2000 was a big year for the band with a hit new album, a live DVD and to follow it up, the band gave us their first ever live album. But don’t get your hopes up as it isn’t one show from the tour. No, I guess the Crush DVD was enough for that. Instead it is really a greatest hits compilation with live songs taken from shows from 1985-2001. So, not a true live album in my book. But I’m being petty. We do get 14 live tracks and one remixed studio track of “One Wild Night 2001”.

The songs are taken from 8 different shows and some are actually repeats as the London shows were on the Live From London DVD and The Crush Tour DVD so we’ve heard a few of the songs before. And the band has one small change during the songs. We get Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, David Bryan and Tico Torres on all the songs. But we also get Alec John Such on bass for only 2 of the songs from Tokyo back in 1985 and then Hugh McDonald on bass for the rest. And we get one special guest with Bob Geldof on one song.

The album came out on May 22, 2001 and went to #20 in the U.S., but was never certified Gold. However, the album did better around the world as Bon Jovi continues to actually be more successful in Europe then their home country where the album sold over 1,000,000 copies in Europe making it Platinum status. It went to #2 in the UK as well as several other countries including Spain, Austria and the Netherlands and to #1 in Switzerland and Belgian. Europe continued to love on Bon Jovi.

The album kicks off with their big new hit, “It’s My Life”. This one was recorded in Toronto on November 27, 2000 and it has all the energy and excitement of a live show with Richie on talkbox, Tico pounding the hell out of those drums and Jon singing his heart out. When the song ends, it pulls a cardinal sin in my book and fades out…yes, that is right…it fades out. It doesn’t go straight in to the next live track to keep it feeling live. Nope. It loses all its energy and excitement and dulls the shit out of the whole thing. I get these are different shows, from different eras, but damn, make it feel like one consistent show. It pulls this stunt and all but a handful of tracks and completely ruins the flow of the album.

The next couple of tracks are from Zurich, Switzerland on August 30, 2000 and they are “Livin’ On A Prayer” and “You Give Love a Bad Name”. They flow naturally together because they were performed right next to each other on that show. We reviewed these two songs on “The Crush Tour” DVD a couple weeks ago, so we will skip them here. Then we get to “Keep the Faith” from New York City in 2000 and it sees Hugh really lay down that bass groove perfectly. A brilliant song to begin with and one they slay live. “Someday I’ll Be Saturday Night” is up next from Melbourne 1995 and this is not a favorite song of mine. They change it up a little making it start out slow and just Jon and a slight acoustic guitar piece and the crowd singing along, then they rock it out. The song is a little derivative of a song so doesn’t do much for me.

Also from 1995, but in Johannesburg, South Africa we get “Rockin’ in the Free World” a fantastic Neil Young cover. Hugh’s bass is great on this one too, but so is everyone else. Tico tears it up on the skins and Richie’s riffs are a little nasty and I love it. Out of all the covers they do live, this is my favorite as they really kill it and have fun with it. If that was enough goodness, we have one of my favorite Bon Jovi songs with “Something to Believe In” from Yokohama, Japan in 1996. Tico’s drums open the song with a tender, but strong pounding, the guitars are gentle and Jon’s emotive on vocals. When the power kicks in, they really bring all the feels this song deserves. Plus, Richie’s backing vocals are great. A favorite on this disc.

“Wanted Dead or Alive” is from New York City in 2000 and this song was released as a single and a promotional video done for this release. With a long extended acoustic picking, the song then kicks in when Jon tells the crowd “for all the cowboys out there” and then the band joins in. The band has played this for decades now and yes, they don’t screw this one up. Then it is a time jump to 1985, Tokyo, Japan where Alec finally joins us and we get “Runaway” from the debut album and “In And Out of Love” from that ‘Fahrenheit’ album. David’s keyboards signal that oh so famous opening notes and then all hell breaks loose. Man, they do sound young on these two tracks and Jon can really hit those high notes. Crazy good. And you would think we could get no fade out since both songs are from the show, but nope. They weren’t played one after the other so they had ruin it with a fade. But “In And Out of Love” still sounds great.

