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.
Bon Jovi and the label were really pushing their single “Thank You For Loving Me” off their 2000 album ‘Crush’. The single was released on November 6, 2000 and only went to #57 on the Billboard Hot 100. So, to help promote the song even more, they created an E.P. with that song and other love songs. This is a rare bonus CD, that was available only on Valentine’s Day of 2001 with the purchase of the studio album Crush. It contained five Bon Jovi love ballads; “Thank You for Loving Me”, “Bed of Roses”, “Always”, “I’ll Be There for You” and “Never Say Goodbye”. I also read that it was sent to radio stations as well as promo to be played as it contains the radio edit of “Thank You For Loving Me”.
The CD comes in a cardboard gatefold sleeve with a bunch of hearts on the front. The gatefold opens with the chorus of the song on the right and a heart shapped cut-out that is holding the CD on the left. It is pure Valentine’s Day cheese. I’ll tell you, it isn’t that hard to come by and not real expensive so if you need to complete your collection with this, it won’t be to difficult. Hit up eBay or Discogs and you should find it easy enough. As I mentioned, the first song is a radio edit and so is “Always”. The rest are the original versions from the albums. Let’s go through them all.
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. It is 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. And yes, it 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 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
Bon Jovi’s 7th Studio album was ‘Crush’ and it was released on June 13, 2000. The Japanese Edition, which I have in my collection, wasn’t released until September 27, 2000. It contained 2 Bonus Tracks, which we discussed when we went through the album on the last post, as well as an entirely new disc which is an E.P. of a live show from Osaka, Japan. The E.P. is called ‘Live from Osaka’ and that is what we are discussing today.
Before we get to that, let’s talk a little about the Japanese Edition. My copy has the OBIT strip as you can see below. That is the prize you want when you get a Japanese Edition CD. Also included, but not pictured, is a booklet that gives the lyrics to the songs in both English and Japanese as well as some commentary that is all in Japanese so I have no idea what it says. All together, it is the copy to get if you want this album…which you do! Bet you didn’t know that.
The Crush Tour started in Japan during July 2000 and this recording is taken from the July 20th show at the Osaka Dome in Osaka, Japan. There are only 6 tracks taken from the show, but it is a great snapshot of the show. We would get a full DVD from one of the stops on that tour which we will review later. It wasn’t the Osaka show, but that’s okay.
The CD opens with the classic Bon Jovi song “Runaway”, but it is done in a way that has never been before. It opens with David on piano and Jon talking a little about the song how he wrote the song 18 years earlier. The song is slowed down, done only with Jon and the piano and it changes the whole dynamic of the song. It is as if This Left Feels Right actually worked because this new interpretation really works. The song feels so dramatic and important. It is the best versioin of this song I’ve ever heard live. Yes, it is that good.
I can’t believe we are already to the 2000’s with Bon Jovi. Man, has this series been flying. However, we are no where near being done. We are now on the band’s 7th Studio album with ‘Crush’. After the band’s hiatus after the ‘These Days’ Tour, the band took some time to themselves and even released a couple of solo albums. But it was time to get back to work. Well, it was for Jon as he started planning to do a third solo, but that fell through because the band talked and it was decided it was time to start work on the next album.
Richie Sambora, Jon Bon Jovi, David Bryan and Tico Torres were ready to go so they planned on getting producer Bruce Fairbairn to handle the producing duties. However, that wouldn’t work out. Sadly, Bruce died in May 1999. The band decided to hold auditions for new producers, but they didn’t like anyone. They asked their old friend John Kalodner if he knew and new, up & coming producers that could help bring their sound in to the 21st Century and he suggested Luke Ebbin. And Luke helped do just that to amazing success.
The album was done and released on June 13, 2000 and it show up the charts thanks to the first single, “It’s My Life”. The album went to #9 in the U.S. and debuted at #1 in the UK which made it the fifth #1 album in the UK for the band. The album saw 3 singles and a fourth in Japan with overall sales reaching well over 4,000,000 copies which easily matched the success of previous albums for the band. Bon Jovi is one of the few bands to survive the 80’s and still see success in to the 2000’s. The album was nominated for a Grammy and Bon Jovi was back in a big way!
The copy of the album I have is the Japanese Edition with 2 bonus tracks and a bonus E.P. called ‘Live in Osaka’. We will talk more about that and the E.P. in the next post and stick to the main CD here. I do have the vinyl as well if you were wondering. You can see all of the Crush collection in the final picture. Let’s go ahead and get to the music.
