[Panda]

I'm sure there are a million threads out there about this topic, but I think this deserves yet another one. I have recently watched the Live in London DVD for the first time since I bought it, and my jaw dropped. 'Lay Your Hands On Me', 'Always', 'Keep The Faith'..... all amazing performances. So amazing, that I would rather here those 13 songs in that way rather than a standard 25 song Lost Highway Tour set, and I would think that my $200 ticket would be worth it.

I have recently watched the MSG show just after the Live in London one and I have to say that the Live In London show blows it out of the water. It's a different band. A band that sings a song and means it. A band that cared about passion for their music, not being the CEO of a major corporate brand. Anyway, my questions is.... Where did Jon loose the emotion? The life of the band? There are the occational glimpses of it, but is mostly gone, now.

I never really liked the band until I saw them live (for the second time - by accident) back in December 2007. And the songs that made me fall in love with the band I love now are the songs I had never heard before. When Richie and Jon shared that mic with two acoustic guitars in the middle of the audience, it almost brought tears to my eyes. They were songs that I had never heard before. Diamond Ring, Never Say Goodbye and Mystery Train. Sure most people don't like all three of the songs, but it was the fact that they announced they were changing up the setlist as they were going, and that they played them with such passion and love. That is why I fell in love with this band. Now, after the concert, I assumed that was how every concert went.

And then, I couldn't stop listening to Bon Jovi. I went out and bought all their CDs and then joined this board. From the year I have been on this board, I have grown and learned that Bon Jovi wasn't that magical night in December. They were an auto-pilot band that played just to get to the next show. Now, in my ignorance, I liked every single album they released. Why? Because I thought that they were still that band that played because they loved what they did, and lived to please their fans. But then I joined this board, and with a little guidance, I realized that some of these albums and shows really weren't that good. People on this board were constantly putting down Bounce and Lost Highway, and I wondered why. They weren't horrible albums, were they? No, they really aren't THAT bad, and I still think that. But when you compare possibly the best song from Bounce with the worst song from These Days or Keep The Faith, they blow any song from Bounce out of the water.

Compare Hearts Breaking Even (arguably by most people from this board the worst song off of These Days) with Undivided. (arguably the best song from the Bounce record) There is just no comparison. There is such passion, (and however cheesy the lyrics are) amazing vocals and guitar work in Hearts Breaking Even. Then there is Undivided. Sure the lyrics are for a good cause, but where is the emotion... the punch that made me fall in love with Bon Jovi in the first place? It seems that every single damn song they have written in the past 10 years was to just to make it catchy and end up on a 12 song album. Yeah, sure I'm rambling on, and most of you probably don't agree with me, but even so. In my opinion, the last real rock song written by Bon Jovi with passion and meaning was written 15 years ago. But some people may say that Bon Jovi never was about passion. That they were just party rockers that put on really good rock shows. Sure, they're that. But can you honestly say that after listening to their 90's albums? I can't.

Then they released The Circle. And since it was the first actual release from Bon Jovi that I was really looking forward to, I waited for the day it came out. After reading so many optimistic and flowery reviews on here before I got the album, I was excited. I hadn't listened to the snippets, and the only songs that I had heard were Born To Follow and the acoustic Working Man. I wasn't really impressed with either, but after reading all of those lovey-dovey reviews, I couldn't help but look forward to it's release. I bought the CD, listened to it, and well.... nothing, really. I fell in love with When We Were Beautiful (reminded me of a song off of Destination Anywhere, which is a personal favorite) and Superman Tonight. I also enjoyed Thorn in My Side and Brokenpromiseland. But after that, I couldn't help but see the turds on this album. Big Rock album? This album has the least amount of "rock" out of every single damn Bon Jovi album. I think the only reason people like Bullet is because it is the only "heavy" song on the album. After that, I think it is a load of crap. And then I listened to Live Before You Die. The lyrics were so cheesy and horrible, I almost couldn't finish listening to it. After listening to that song, it just made me feel that Bon Jovi was gone. It felt that Jon was writing a song almost about regret, but didn't have the balls to put meaning behind it. Anyway, here's to say that I think The Circle is the best post-2000 Bon Jovi album, but that really isn't saying anything.

I know I'm mumbling on, and probably don't make sense, (especially as this is being typed from my mobile) but I just have a feeling of loss for the band. Where has the passion gone from this band? Where is Jon dropping to his knees and flinging his mic-stand fifty feet behind him while singing "This Ain't A Love Song"? Where is Jon and Richie running around the stage during "Lay Your Hands On Me" and playing with soul and fun, and energy. Is it that Jon is getting old? Or does he really not give that much of a **** anymore? I couldn't care less if Jon can't sing as well anymore. But somewhere along the line, he lost the real meaning of what he used to do. Watching countless youtube videos from the past few tours shows a Jon huddled behind an acoustic guitar singing Captain Crash. Go back a few years and you can see him running around the stage singing "Raise Your Hands" with fun and energy. Sure this magic can still exist... occasionally when Jon is in a good mood. But most of the time, it's Jon finding an easy way out, and not trying. And when you say that I'm talking bullshit, first watch Live In London and then watch the MSG DVD and you tell me that there isn't a massive difference. Anyway, I really don't expect replies to this, but I just felt like I needed to get this off my chest. Is there any hope for this band to return to what they were like 15 years ago?

