What if....
 

They did released Sex Sells, what the band would do? They would have a new iconic single? They would do next, musicaly speaking? I think the stuff we have that we know is from Sex Sells don't sounds too pop like Crush. I keep thinking that Sex Sells would be a classic to the fans but a bomb to the rest, what you guys think?

I think without knowing what Sex Sells, the song, would sound like it's hard to say. Are you talking about Jon's aborted third solo album or the band's pre-Crush demos?

and they dropped Sex Sells very fast after Bruce's death, Real Life was released as a single in march of 99, Bruce died in may. Crush was released in june of 2000, don't get why they gave up on the entire material to record new stuff

both, we don't know what else from Jon's solo became Bon Jovi

I think the end-result would've been somewhat similar in terms of sound as the stuff we heard that as supposed to be in Sex Sells had nowhere near as much depth as These Days. They were pretty obviously looking for a hit, just couldn't find it until they met Max Martin.

Perhaps the production would've been slightly different as they supposed to reunite with Fairbairn.

Agreed.

Also I don't think they abandoned the material or shifted styles, they just changed the title of the album when the song Sex Sells wasn't going to make the album. A lot of Jon's demos/final versions/whatever from his third album were Crush b-sides, not even re-recorded just as is with his solo band. A lot made it to the box set.

As for what was re-recorded with the band you're looking at I Got The Girl, Real Life, Just Older and Save the World. The album was renamed One Wild Night and then Crush.

I agree with you, would sound the same as the stuff we have but to me, is better than the stuff on Crush, not that catchy, not dark like These Days but is just sounds more honest and cool to me

Yeah, all those outtakes sound much more like the fun rock & roll record which Jon called Crush back then.

If we're going with the batch of songs Jon was working on before it became a band album I found it hella catchy, poppy, rootsier songs. I don't find them any less pop than Crush wound up being. Even with Richie and him writing together for the album there wasn't a heck of a lot of balls out rockers, minus Neurotica.

The thing is, if wasn't for It's My Life, I hardly see Bon Jovi being successful as they are today in the US. Like someone said here ages ago, it's like Bon Jovi metamorphosed into a party band with that It's My Life vibe and it's the only way the US market embraces them. Every time Bon Jovi tried to be more socially conscious or to approach more adult content they didn't embrace. The asia did, Europe did, South America did.

That reflects what Jon was pursuing with Sex Sells. Didn't he say on WWB that they did a fanclub hearing party for the record and the fans absolutely hated it though he loved? If you ask me, Real Life, Stay, Just Older, One Wild Night, Life's Too Short For Days Like These and the other Sex Sells stuff would make a better album than Crush for my music taste, but I understand the importance of that metamorphosis caused by It's - I'm Gonna Live - My Life.