Last year, Bon Jovi released their 16th Studio album, ‘Forever’. It was an album I wasn’t sure we would ever get. Jon had some serious vocal issues, so bad in fact he needed surgery. Back in 2022, Jon Bon Jovi went under the knife to fix his vocal cord problem that had been well documented by the cruel trolls of the internet. After watching the documentary, ‘Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story’, we got to see first hand how bad things were for Jon. It is amazing he is even able to still sing. When I did the review of the ‘Forever’ album, I asked…will we ever see them live again? We were real unsure back then, now the answer is a resounding yes. They have announced a few shows in 2026 with more to come in 2027 from what I hear.
After the release of ‘Forever’, Jon received a lot of phone calls from artists wanting to cover songs off the album. So many, in fact, he stopped and had an idea. Why have people cover the songs when they could join him and sing with him and make a duet album of all the songs from the album. And that is what he did. The album came out on October 24, 2025. The band added one new track called “Red, White and Jersey” to give the fans a little something new for buying the album again. However, that was not needed as the artists that joined Jon were enough for me to want to grab it. I mean, come on…he has Robbie Williams, Joe Elliott (Def Leppard), James Bay and Bruce Springsteen…that was enough for me. In fact, the list of artist is very diverse covering Rock, Country, British Pop and even Gospel.
Like with the last album, I bought one of every physical format including vinyl and CD. This time around though I went with the standard black vinyl instead of a colored variant. I kept it simple and save a few bucks. My vinyl collection for Bon Jovi is still complete! With format aside, how do the songs stand up as duets, honestly, I was a little surprised at how well they do. We might as well get to it and discuss.
Motley Crue – From The Beginning – (BMG Rights Mgmt)
Foreigner – 4 (Deluxe Edition) – (Atlantic Recording / Warner Music)
Led Zeppelin – Live EP – (Atlantic Recording Corporation)
Spinal Tap – The End Continues – (Authorized Spinal Tap, LLC / Interscope Records)
Daughtry – Shock To The System Part Two – (Dogtree Records / Big Machine Label Group)
David Bowie – I Can’t Give Everything Away 2002-2016 – (Rhino / Parlophone)
Phil Wickham – Song Of The Saints – (Fair Trade Services)
Ed Sheeran – Play – (Atlantic Records)
Richie Kotzen – Nomad – (BMG Rights Mgmt)
Gavin DeGraw – Chariot 20 – (DeGraw Music / Sony Music)
Daughtry – Shock To The System (Part One) E.P. – (Dogtree Records / Big Machine Label Group)
KK’s Priest – The Sinner Rides Again – (Napalm Records)
Black Stone Cherry – Screamin’ at the Sky – (Mascot Label Group)
Red – Rated R – (Red Entertainment / The Fuel Music)
Winger – Seven – (Frontiers Records)
Ed Sheeran – “-” – (Asylum Records / Atlantic Records / Warner Music)
Whitesnake – Restless Heart Super Deluxe Edition – (Rhino Records): One thing David Coverdale does well is how to put together a fantastic box set. He has hit it out of the park with ‘Slide it In’, ’87 and with Slip of the Tongue, now it is time for the next in the series, “Restless Heart”. This underrated album and often overlooked album gets the super deluxe treatment and you will get a remastering, unreleased and demos as well as a live show and it will all be amazing as usual! Mine is out for delivery and should be here today!!
John 5 & the Creatures – Sinner – (John 5 / Big Machine Label Group): John 5 is probably my favorite guitarist out there right now. Whether it is his solo work, his work with Rob Zombie or his noodling around on instagram, he is nothing short of amazing. I am sure we will get more rock, metal and bluegrass with this release like we do and I couldn’t be happier about that. I have a signed copy of this on its way to the house very soon. Can’t wait!!
2 Loud 2 Old Music 