2 weeks shy from the 10th Anniversary of Live Aid, Bon Jovi was playing at Wembley stadium in London and they pulled out Bob Geldof’s Boomtown Rats song “I Don’t Like Mondays” and to everyone’s surprise they bring out Bob Geldof to join them. Earlier I said there was a song from the Live in London DVD, but I was wrong, they cut this song from the DVD, but we get it here. Why they did that, I have no idea because that would’ve made it that much better. One funny thing about this one is when Jon introduces Bob, he tells the crowd “You should be proud to call him one of your own” but there is a problem with that line. Bob’s Irish…he isn’t from the London. Oops!! As far as the song goes, I really liked this version of the song. It is a great song.

We go back to Toronto with a cut from their latest album with “Just Older”. I can find no fault with this one as it is a favorite of mine from that album. It has the energy and bounce you’d expect. And then it is back to Melbourne with “Something for the Pain” with it’s slightly middle eastern flair to the opening. Now, I know a lot of people like this song, but I’m not really one of them. It is boring and unimaginative and it is here live as well. Next. That brings us to the last live song on the album with “Bad Medicine” and this was from Zurich from The Crush Tour DVD. Thankfully, they cut over 2 minutes of the long, drawn out mess from that show. Still, it is a cheesy ass song and I don’t need to hear it anymore.

The final track is a studio remix of “One Wild Night” Called “One Wild Night 2001” which was originally off the ‘Crush’ album. The song originally had a cartoon tune opening, but that was removed and the song just starts with some weird sounding guitar licks that are less rocking, but then the song does rock out. The song is anthem and if you had heard this live your hands would be high in the airing, pumping along with the beat. The song is throwback to the early rock legends of the 60’s. They really changed up the sound and tone with this one all thought the heart of the song is still there. This version of the song was the first track on the Tokyo Road: Best of Bon Jovi album we discussed last week.

And that is it. Thank the heavens. Now, the songs themselves have some great moments here as I do love a lot of them on their own especially “Something to Believe In”, “Rockin’ the Free World” and “I Don’t Like Mondays”. There are some songs that I don’t really care to hear again like “Bad Medicine”, “Something For the Pain” and “Someday I’ll Be Saturday Night”, but the biggest problem is the fade out piece that I mentioned earlier. Why…oh WHY!!…did they not do a whole show. Instead they gave us a greatest hits live compilation and the songs faded out after each one which completely destroys the whole vibe of a live show. Pathetic Bon Jovi…Simply pathetic!! You are better than that. For that, My Overall Score is a 2.5 out of 5.0 Stars. It has it’s moments, but ruined by stupid choices!!

NEXT UP: BON JOVI – ‘BOUNCE’ (2002) – ALBUM REVIEW

THE BON JOVI COLLECTION SERIES:

