[crashed]

I do think The Distance is actually one of the best songs the band have done this decade. The lyrics are good - but then - it did speak to me personally about something I was going through in my life at the point it came out, and that can always affect how you feel about a song. Would have been in my top 25 if I'd thought of it, but man, I was struggling to fit all the songs in I like in just 25...lol.

Something about Love Me Back To Life I really like - although it's not by any means an amazing song.

I also like Right Side Of Wrong and Hook Me Up.

Otherwise, the rest of the album is just bleh to me. And the last half of the album is piss poor.

Bounce to me is the most overrated track on the album and could've done without it opening every show on that tour.

[LeaJovi]

Originally Posted by Suojelusperkele

It's an awful album, just awful. Too glossy production even for Bon Jovi's standards, too short songs, awkward synthesizer effects throughout the album, poorly written crap songs. Everyday and Bounce are pure clones of It's My Life, and IMO the band had never before copied their own material this much. Sure their old power ballads may have at times reminded each other quite a lot with their lyrical content but now when they had one big hit, for the first time they started to do more songs that followed exactly the formula of that hit. It's like they have no shame at all, and are truly desperate to get more hits.

All About Loving You is a boy band song. It's the kind of ballad Backstreet Boys and N'Sync and those other boy bands used to do, and the song has nothing in common with the rock ballads this band did in the 80s and 90s. Hook Me Up is also a boy band's "rock song"... I have never understood it when people have called this a heavy song, sure there's a miserable attempt at a heavy guitar but always when I heard this song I thought of the Backstreet Boys.

I've always thought that the lyrics of Joey are retarded. They tried to do a storytelling song but this song has simply none of the drama and suspense of Springsteen's storytelling songs. With this song they truly show how they are the poor man's Bruce Springsteen. Bounce has the whiniest and crappiest Bon Jovi ballads ever. You Had Me From Hello, AALY and Open All Night are such unbelievable cheese and treacle that I don't even know how to describe it. Misunderstood is an annoying, disposable pop song. There are only two decent songs on the album, Undivided and The Distance, and compared to their old material they are not that great either.

The album's name is stupid. It was pathetic how they used to say how the word "bounce" can mean different things to different people... they could have just as well named the album Ball or Table. Shoe would have been an equally intelligent name for this album. I also hate the Bounce promo pictures because with no other album do they look more like a group of supermodels rather than a group of musicians. Looking at the pictures on the album's sleeve, it's obvious that they put much more effort into posing in photographs than making music.

Simply put, this album fails in everything. In 2002 this album had the most uninspired, poppiest, shortest and most unoriginal songs they had ever done and it was hard to believe that they could go any lower than this.

I agree 100%..

In fact I was writing my opinion when I read yours and it's the exact same thing..

[ellie]

Loved Suojelusperkele's post... I really hate 'Joey', I find it excruciating and insipid and utterly unconvincing. I agreed with everything you wrote about All About Lovin' You. You were spot on about the title as well, what a cop out/crush rip off. Crush was also a f;kin stupid title. Ooh I'm feeling angry!

I never understood why Bounce wasn't a single, it seemed like it was all set up to be and then somebody bailed...? I'm not saying it should have, just that I thought it would have been (if that makes sense). Funny old world.

[jbjrsdc]

not in my top 5 Jovi records, but I've always enjoyed Bounce from start to finish.

on a side note, as what has happened to a many a Bon Jovi fan on this board==> it's always an amazing time to discover an artist for the first time; and have an entire back catalog @ your fingertips. eg. For me I discovered Alice Cooper in 1989 with his song Poison off his excellent Trash record; and had 20 years of music with which to enjoy, just like that, no waiting, boom.

[liljovi93]

Originally Posted by ellie

Loved Suojelusperkele's post... I really hate 'Joey', I find it excruciating and insipid and utterly unconvincing. I agreed with everything you wrote about All About Lovin' You. You were spot on about the title as well, what a cop out/crush rip off. Crush was also a f;kin stupid title. Ooh I'm feeling angry!

I never understood why Bounce wasn't a single, it seemed like it was all set up to be and then somebody bailed...? I'm not saying it should have, just that I thought it would have been (if that makes sense). Funny old world.

I can't understand why Bounce wasn't a single either ...

[Tictoc]

Originally Posted by liljovi93

I can't understand why Bounce wasn't a single either ...

It was a complete clone of It's my life.

[liljovi93]

Originally Posted by Tictoc

It was a complete clone of It's my life.

Same with Everyday and HAND I guess then.

[Tictoc]

Originally Posted by liljovi93

Same with Everyday and HAND I guess then.

Well.... no not at all.

If you know anything regarding the structure of music you'll know that Everyday and HAND are nothing like It's my life.

[jbjrsdc]

Originally Posted by liljovi93

Same with Everyday and HAND I guess then.

lyrical message yes, musically speaking no, is how I always felt about the 3 lead singles.

[Javier]

Originally Posted by jbjrsdc

lyrical message yes, musically speaking no, is how I always felt about the 3 lead singles.

well, they do offer somewhat of a similar chord sequence, but nothing as a apparent as IML and Bounce.....