, sounds ok though. Come on up to our house and Goodnight new york, except of cheesy (gosh, it is really contradictory to use the word cheesy when you are a BJ fan - thank you for always about loving my bed of roses * ) are also boring.



Touch of Grey although heavily avrilavignish, is entertaining. Color me in also, though it seems a bit unfinished. The both together could be named "Touch of Marvin Gaye" :-) It is also clear that they were recorded at least 2 years earlier than the rest. And they sound fine.



To conclude, I don't give a damn if Jon's voice is doctored and computerized or distorted, I also don't care if he sings only super low key. I just want to hear a real band playing, some real melodies, some real musical sound, be it rock or pop or country or whatever. Unless we want to go to EDM. Then ok, do it. Be born again tomorrow, and go as far as went with Born Again Tomorrow and even further and kick some ass.



I know, Shanks could be key to the sound, but Jon is there as well. I don't understand how he can't hear the loss from this compression, or the absence of musical versatility in the arrangements... whatever. Let's see what's next. Let's see how this live album sounds. (coz it will be edited/mastered surely)





Cheers guys!



*(I really love BOR and Always of course)

Originally Posted by Jeeper (Post 1215515)

I agree with you regarding the production/mixing side of things. It's clearly the direction JBJ wants to go.

Originally Posted by angelsambo (Post 1215521)

But why?It doesn't make any sense.

Originally Posted by Jeeper (Post 1215523)

Jon liking this style? I don't know why. Why does anyone like anything?!!

I've not (knowingly) listened to any other artist that Shanks has produced for. Is this his style with everyone?


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Originally Posted by Nige (Post 1215529)

Shanks' work with Take That is absolutely fantastic. I'm not a huge fan of theirs but sonically their albums with him have sounded amazing.

Originally Posted by Walleris (Post 1215532)

Yeah, agreed. Also, his Van Halen stuff is quite heavy and retro, so it's definitely Jon's call. People give Shanks way too much credit/blame as far as sound goes. At this point Jon will do what Jon wants and will have a producer who will do what he's told. Evidence: their recent songs produced by Duff or Benson don't sound any different.

Originally Posted by Simon (Post 1215597)

I've been wondering who has been guilty for the change in production and arrangements. The process of shortening the songs started with "Bounce": Compare the demo of "Right Side Of Wrong" (extended keyboard intro, longer ending) with the album version and it becomes obvious that the band went in a new direction in this field too.

Actually, the production on THINFS doesn't bother me that much. It is much bette rthan on WAN, which was totally flat. The guitars are more in the foreground, which adds a nice groove on songs like "God Bless", and the ballads follow the "less is more" direction that worked so well with "Make a Memory". It is not perfect, but the sound is breathing a bit more and instruments sound more organic.

Originally Posted by Jeeper (Post 1215608)

Good point. I miss songs fading out too. Why do they all have to mainly end abruptly, for want of a better word?

Originally Posted by Nige (Post 1215611)

Blame Dr Luke - he started it with his work with Katy Perry and is it literally because it's easier to recreate the songs live which is where the major money is made nowadays, as opposed to through album sales.

Originally Posted by Nige (Post 1215611)

Blame Dr Luke - he started it with his work with Katy Perry and is it literally because it's easier to recreate the songs live which is where the major money is made nowadays, as opposed to through album sales.

Originally Posted by Walleris (Post 1215615)

What??? For every song (generally in music) that fades out there are five that end 'regularly' and it's always been like that. It's just so happens that Bon Jovi had a higher-than usual share of fade-outs earlier in their careers.

I personally hate fade-outs. Sometimes when I listen to songs I imagine I'm in the concert. And I can't do that when the music just fades out. So I'm glad they came to their senses.

Originally Posted by Simon (Post 1215613)

...

Btw, Captain Jovi, my demo of RSOW is 6:20, not even close to 8 minutes... ?