Bon Jovi – ‘Forever (Legendary Edition)’ (2025) – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

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.

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The Collection: Ep. 81 – Bon Jovi: Forever & Forever (Legendary Edition)

This week we are going to talk about Bon Jovi’s latest album, Forever (Legendary Edition) as well as the original Forever album. The album came out on October 24, 2025 and I figured we would walk through each song, discuss the duet partners and how much we like or dislike each song. This is the band’s 16th and 17th Studio albums and honestly, I am so happy they are still putting out new music. I haven’t liked everything this band is done, but new music is better than no music. We have vinyl, CDs and even a cassette to show off this week. I hope you enjoy.

So go check it out as it is live right now on YouTube. Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.

Bon Jovi – ‘Forever’ (2024) – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

We are now to the most recent Bon Jovi album, ‘Forever’. It is the band’s 16th studio album and was released on June 7, 2024. It was an album I wasn’t sure we would 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. However, will we ever see them live again? That is the question. One I hope will get a resounding yes, but if not, what a hell of a ride it has been.

‘Forever’ charted #5 on the Billboard chart in its first week of sales and then suddenly disappeared. It was the shortest stay of any Bon Jovi album on the chart. It is a weird thing and one that baffles me as the press on this was really great. People were saying it was a good album. Why the sudden drop. Has the world abandoned Bon Jovi except for the diehards that bought it the first week. Who knows. Whatever the reason, I think it is unwarranted and we will get to that in a minute.

The new album also sees a slightly different band. We have some new official members. First, there are the trio that has been there from the beginning including Jon Bon Jovi, David Bryan and Tico Torres. Then the next group of Phil X and long time bassist Hugh McDonald. This time around, it looks like long-time producer (who I wish would stop producing) has wormed his way in to the band full time, a Mr. John Shanks. Lastly, we get Everett Bradley who is there to help with the background vocals and on percussion. I think that is great as the band is trying to help Jon as much as they can vocally. Smart move. If Richie was still in the band, that wouldn’t be needed (okay, last Richie comment…well…maybe not).

Before we get to the music, let’s talk about what I have in my collection regarding this album. I bought the CD, the Vinyl and even the Cassette. My CD came with an card inside that was signed by Jon and you can see it below. The vinyl is the Amazon exclusive with the 1/2 black. 1/2 transparent look and it looks awesome. You can see that further down in the post. The cassette, well, it is a cassette and still sealed. Not sure if I’ll break that seal yet. So, the only thing I need is the Japanese CD edition and not sure if it is worth paying for the album again for only one additional track, but who knows, I’ve done dumber things. Enough, let us talk about the music since that is why we are really here.

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Redlist – ‘Ignorance’ (2007) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

Back in 2001, Jeff Scott Soto was ready for a change. He had been touring with the group The Boogie Knights and he was ready to break out on his own again. He wanted to do something totally different. And what started out as a solo project for him became a band called Redlist. Redlist is actually another name for the endangered species list and they liked it so they used. Who are they? That would be Jeff, Dave Fraser (who played with Gary Richrath) and Neil Goldberg (Annihilator). They also Eric Malone (aka Big E, rapper).

Rapper? Did I just say rapper? Yes, I did. The Redlist project was not the typical Melodic rock that Jeff was used to. The time was 2001 and what was big was Industrial Rock. Think Linkin Park and you have the right idea. This is totally unexpected and out of left field which is exactly what Jeff was wanting. However, the project was shelved due to lack of interest from record executives. One thing lead to another and Jeff got busy again, he ended up doing a couple solo albums, Soul SirkUS and then Journey. Around 2007, they decided to dust off the cobwebs and release it.

They didn’t release it the normal way with a physical product. No, they did not. Instead they released it digitally through iTunes. And yes, I bought a digital product because it was the only way I could get it. Now, Jeff, if you ever find yourself reading these reviews, we would love to have a CD release of this product. Yes, I could burn it to a CD and print out the covers and put together my own CD version, but I want something official. Enough about that, let us get to the music and get ready as it isn’t what you’d expect from Jeff. Especially when Jeff does his own rapping.

The album kicks off strong with the heavy, industrial rocker, “Migraine”. It sees Jeff rap through the verses and he is very aggressive, angry and intense. The chorus is catchy and just as aggressive. The guitar sounds is gritty and pretty killer on this one. One of the better songs on the album.

Next ups is “World Today” which keeps the Linkin Park vibes going, but this song isn’t as aggressive. This is pure LP ripoff. Jeff spits out the lyrics in a rapid fire pace. The chorus is more melodic with some good harmonies. The electronic sounds are a little abrasive at times as to me they aren’t as crisp and clear as they should be. Blame production value on that one. But still a pretty good song, if you like this sort of thing.

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