With Bon Jovi’s return and their ‘Crush’ album, the band was literally crushing it. The album was selling great and their worldwide tour was a smash hit selling out and reaching over 1 million people around the globe. In May of 2001, they released a live album with a collection of live songs from throughout the years to help capitalize on the new found success again. But before that, the band released a greatest hits package on March 28, 2001. The album was called ‘Tokyo Road: Best of Bon Jovi’ and it was released exclusively in Japan. As a result, I didn’t hear about it for years, but I finally did get a copy.
The album contains 16 songs only one of which is a new version which was “One Wild Night” which was remixed for this release. All the other songs appear to be album versions for the most part. Now, if you bought one of the initial pressings of the album, you were given a bonus 3″ Mini CD with 4 exclusive live tracks. My copy has that plus it still has the OBI strip and the extra booklet with the lyrics in both English and Japanese. It is all there in all it’s glory.
The opening track was the only unreleased track which was a remix of “One Wild Night 2001” which was originally off the ‘Crush’ album. “One Wild Night” 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.
The album ‘Crush’ saw Bon Jovi back on the scene and having major success. The album sold over 5 million copies worldwide and go to #9 on the U.S. Billboard charts. The band had a huge successful tour and to capitalize on the renewed love for Bon Jovi, they recorded one of the shows and released it on DVD and sold over 100,000 copies in the U.S. The show was recorded on August 30, 2000 in Zurich, Switzerland at the Letzigrund Stadium. The show was directed by a Jon relative by the name of Anthony Bongiovi. When all was done, it was released in Japan on December 7, 2000 while Wiki says it was released on May 28th, 2001, but since the date on the back cover says 2000, I’m going with the December date.
The boys are the same as it is Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, David Bryan, Tico Torres and of course, Hugh McDonald on bass and not yet a full time official member. The DVD has the full show, plus some bonus features as well along with some music videos so it is jammed pack with goodness. My copy is a standard edition from the U.S., no extras above and beyond what is expected. I picked this up used and it was in great shape and probably cost about $5 so I was pretty happy. Enough chit chat, let’s get to the show.
The show kicks off with “Living on A Prayer”…how solid is your catalog when this classic opens the show? When Richie gets on the talk box and the drums kick in, the crowd goes nuts and starts bouncing up and down for the entire song. They don’t let up. Jon commands the crowd like a good frontman should. They go right in to “You Give Love A Bad Name” and they keep the party going at full force. The crowd doesn’t let a little rain dampen their spirit or their energy.
On November 6, 2000, Bon Jovi released their third single from ‘Crush’, well, their second single in the U.S. The song did really well for the band reaching the Top 40 in a ton of countries like the UK, Germany and Australia, but not in the U.S. where it only went to #57. Proving more that Bon Jovi were actually bigger overseas then in their home country which had the way it was for at least a decade. Back in 2000, when Bon Jovi released a single, there would be a ton of different variants of that single in many different parts of the world, each with their own unique B-Sides and this one was no different.
The version I have is actually a Canadian release (and I think I got this from my good pal Mike Ladano from Grab a Stack of Rock and MikeLadano.com. Go check him out as you won’t be disappointed. The version I have according to Wikipedia is says it is actually the Japanese Edition and that is possible I guess, but this is definitely a Canadian pressing as it states it below.
The song title, “Thnk You For Loving Me” seems to be inspired by Brad Pitt’s character in the film ‘Meet Joe Black’ where he tells Claire Forlani’s character “thank you for loving me”…or it could be a giant coincidence. It was written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora and was inspired by Jon’s own personal experiences and observations on how love can change you and it was a giant thank you to those special people in his life.
The song is a ballad and chock full of ballad cliches with a full on string section, soft & gentle piano and some nice sweet guitar licks from Sambora giving us the power in power ballad. The song is a little over-the-top at times and cheesy, but Jon still delivers it as only he can with all the emotion needed to draw in the listener and pull at their heartstrings. Not their best ballad they’ve ever done, but honestly, its pretty damn good nonetheless.
The B-Side tracks (I now it is a CD so technically no B-Sides, but that is what I’m calling them) are all live and recorded to a two track player at The China Club in New York City on September 20, 2000. And all three tracks are not from the ‘Crush’ album. First up is the ‘New Jersey’ track “Born to Be My Baby”. This track was penned with the help of Desmond Child and you can feel his touch all over it with its melodies and hooks and that catchy chorus. Playing it live, they haven’t really altered it or strayed from the live version. It lacks a little of the studio version’s punch, but still a great track.
