Tag: Phil X

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

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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)

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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 – The Albums Ranked Worst To First – Updated (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

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Welcome to the final post in the Bon Jovi Collection Series. I have spent the past 14 months going through everything in my Bon Jovi collection and that included full reviews of ALL 16 Studio Albums. I had done a Ranking back in 2020 after the album ‘2020’ came out but that was based off what I thought listening to the albums only. No deep dive. I will admit this one is slightly different than before as I spent a week with each album and dove deep in to the songs. It isn’t entirely different as the #1 is the same, but there is a lot of movement below.

I am not going to go in to the band’s story here because you can read that if you want by going through the reviews yourself by clicking on the links at the bottom of the post. Bon Jovi has been through changes and some challenges, but they are still going strong…not necessarily with the same crew but Jon, David & Tico are still there holding down the ship…well Jon is as it is his ship as he is the dictator…I mean captain if we are staying with the ship analogy. So, hoist the sail, raise up the anchor and let’s cruise through the 16 Studio albums and see what is the best and what is the worst…I hope you enjoy.

THE WORST – ‘2020’ (2020):

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The Collection: Ep. 33 – Bon Jovi Vinyl (Part 2 – The 2000’s)

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To Celebrate the end of the Bon Jovi Series, it was time to do a show on The Collection where we walked through the Bon Jovi vinyl. For Part 1 was last week and we walked through their peak years of The 80’s & The 90’s. For Part 2, we are going to go through the vinyl in the collection that covers all of The 2000’s from 2000 to 2024. We will capture all the studio albums, compilations, and even some 10″ Picture Discs. Come join as we talk all things Bon Jovi from the 2000’s Crush’ to 2024’s ‘Forever’. I don’t know if this is everything you can get in the 2000’s, but it is everything in my collection and that is the show!

So go check it out as it will be live tonight right now, September 9, 2024 at 8pm. 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)

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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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Bon Jovi – “Legendary” – 7″ Single (2024) (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

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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 Bon Jovi released the first single off their upcoming album, ‘Forever’, all questions were answered if he could sing. The answer was a resounding, yes!!

The first single was the song “Legendary”. It was released on March 14, 2024. It did not hit the Top 40 as no band from that era is probably ever going to hit again. Instead, it hit #9 on the Adult Contemporary Chart and #2 on the Rock Digital Song chart. And it even charted elsewhere as it hit #21 in Canada and #27 in the UK. Not a bad start. The song was written by Jon, John Shanks and Billy Falcon who have both been writing with Jon for quite some time.

“Legendary” pays tribute to this wife, “Dorthea”, and their sweet love. He has been married to her for decades. Heck, she has been there since the beginning. It is also a little nostalgic looking at the band’s past and all their accomplishments. It also is a look in to the future and what is in store.

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Bon Jovi – ‘2020’ (2020) – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

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We are now on the 15th Studio album for Bon Jovi. It has been 4 years since their last one due to lack of inspiration or him needing a break. In 2019, the band started working on the new album in Nashville. Jon had recorded all the tracks on his phone and brought them to the studio where the band recorded 23 demo songs in just 11 days. They picked the best 10 and went to work on recording the final product. All was done. Until Covid-19 hit. Everything stopped.

During that time, a lot happened. Inspiration hit Jon and he wrote two more songs for the album. That meant a couple songs had to be cut. They were still used as bonus tracks on the deluxe edition. But those new songs and most of the songs on the album we Jon speaking his mind about world events, political events. The album feels like a Protest album. Jon is laying bear his thoughts and voicing an opinion. I will admit, I admire him for that, however, Bon Jovi is not a Protest band so the songs don’t feel like protest songs. They don’t have the power musically to get the point across. He isn’t Bruce Springsteen or Will Hoge (who writes a lot of protest songs and does them well). This is a band that wrote love songs and sexual songs. Yeah, he had Tommy and Gina, but those were stories. These stories fall flat coming from a band of such privilege.

And another problem is Jon’s vocals. You can tell something is wrong. He isn’t really singing anything. He is speaking more than anything. Now, we know of the problems he was facing. His throat was messed up and he needed surgery. At this point, I don’t think he was ready to admit he had a problem. I feel for him. It is his livelihood. It had to be difficult knowing you can’t do what you used to be able to do. This was the first album that I think I noticed something was wrong and/or different. And from the Bon Jovi documentary, we get to see the anguish and pain he was facing. You hate to see your heroes fall a little, if you know what I mean.

After some delays thanks to Covid, the album was released on October 2, 2020. They picked the name of the album, 2020, for two reasons. Jon was seeing clearly on what was going on in the world. And 2020 was the year of the Pandemic, George Floyd killing and a world of other problems. I think it is a fitting name for the album. The cover embodies that feeling as well. Looking at the cover, Jon looks like he is about to speak his mind as he is giving heavy thought. And look at this glasses as there is an American Flag reflected in the lenses.

