Tag: David Byran

Bon Jovi – ‘Greatest Hits: The Ultimate Collection’ (2010) – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

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After the Circle and subsequent tour, I am guessing the band was taking a little break because it would be 3 more years before another album. In the meantime, why not another greatest hits package since the last one was ‘Cross Road’ which was about 15 years earlier. This time around it was simply called ‘Greatest Hits’. Well, that is unless you bought the 2 CD set which was called ‘Greatest Hits: The Ultimate Collection’. The package was released on October 29, 2010 and it di really well going Gold in the U.S. and selling millions in Europe going multi-times platinum in numerous countries.

One thing they did with this release is that depending where you lived, what version was available. All single disc versions had 2 new songs on them. All 2 CD versions had 4 new songs on them. The difference was the U.S. version on had 26 songs while the International version (Europe/Australia) had 30 tracks and Japan had 31. The U.S. didn’t get any songs from 7800º Fahrenheit, International got 1 and Japan were blessed with 2 (including “Tokyo Road” of course). I will say it does suck they ignore that album here and only give us one from the debut. And it does effect my score. There is nothing else to say about the release so let’s get to the music as there is a lot to get through so I hope you’ve had a nap and are well rested.

DISC 1:

The first disc kicks off with “Livin’ On A Prayer” from ‘Slippery When Wet’. It opens with a wicked bass line, finger cymbals and a talk-box. But that wasn’t all that was great about it, it is the story of Tommy & Gina in “Livin’ on a Prayer” that makes this such a great song. Jon has a way of making the songs human and easy to connect with. The everyday person with problems just like you so the songs feel personal.  The song is loosely based on Desmond and his girl-friend as she worked in a Diner, but he was a taxi driver and not working at the docks.  It was that Blue Collar feel to the song that made it resonate with so many people.  It was a time when Bon Jovi actually wrote songs that told a story that connected with people and not try to write just to make a hit. 

“You Give Love a Bad Name” is next and also from ‘Slippery’. It was originally written for Bonnie Tyler and called “If You Were a Woman (and I Was a Man)”, but the song did nothing so Desmond Child re-wrote it for Bon Jovi and the rest is history. The song went to #1 and the beginning of the rise to super stardom had begun. The song checks all the boxes, big chorus, epic guitar solo, killer bass line, pounding drum fills and pure intensity. The song will have you singing along instantly as the song feels familiar and exciting. You can’t get it out of your head.

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Bon Jovi – ‘Wild In The Streets: Unauthorized’ (2003) – Bootleg DVD Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

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I normally won’t buy a CD, DVD or anything that is strictly an interview disc. However, this was part of a set of Bon Jovi DVDs I bought and for the price of the 4 DVDs I wanted, I was okay having this thrown in along with “Rock ‘n’ Roll Legends” we reviewed a few weeks ago. This is a Bootleg DVD called ‘Wild in the Streets: Unauthorized’ and as it says on the back cover, it is approximately 55 minutes of an interview with Jon Bon Jovi. This isn’t some big history of the band, nothing like that. It is an interview of a snapshot in time of Jon Bon Jovi (not so much the band). This sounds just like the Bootleg DVD, “Rock ‘n’ Legends”…wait…this is the same damn video…THE SAME DAMN VIDEO!!! Oh, looks like I’ll just cut & paste the last review then. Easy enough.

The DVD was released (unofficially) in 2003 and actually probably should have been reviewed right after everything related to the ‘New Jersey’ album is it took place shortly thereafter. The interview of Jon takes place in Montreal, Quebec around 1989 while Jon was working with Aldo Nova on his ‘Blood on the Bricks’ album which completely surprised me as I wasn’t expecting that. Especially when Aldo was also included in the interview with Jon and by Aldo was by himself. Interspersed between the interview questions, we were able to see some behind the scenes footage of the two working in the studio and getting to hear them working on some of the songs. We learn about when Aldo and Jon met and how Aldo also worked on Jon’s solo album from the ‘Young Guns 2’ movie. It was really cool and my favorite part of the whole interview.

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Bon Jovi – ‘These Days’ (1995) – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

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After the end of the ‘Keep the Faith’ tour in 1993, the band need some time, so Jon Bon Jovi went on vacation and immediately started writing songs. Over the next 9 months, he and Richie Sambora wrote and demoed close to 40 songs. I guess they didn’t need much time. But the album was taking longer than anticipated so they agreed with the label to put out a greatest hits set called ‘Cross Road’ in 1994. The album did well. The band also ran in to trouble with bass player Alec John Such. Due to unsatisfactory performance during the live shows, they decided to dismiss Alec from the band in 1994 as well.

This made the album a four-piece technically as Alec is not on the album. Who is on the album is Jon, Richie, David Bryan and Tico Torres, officially. Unofficially, on bass was Hugh McDonald who we already met as he was the bass player on the song “Runaway” from the band’s debut album. They brought in producer Peter Collins to co-produce with Richie & Jon, but things weren’t easy. They started recording down in Nashville, TN. After 10 days of that, Jon wasn’t happy and erased all the tapes. Recording moved to New York to Jon’s home studio and also various studios in Los Angeles. One of the problems they had in New York was the band Fear Factory was recording their album and they were so loud that recording was not possible for them in their studio. Now, that is loud!

The album, ‘These Days’ was finally done and released on June 27, 1995. The album only went to #9 in the U.S., but overseas, the album was huge. It went to #1 in the U.K., Switzerland, Australia and numerous other countries. It sparked 5 singles and has sold over 10 million copies worldwide. They might not have been as popular in the U.S., but they were still doing fine. The album itself still sounded like Bon Jovi musically, but lyrically, it is a much darker album. It is not a rock & roll party full of sunshine. The band was in a good place funny enough. The music saw them really take the darkness of grunge but put it with the Bon Jovi sound. A lot of bands at this time were going heavier and completely changing their sound, but not Bon Jovi. And it worked.

The album opens with one of the heavier songs on the album, “Hey God”, and in the same epic way they open all their albums. According to wiki, the song was inspired by Jon looking out a window at 57 St. & Broadway and seeing a guy in an expensive suit standing next to a guy sleeping on the street. Also according to wiki, Richie was inspired by the song while looking out of his limo and seeing a homeless guy sleeping in a cardboard box. Who knos which is right or they both are. The song questions if God has forgotten about the world as all the good shit is gone and there nothing but bad. It is a darker tone, darker lyrics and sees the band questioning the world. A total ballbuster of a song. The song was the final single, but not in the U.S. and was released on June 24, 1996. It was a minor hit in Canada and several European countries. It is one of my favorites on the album.

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