Band:
Jon Bon Jovi (V)
David Bryan (K)
Richie Sambora (G, BV)
Tico Torres (D&P)
Hugh McDonald (B)
Discography:
Bon Jovi (1984)
7800 Degrees Fahrenheit (1985)
Slippery When Wet (1986)
New Jersey (1988)
Keep The Faith (1992)
Crossroads (1994)
These Days (1995)
Crush (2000)
One Wild Night-Live 1985-2001 (2001)
Bounce (2002)
This Left Feels Right: Greatest Hits with a Twist (2003)
Have a Nice Day (2005)
Guests:
Leann Rimes
Big & Rich
Links:
bonjovi.com
myspace
island
Unfortunately, the album ‘Lost Highway’ doesn’t contain the influence and the previous albums class. The leading song is Lost Highway, and it is kind of witty and gay, and makes you want to move your feet in a country-like style, which makes you wonder if Bon Jovi is changing their path into another music style (?). If you keep listening to the rest of the songs, you actually become aware of that most songs are influenced by country – Lost Highway, Whole Lot of Leavin’ and I Love This Town – and you start imagining people in white shirts, jeans, boots and cowboy hats standing in a row and dancing to some country melody. I believe that this might disappoint people who enjoy real and proper rock, the kind of tune Bon Jovi used to make, unless they all of a sudden feel the urge to dance country! In fact, the song Who Says You Can’t Go Home from the previous album ‘Have a Nice Day’ was actually nominated at the Country gala last year, and you might think that that should concern the group members in Bon Jovi. Or are they knowingly changing their path? It slowly began with the album ’This Left Feels Right’, where they chose to sing some of their most famous songs in a slower acoustic style. It was songs that you knew by heart, but with a little twist. The band was aware of the fact that it could be a risk changing old songs like that, but it was a risk they were willing to take. But is this country way really going to work?
Bon Jovi started their career in the beginning of the 80’s, when they released their first album ‘Bon Jovi’ in 1984. It was a success and they prepared the whole world to rock and roll and only be thinking of BON JOVI. Even though the bassist Alec John Such quit the band after they released the album ‘The Best of Bon Jovi – Crossroads’, Bon Jovi didn’t split up, they moved on strong and made deep and thoughtful songs as Hey God, It’s My Life, These Days and Bed of Roses. However, between the years of 1995-2000 the band needed a well-earned break from the tour life, but they continued their musical work individually as the same time as they prepared for the next coming album (‘Crash’, 2000). The songs that Bon Jovi usually make has a deeper meaning, an essential lyric sense, which you can connect to in the real life – it’s not only about screaming and shouting out the words in the song, Bon Jovi gives a deeper thought and meaning in the rocking world!
In ‘Lost Highway’, you get to hear, as very often, Richie Samboras guitar solo which is enriched with Tico Torres drumming hits and David Bryan’s varying tunes on the keyboard. And let’s not forget Jon Bon Jovi’s hoarse and honeyed voice that lifts up the music both in the slower and faster parts. The tunes lift the music and create almost harmonic and elegant rock music. The music is very guitar oriented but in most of the slower parts you can hear different kind of drums and other instruments. However I think that ‘Lost Highway’ is first of all going to be accepted by Bon Jovi’s true fans. ‘Lost Highway’ isn’t an album for hair-rising metal-rock loving people – but if you are open-minded to all kind of rock music this album might please you. Cause if you’re hoping to hear and catch a glimpse of the old songs you will be stunned. This album is not for howling metal rockers – but for the fans!
My favourite song from this album is however, (You Want To) Make A Memory. It’s a sweet and soft rock ballad – the rest of the songs varies between a new country style and a newer Bon Jovi style that isn’t as deep and heavy as the former albums ‘Keep The Faith’ or ‘New Jersey’. Still, if you have been able to keep your fans in more than 20 years, I would say that you are real great stars – because that is what I believe Bon Jovi are when I see them and listen to them. But even though I am a Bon Jovi fan, and I’ve been following their career ever since they released their album ‘The Best of Bon Jovi – Crossroads’, and been enjoying every tone in music and song, I cannot apart from the fact that ‘Lost Highway’ doesn’t make me feel they way former albums did. But I truly believe that Bon Jovi still got much to deliver, and therefore I will continue to follow their path and hoping that they will enrich the rocking world with more music (with less influence of country).