The band is the same with Jon Bon Jovi, David Bryan and Tico Torres as well as Phil X and Hugh McDonald. Unfortunately, John Shanks is still the producer with Jon and it shows. Please replace Shanks as producer…PLEASE!!! The album would hit #19 on the Billboard charts and spawn five promotional singles. It wasn’t that successful overall. I bought it. My copy was released on December 4, 2020 and is the Double LP Gold Edition with 2 bonus tracks (the two songs left off the album and replaced by new ones). I love the effect on the vinyl, it looks like it bubbling up and wrinkling. Cool effect.

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Bon Jovi – ‘This House Is Not For Sale: Live From The London Palladium (2016)’ – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

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We are now on the band’s third live album. They had a great idea with this one. At a very exclusive listening party for their current album, ‘This House is Not For Sale’, the band played every song from the new album, basically, in the same order as the album. They played 15 tracks which is the number of tracks on the Deluxe Edition, however, there are 21 tracks available if you count Japanese and International releases as well as the Target and WalMart ones too. A lot of songs if you have to have them all, I don’t have them all…someday maybe.

The show was at the London Palladium and was recorded on October 10, 2016 and released on December 16, 2016. The full band was there including Jon Bon Jovi, Tico Torres, David Bryan, Phil X, Hugh McDonald and even John Shanks and Everett Bradley who are both official members now and even pictured on the album jacket for the new album, ‘Forever’. The band was in fine form, Jon’s vocals were perfection and the show went off without a hitch…I think.

Jon comes out and welcomes everyone and says his name is Bruce Forsyth. If you don’t know,   he is an English entertainer and television presenter whose career spanned more than 70 years. Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the ITV series Sunday Night at the London Palladium. Now his joke makes sense. Oh, and it is Sir Bruce Forsyth. When David (I think it was David), tells him it isn’t Sunday Night and he isn’t Bruce Forsyth, Jon says who he really is, the crowd screams and the band goes in to “This House is Not For Sale”. I am always wanting live versions of songs and the fact you get all of them live is really cool.

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Bon Jovi – ‘This House is Not For Sale’ (2016) – Album Re-Review – (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

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If you noticed the header at the top it says “re-review”. I had reviewed this album when it was originally released back in 2016. My views on this album have changed quite a bit since that review so I thought I would do another one. My first take on the album was a 2.1 out of 5.0 Stars, so it was pretty bad. Is that still the case…we will see. Let’s get started.

Bon Jovi was now on their 14th studio album. This time around they were now on their new label Island Records after having a bitter divorce with their former label of 32 years, Mercury label. Funny thing is that both labels are owned by Universal Music Group, so technically still the same label…in my opinion at least. Their new album, ‘This House is Not For Sale’, was released on November 4, 2016 and sold 129,000 copies in the first week making it #1 for that week.

This was the first album with their two new official band members. Phil X is the new guitarist replacing Richie Sambora officially. And long standing bass player since 1994, Hugh McDonald, was finally promoted to official member. The band was back to being a 5 piece with Tico Torres, David Bryan and of course Jon Bon Jovi being the remaining members. John Shanks is still producer and does a lot of the rhythm guitar on the album. He brings nothing new to the table so not sure why they still use him. (He becomes an official member many years later).

The cover of the album was a photo by Jerry Uelsmann and is of a house that is deeply rooted in to the ground. Jon Bon Jovi saw this black & white photo a few years earlier and was really inspired by it. So much so that it became the artwork for the album and the inspiration for the title song.

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Bon Jovi – ‘Burning Bridges’ (2015) – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

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We are now on the 13th Studio album by Bon Jovi and the first without Richie Sambora. And this one has an interesting story behind it. Bon Jovi was at the end of his contract with Mercury and had been with them for 32 years. They could not come to agreement and this was the end of his relationship with the label. This album, ‘Burning Bridges’, is the final album to fulfill his contract with the label. And to say Jon was a little pissed is an understatement. He didn’t sit down to write a whole album because he was so pissed (as you will hear on the title track) and only wanted to end this deal and move on. I believe the label kept the rights to the masters and that didn’t sit well.

He grabbed a bunch of unfinished songs and actually finished them. He did write a few new songs, but most were leftover songs that needed to be finished. As a result, of the turmoil between Jon and the label, neither cared about the album. Heck, the label put cheap packaging on it (my copy is a cardboard sleeve and no liner notes) and didn’t even really promote it. And I will tell you that is a complete shame as this is the first album in years that I actually felt was a good Bon Jovi album.

The last three albums were so boring, but this one felt fresh to me and interesting. The reason I think this is better is because Jon didn’t sit down to write a full album and follow his paint-by number formula he had been using for years now. He grabbed from his archives left over tracks that created more variety and surprisingly the whole package struck a chord with me and I truly love this album.

Here is the funny thing to me. He left Mercury, which is owned Universal Music Group, and was signed by Island Records, which is owned by Universal Music Group. Hmmm….did he technically change labels then. It all seems for nothing to me. Anyway, on August 21, 2015, Bon Jovi released ‘Burning Bridges’ and it did go to #13 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart and after a whole year of release, it had only sold 67,000 copies in the U.S. Is this the worst performing album in their catalog? Quite possibly. All I will say is that people are missing out!! Let’s get to it.

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