Bon Jovi wasted no time working on their 8th studio album, ‘Bounce’. They started writing while still on tour for their album, ‘Crush’. Then something happened in the world that would change it and strongly influence the album…the September 11th attacks on New York City. Since the boys were from New Jersey, this had a profound impact on the song writing. They started writing in the Summer of 2001 and it would really pick up after this event and by the end of 2001, they had around 25 songs written and demoed around 12. But by the end of the writing and recording, there was about 40 songs written over the span of a year. They used 12 for the album and several more for B-Sides and bonus tracks.

The band was still a four-piece with Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, David Bryan and Tico Torres. Of course, future member Hugh McDonald was there on bass like had been for awhile, but an old face came back to help on the album. Their good friend Desmond Child was back in and helping the band write some songs. They had more help on the songs with Swedish producer and writer Andreas Carlsson and Billy Falcon. As far as producing, Jon, Richie, Desmond and Andreas all had a hand, but most was done by Luke Ebbin who had a big hand in the new sound that started with “It’s My Life”.

The album finally saw the light of day on October 8, 2002 and went to #2 in the U.S., the UK and numerous other countries only going to #1 in the European album chart. And like had happened most of their career over the last decade, they were bigger in Europe than the U.S. They sold 500,000 copies in the U.S. going Gold while they sold over a million copies in Europe. They were still a massive global act as they inched closer to 20 years as a band. For me, this album was the start of the decline. I like this album and the next one, but a little more was taken away from with each passing one. But let’s see about this one first.

The opening track is “Undivided” and it is a dark, yet uplifting song about the September 11 Attacks on New York City. The song had a powerful message that no matter what, we are unified and stand together against such a horrific attack. And for many years, we felt like we were all in this together and standing strong. Too bad we have lost our way since, but that is a topic for another discussion. The song makes a statement and is an incredible opening track.

Next up is the first single from the album. It is called “Everyday” and it feels like a carbon copy of “It’s My Life”. I don’t mean that in a bad way either (not yet that will come on later albums) as this is just as good as that one. Another one inspired by 9/11 it talks about getting back up, dusting yourself off and living life to the fullest everyday. After such a traumatic event, this was another great message to never give up. Richie gives us a little talk box action and that can be a good thing if not overdone.

“The Distance” is a song about that determination a person has when there is a goal in sight and they will stop at nothing to get it. With the orchestration in the song, it feels like a movie theme that carries you through the scenes telling the story reaching for that goal. Another powerful and uplifting song and done beautifully. Very dramatic and you feel like your soaring through the sky.

Then we finally hit our first speed bump with the song “Joey”. This one was inspired by Elton John’s song “Levon” (which Jon sang for an Elton John tribute album about a decade earlier). It is about a guy who befriends a very simple-minded man. It has some beautiful piano work done by David who is such a fine player. However, the vocals are awful, the lyrics awful and the song feels so forced and contrived that it might be one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard Bon Jovi doing and I’m not being dramatic for effect. I think it is really that bad. I mean it really sucks!! He is trying to be Bruce Springsteen and failing miserably.

“Misunderstood” is up next and the band rights the ship here. The album’s second single and more of Bon Jovi song I like to hear. I could see this one off any of their 90’s albums. The song is about someone he says or does the wrong the thing and must face the consequences of said actions. Jon took this from some very personal experiences. It is a very radio friendly song and only had mild radio success.

We get to our first ballad with “All About Lovin’ You” and it is another giant miss for me. Another song inspired about 9/11 when people really appreciated the love they had. Too bad the result was less inspiring as the song is so derivative of their other ballads with nothing new to offer. It is overly cheesy, overly dramatic and overly sappy. I’m just over it.

