Jon Bon Jovi – ‘Destination Anywhere’ (1997) – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

After Bon Jovi’s very successful ‘These Days’ album and especially that tour which ran for 126 shows in around 43 countries, the band was ready for a break. The tour ended on July 19, 1996 and the band decided, it was time for a hiatus from the band. They did a self-imposed two year break from the band. That 2 year break would turn in to 3, but no one is counting. During that time, we saw solo albums, Jon went and did a lot of acting and the thoughts that Bon Jovi were done were on everyone’s mind.

Jon didn’t waste any time and was the first with a solo album as he beat Richie by about a year. Jon’ second solo album is called ‘Destination Anywhere’ which he was working on even during the “These Days Tour”. It was finished around January 1997 and it came out on June 16, 1997 which is a long time after the album was finished. A lot of that had to do with Jon’s little vanity project of ‘Destination Anywhere’…the FILM! I don’t actually own a copy and won’t be reviewing, but I’ve heard nothing good about it. It was a movie with some big stars all surrounded by the songs from the album, but this wasn’t a concept album. The songs were just in the film.

The album saw Jon break away from the Bon Jovi sound which a good solo album would do. It was more Indie Rock and Pop then the glam rock that Bon Jovi did and for that I was super excited because if I want to hear Bon Jovi, I’ll listen to Bon Jovi. I want to hear what he can do outside of that arena and this was a great set of songs to showcase he could do more. And he filled it with a lot of influence from British bands as well like Blur and Manic Street Preachers which is completely unexpected.

The album saw four singles, it had four producers other than Jon and it was filled with talented musicians as you’d expect. Heck, a could of the Bon Jovi boys appeared on the album as well (not Richie though). the album would go to #2 in the UK and sell over a million copies in Europe, but it only hit #31 in the US and not sure how many it sold. This continued the success of the band on Jon more overseas than in the states.

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Matt Nathanson – “Suspended” – Promotional CD Single

In my further quest for owning all Matt Nathanson items listed on Discogs, I found another gem. This Promo CD is for the song “Suspended” off his 2003 album and major label debut called ‘Beneath these Fireworks’. The song didn’t chart, no surprise as he’s never been a big radio hits guy (even though his stuff is better than radio). The album didn’t do well either and shortly after releasing his first major label debut on Universal, Universal dropped him. Such is the story of so many artists and bands.

The song was written by Matt Nathanson, Mark Weinberg and Eric Bazillion who you know as a founding member of the band The Hooters. The song is about being in a relationship that might not be the best relationship, but man, the sex is so good you are willing to accept anything to stay in it. You suspend belief and think that is all is great just to stay for sex despite how lost and miserable you might be. Better for some human contact than nothing at all. Now, that is one way to look at it, the other is that he is fully committed and in love, but she’s not quite there. The line, “When you pretend that I’m all that you waited for”, shows that he knows she’s not in to it anymore, just pretending. But he’s okay…he loves her and wants to stay and be together.

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