1. Bon Jovi – The Albums Box Set (2017)
2. Jon Bongiovi – The Power Station Sessions (1980-1983) (2001)
3. Bon Jovi – Bon Jovi (1984)
4. Bon Jovi – Shot Through the Heart: Live in Cleveland, OH March 17, 1984 FM Broadcast (Bootleg)
5. Bon Jovi – 7800° Fahrenheit (1985)
6. Bon Jovi – Slippery When Wet (1986)
7. Bon Jovi – New Jersey (1988)
8. Bon Jovi – New Jersey: Super Deluxe Edition – Disc 2/DVD (1988)
9. Bon Jovi – “I’ll Be There For You” – Cassette Single (1988)
10. Jon Bon Jovi – Blaze of Glory (1990)
11. Jon Bon Jovi – “Blaze of Glory” – Cassette Single (1990)
12. Richie Sambora – Stranger in this Town (1991)
13. Bon Jovi – Keep the Faith (1992)
14. Bon Jovi – “I Believe” – 7″ Single (1992)
15. Bon Jovi – Cross Road (1994)
16. Bon Jovi – “Please Come Home for Christmas” – CD Single (1994)
17. Bon Jovi – These Days (1995)
18. Bon Jovi – Live From London – DVD (1995)
19. Jon Bon Jovi – Destination Anywhere (1997)
20. Richie Sambora – Undiscovered Soul (1998)
21. Bon Jovi – Crush (2000)
22. Bon Jovi – Live From Osaka E.P. (2000)
23. Bon Jovi – “Thank You For Loving Me” – CD Single (2000)
24. Bon Jovi – The Crush Tour – DVD (2000)
25. Bon Jovi – The Love Songs E.P. (Promo) (2001)
26. Bon Jovi – Tokyo Road: Best of Bon Jovi (2001)
27. Bon Jovi – One Wild Night Live: 1985-2001 (2001)
28. Bon Jovi – Bounce (2002)
29. Bon Jovi – Unauthorized: Rock ‘n Roll Legends – Bootleg DVD (2002)
30. Bon Jovi – This Left Feels Right (2003)
31. Bon Jovi – Target E.P. (2003)
32. Bon Jovi – Wild in the Streets: Unauthorized – Bootleg DVD (2003)
33. Bon Jovi – This Left Feels Right – DVD (2004)
34. Bon Jovi – 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong (Part 1) – (2004)
35. Bon Jovi – 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong (Disc 1, Part 2) – (2004)
36. Bon Jovi – 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong (Disc 2, Part 3) – (2004)
37. Bon Jovi – 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong (Disc 3, Part 4) – (2004)
38. Bon Jovi – 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong (Disc 4, Part 5) – (2004)
39. Bon Jovi – 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong (Disc 5, Part 6) – (2004)
40. Bon Jovi – Have a Nice Day (2005)
41. Bon Jovi – Live from the Have a Nice Day Tour (Walmart Exclusive) (2006)
42. Bon Jovi – Lost Highway (2007)
43. Bon Jovi – Lost Highway: The Concert (2007)
44. Bon Jovi – The Circle (2009)
45. Bon Jovi – When We Were Beautiful Documentary DVD (2009)
46. Bon Jovi – Live at Madison Square Garden – DVD (2009)
47. Bon Jovi – Greatest Hits: The Ultimate Collection (2009)
48. Bon Jovi – Greatest Hits: The Ultimate Video Collection – DVD (2010)
49. Bon Jovi – Inside Out – DVD (2012)
50. Richie Sambora – Aftermath of the Lowdown (2012)
51. Bon Jovi – What About Now (2013)
52. Bon Jovi – Live E.P. (RSD – 2013)
53. Bon Jovi – Live 2 E.P. (RSD – 2014)
54. Bon Jovi – Burning Bridges (2015)
55. Bon Jovi – This House is Not For Sale (2016)
56. Bon Jovi – This House is Not For Sale – Live From the London Palladium (2016)
57. Bon Jovi – The Albums Box Set – The Extra LP (2017)
58. RSO – Radio Free America (2018)
59. Bon Jovi – 2020 (2020)
60. Bon Jovi – 40th Anniversary Box Set (TBA – I Hope it is out by the time we get here)

We’ve reviewed a bunch of pieces already over the years and won’t review again. They are as follows:

1. Bon Jovi – The Brotherhood Tour Book (1988-1990)
2. Bon Jovi – Bon Jovi Tour 2011 – Tourbook
3. Bon Jovi – The Rock History – Bootleg CD
4. Bon Jovi – “You Give Love A Bad Name” – 12″ Single
5. Bon Jovi – “You Give Love a Bad Name” – 7″ Single
6. Bon Jovi – Red Hot & 2 Parts Live E.P. – 12″ Single
7. Bon Jovi – “Wanted Dead or Alive” – 7″ Single
8. Bon Jovi – “Bad Medicine” – 7″ Single
9. Bon Jovi – “Born to Be My Baby” – 7″ Single
10. Bon Jovi – “I’ll Be There For You” – 7″ Single
11. Bon Jovi – “Lay Your Hands on Me” – 7″ Single
12. Bon Jovi – “Living in Sin” – 7″ Single