We finally get back to the rocking Bon Jovi with the song “Hook Me Up”. The song is strangely enough about a Palestinian boy trying to reach his love ones using an old HAM radio which considering the events going on in the world now 2023, a very poignant song. The song itself is one of the heavier tracks with a killer riff, bass line and some powerful drums by Tico who beats the crap out of his drums. Jon’s vocals have a radio echo effect on them to sound like it is coming over the ham radio. I think that was a good idea. They use it sparingly so not over done. The chorus is great, hooky and they really deliver on this one. One of my favorites on the album.

“Right Side of Wrong” feels like a western and that has been played to death with this band. It is a ballad and should’ve been on Jon’s ‘Young Guns’ album. Here it is out of place and dated and so so awful. No, I’m not holding back, it sucks ass. This is a song where the song is either good or it sucks. No inbetween for me so far. David’s piano playing is the only bright side to this song.

The next track picks up the tempo and energy. “Love Me Back to Life” is about finding that something or someone that can bring joy and life back in to your world as so much bad is going on you need that inspiration again. Now, on the previous song I said it was a love/hate relationship with the songs and no in between. Well, this one is in between. I like it a lot and at the same time it is tired and played as they’ve done this song a million times. I’m torn with this one, but I won’t delete it as I like it more than I don’t. A mid-tempo rocker and somewhat catchy chorus and some more talk box by Richie and nice guitar work.

The ballads on this album have not been good for me. However, the next one I should hate every cliched piece of it but I don’t. The song is “You Had Me From Hello” and yes, the title and inspiration were taken from that famous line from the Tom Cruise movie, “Jerry Maguire”. For that reason alone, this should suck…but it doesn’t. Not in the very least. The acoustic guitar is great, Jon sounds great and the vocals are heartfelt. Maybe because I really like that movie, that it has leaked over to me really liking this track. The best ballad on the album by far!

“Bounce”, the title track, was another cheesy sports anthem, but thanks to 9/11, they re-worked it to be about bouncing back after something so tragic. I like that better as we don’t need another sports anthem. The song, could be “It’s My Life”, yes as they are now using that formula relentlessly now and in the future. It has the talk box and everything that one does. But, that formula hasn’t played itself out for me yet. This one is kind of special to me as when my kids were really young and this song would come on, they would really get in to the chorus and sing along as they bounced in their seats. They also like the part where Jon goes, “Me, I don’t give a fu..fu…fu…” They thought that was funny there were almost saying that famous bad word that starts with an “F”. For that reason alone, I love this song dearly!!

The final song, “Open All Night”, is about the character Jon played on the TV show Ally McBeal and is about the interaction between him and Ally. Another ballad and more cheese. It is awful as well like most of the other ballads on here (except for the one). Too many ballads on this album.

Track Listing:

1. Undivided – Keeper
2. Everyday – Keeper
3. The Distance – Keeper
4. Joey – Delete
5. Misunderstood – Keeper
6. All About Lovin’ You – Delete
7. Hook Me Up – Keeper
8. Right Side of Wrong – Delete
9. Love Me Back to Life – Keeper
10. You Had Me From Hello – Keeper
11. Bounce – Keeper
12. Open All Night – Delete

The Track Score is 8 out of 12 Tracks or 75%.  It is blatantly obvious with ‘Bounce’ that Bon Jovi was trying to make a ‘Crush 2.0’.  “It’s My Life’s” song formula was used multiple times on this album and though I think these songs are as good, that will change with future albums.  They are searching for hits here and wanting to repeat that success, but they don’t do it as effectively.  Regardless of all that, I still think this is a good Bon Jovi. When the songs are good, they are really good.  But the diminishing return is starting as I don’t think this was as good as the last one.  My Overall Score is a 3.5 out of 5.0 Stars.  Bon Jovi was still having success as a new generation got in to them, but for me, that success was coming at a cost to the true loyal fans of old. They were starting to lose their identity and lose their way…at least in my opinion they were. But they hadn’t just yet…it was coming though.

NEXT UP: BON JOVI – ‘UNAUTHORIZED: ROCK ‘N’ ROLL LEGENDS’ (2002) – BOOTLEG DVD

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