Next Up is “I’ll Be There For You” is also from ‘New Jersey’ and is a ballad. That opening guitar lick from Sambora is instantly recognizable on this track. Jon’s vocals are high in the mix and in 2000, he still sounded pretty great live. Richie’s backgrounds are key on this one too as I love how his vocals compliment Jon’s so much. If you listen close, you can hear the crowd singing along. They really nail this one and they don’t stray from the studio version much and that is okay.
The final track is “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead” from ‘Keep the Faith’ and Bon Jovi shows they are still a bar band at heart, even though I don’t know how much they played in bars. Tico pounds away at the skins and Richie rips some riffs. David’s piano plays like an old honky tonk and the boys cut loose and have a good time with this one. Jon doesn’t sound the best as he sounds a little tired, but this is live and he shouldn’t sound perfect.
And there you have it. A cool gift from a friend and a nice addition to the Bon Jovi collection. I hope you enjoyed it and we still have one final ‘Crush’ related piece in the collection to review and that is coming next week. Until then, have a great day.
NEXT UP: BON JOVI – ‘THE CRUSH TOUR’ (2000) – DVD REVIEW
The band’s first live concert video, ‘Live From London’ was released in 1995 on both VHS and Laserdisc. The tour was in support of their new album at the time, ‘These Days’ and the show was from their stint at Wembley Stadium on June 25, 1995. They played several shows I believe and all to a massive crowd of 72,000 screaming fans. This isn’t the full set either as I believe some tracks were cut for time and to get the runtime down to around 90 minutes, but it is a great setlist.
The version I have is the International DVD release which was in 2003. There was a DVD release in 1998 in the US and Canada, but mine is the 2003 release. There is absolutely no difference between the VHS and the DVDs, no remastering or anything. It is the same cut. The film is directed by David Mallett and produced by Andy Picheta. These two have to reign in Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, David Bryan and Tico Torres along with touring member and studio member, but not band memer yet, Hugh McDonald.
The show kicks off with a couple of old classics with “Livin’ on a Prayer” starting the show. Richie comes out and immediately puts his mouth around the talk box and you know the song that is coming. The band kills it and like almost every song on here they don’t do a straight album version of the song, they change things up a little with either more musical breaks or longer, drawn out jams at the end of the song which makes things more interesting as you don’t know what they are going to do for each song. Then we get “You Give Love a Bad Name” and the crowd screams along with the band. Jon sound’s really great as he was still in his prime. Richie’s solo is quick and stellar and then the crowd gets involved with the chorus. Always a fun song live.
After 16 months of touring for ‘New Jersey’, the band was simply exhausted. Without so much as a goodbye, the band members went home and did their own things for awhile. Jon Bon Jovi became real disillusioned with the music “business” so he fired everyone from management to advisers to even agents (which was Doc McGhee). Jon took control. And in October 1991, he brought the boys back together down in St. Thomas in the Caribbean where the band hashed out their issues and decided it was time to work again.
In January 1992, the band headed back to Little Mountain Studios in Vancouver, Canada to start work on their fifth album. They tried to get Bruce Fairbairn back to produce, but he was busy with a little band from Boston called Aerosmith and their smash album ‘Get a Grip’. So, they got the next best thing, Bob Rock, who engineered their last two albums with Bruce so he was taught very well. They worked on the album through August of that year and wrote/recorded over 30 songs for the album. Of which, 12 made it and a couple were used for various bonus tracks whether in Japan or Australia.
Things had changed significantly since their last album. Some thing called Grunge had taken over and even Rap was growing in popularity. But the boys ignored all that, they also ignored their old sound which was full of cliches. Instead, the focused on righting real songs about more serious topics. Now, not all the songs were that way, but enough were that we got a band that sounded more mature, more focused and more serious.
The album came out on November 3, 1992 and would spawn six singles – four in the U.S. and two around the world. The album would chart at #5 in the U.S., #1 in the UK and high on so many charts around the world. It would sell over 8 million copies worldwide and have 3 Top 40 hits. Bon Jovi was back and in a big way. They were actually more popular around the world then in their home country. Why did this album do so well, let’s dig in to the songs and see.
2 Loud 2 Old Music 