[Antman]

I enjoyed reading the post and totally agree with you unfortunately.
There's nothing like a production line and that's exactly what they have been for quite a while.
Last year I saw them live for the first time since 95 and whilst I was looking forward to it, I wanted to hang on to the glorious concerts I saw in the early to mid 90's, and last year was a pale imitation, disappointingly.
We all grow up and grow old and Bon Jovi's music has been with me since my teenage years, but now instead of being at the forefront of my musically tastes, they have become somewhat of an after thought.
I hope they don't continue down this path, I'd prefer to see them hang up their instruments if this was the case.
At the moment the music is in a coma, and while there is some form of life .......so please find that spark and enthusiam.

[Tooka]

Scientifically, the peak of your brain activity is between the age 22 - 27. Physically, you definitely cannot be the same when you are 47 as you were at 35 or 25 or 20 .... we have to be reasonable in our expectations!

you do have a point, i do agree that they are at a stage where they know how to achieve more with less effort, it is a simple business theory, has to do with the more experience you get in the line of your work, the more efficient you can be in a shorter period of time.

They know how to promote, i.e. songs for NFL, songs for sports and races, wedding songs etc... they also get good airplay anyway because they are well established and they have a huge and loyal fan-base. You have to give them the credit however, for being there longer than most bands out there, they didn't burn themselves out artistically, the didn't consume their health and sanity by drugs, they didn't go around fighting and breaking up.

All i am saying my friend, you can enjoy the London 95 show, but you can also enjoy the 2001 or 2007 show when you put them in the right context. But don't compare these shows because in reality those are not the same people on those shows, and that is natural. Have you heard the last U2 album, have you seen their latest live shows? same thing goes for Pearl Jam, Metallica, Axl Rose and his plastic band, or even The Rolling Stones.

You are as your profile says, 17 years old; in the next couple of years your taste will fluctuate, you will look back at certain things you liked and go "yuk"! or things you hated and think you were crazy not to like them. Such is life, i know it happened to me!

[Panda]

Heh I agreed with you all. I was completely wasted when I posted that though. But my opinion still stands. It just pisses me off that I know they can do better, but they can't.

[jovi 94]

hearts breakin even a terrible song??????????????????????????????????

probably the biggest load of turd i have ever heard.

i would like to hope that it is for songs like that that we are bon jovi fans.

to be fair it is not only one of the strongest, but probably the finest on these days man

[liljovi93]

Bon Jovi aren't gone. They are still a fantastic live band.

Sure, they have their off nights, so does every band, though. They all can't be on a high every single day. Are we? No!

By the way, Hearts Breaking Even is certainly not the worst song on TD. I think the band lost their aggression and all that during the 5 year break. The music scene changed, Jons voice changed, Richie wasn't the same, they just lost it then. They stopped writing big powerful upbeat rockers and instead released upbeat pop songs. I love the band more than ever atm. I've been to 3 gigs and the 3rd was by far the best, so that can only mean there is hope in the band, right?

Jons vocals are much better, Richie is doing some really good riffs and lets face it, Tico and David sound really good on the new album.

[Panda]

I actually love hearts breaking even, but I found loads of people putting it on there bottom 10 bon jovi songs. When people say that Joey is better than hearts breaking even, I have a problem. I know its personal preference and ya da ya da, but there's so much more power and impact in hearts breaking even, no matter how much of a rip off it is of aerosmiths cryin. Anyway, you can easily replace my hearts breaking even example with your least favorite from these days. They're a different band now.

[liljovi93]

Originally Posted by Bang A Drum

I actually love hearts breaking even, but I found loads of people putting it on there bottom 10 bon jovi songs. When people say that Joey is better than hearts breaking even, I have a problem. I know its personal preference and ya da ya da, but there's so much more power and impact in hearts breaking even, no matter how much of a rip off it is of aerosmiths cryin. Anyway, you can easily replace my hearts breaking even example with your least favorite from these days. They're a different band now.

Times have changed and so have Bon Jovi.

They brought out IML and it was a big success and now they've carried on going down that road. It's just how it's happened. Unfortunately, we have to live with that.

[RS8MB0R8]

I don't understand the shift in the focus of the band though. I agree that IML spawned a definitive turn in their musical direction but why the need to try to rewrite that theme over and over? It's like they lost their self-belief completely and got stuck in a rut they can't get out of.

When 'Prayer' and 'Bad Name' shot them to super-stardom, did they try to rewrite those songs on NJ, KTF or TD? No, each subsequent album after SWW sounded fresh and new but they still rocked. Each album is unmistakably different to the other and the only features they shared were great quality musicianship and song-writing on all of them.

We've been somewhat starved of that since 'Crush', and 'The Circle', whilst I still maintain I do love and consider a step in the right direction, is still lacking in the lyrical and musical aspects that made the pre-Crush albums so great.

[liljovi93]

Originally Posted by RS8MB0R8

I don't understand the shift in the focus of the band though. I agree that IML spawned a definitive turn in their musical direction but why the need to try to rewrite that theme over and over? It's like they lost their self-belief completely and got stuck in a rut they can't get out of.

When 'Prayer' and 'Bad Name' shot them to super-stardom, did they try to rewrite those songs on NJ, KTF or TD? No, each subsequent album after SWW sounded fresh and new but they still rocked. Each album is unmistakably different to the other and the only features they shared were great quality musicianship and song-writing on all of them.

We've been somewhat starved of that since 'Crush', and 'The Circle', whilst I still maintain I do love and consider a step in the right direction, is still lacking in the lyrical and musical aspects that made the pre-Crush albums so great.

No, they didn't simply because the music world was changing then, too.

The band are playing it safe now, keeping the same producer, the same style of music. That's not going too change anytime soon.