As I stated in Jon Bon Jovi’s ‘Destination Anywhere’ Review last week, 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’s solo album came first, but shortly after we received Richie Sambora’s solo album.
‘Undiscovered Soul’ was Richie’s 2nd solo album and was produced by Don Was which saw Richie work with a ton of musicians and writers and really push himself both musically and lyrically. He worked with Richard Supa who had worked with The Rascals and Aerosmith and he worked with his old Bon Jovi bandmate, David Bryan, who co-wrote a handful of songs. Richie didn’t stick with the straight blues-rock album like before, he experimented a little with rock and country and anything else he that inspired him.
The album came out on February 23, 1998 and saw four singles released, however, only one of those charted in the U.S. and not very high. The album only reached #174 on the Billboard Top 200 album charts and that isn’t very good. The first single only reached #39 on the Mainstream Rock Chart while doing better in the UK hitting #37 with the second single going to #58 in the UK with no U.S. charting. The album didn’t do as well as the debut and was gone before you knew it.
Thanks to Music on Vinyl, we finally received a vinyl edition to the album last year and that is what I am reviewing. It came on a 2 LP set on 180 gram records and sounded awesome. The album cut out all the crap you hear on the Apple Music version that goes on between the songs which makes you not take the album very seriously, where the vinyl makes it a more serious sounding record. The album didn’t do as well as the debut as I said, but is it worse? Let’s go through it and find out.
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 the end of the ‘Keep the Faith’ tour in 1993, the band need some time, so Jon Bon Jovi went on vacation and immediately started writing songs. Over the next 9 months, he and Richie Sambora wrote and demoed close to 40 songs. I guess they didn’t need much time. But the album was taking longer than anticipated so they agreed with the label to put out a greatest hits set called ‘Cross Road’ in 1994. The album did well. The band also ran in to trouble with bass player Alec John Such. Due to unsatisfactory performance during the live shows, they decided to dismiss Alec from the band in 1994 as well.
This made the album a four-piece technically as Alec is not on the album. Who is on the album is Jon, Richie, David Bryan and Tico Torres, officially. Unofficially, on bass was Hugh McDonald who we already met as he was the bass player on the song “Runaway” from the band’s debut album. They brought in producer Peter Collins to co-produce with Richie & Jon, but things weren’t easy. They started recording down in Nashville, TN. After 10 days of that, Jon wasn’t happy and erased all the tapes. Recording moved to New York to Jon’s home studio and also various studios in Los Angeles. One of the problems they had in New York was the band Fear Factory was recording their album and they were so loud that recording was not possible for them in their studio. Now, that is loud!
The album, ‘These Days’ was finally done and released on June 27, 1995. The album only went to #9 in the U.S., but overseas, the album was huge. It went to #1 in the U.K., Switzerland, Australia and numerous other countries. It sparked 5 singles and has sold over 10 million copies worldwide. They might not have been as popular in the U.S., but they were still doing fine. The album itself still sounded like Bon Jovi musically, but lyrically, it is a much darker album. It is not a rock & roll party full of sunshine. The band was in a good place funny enough. The music saw them really take the darkness of grunge but put it with the Bon Jovi sound. A lot of bands at this time were going heavier and completely changing their sound, but not Bon Jovi. And it worked.
The album opens with one of the heavier songs on the album, “Hey God”, and in the same epic way they open all their albums. According to wiki, the song was inspired by Jon looking out a window at 57 St. & Broadway and seeing a guy in an expensive suit standing next to a guy sleeping on the street. Also according to wiki, Richie was inspired by the song while looking out of his limo and seeing a homeless guy sleeping in a cardboard box. Who knos which is right or they both are. The song questions if God has forgotten about the world as all the good shit is gone and there nothing but bad. It is a darker tone, darker lyrics and sees the band questioning the world. A total ballbuster of a song. The song was the final single, but not in the U.S. and was released on June 24, 1996. It was a minor hit in Canada and several European countries. It is one of my favorites on the album.
In 1992, Jon Bon Jovi did a cover of the Charles Brown song “Please Come Home For Christmas”. It was released on the Christmas album ‘A Very Special Christmas 2’ of that same year. Two years later, the band re-released the song as a charity single in Europe for the Specal Olympics. This time, they branded the song under the Bon Jovi label rather than as a Jon solo release even though no other Bon Jovi member was on this song. The CD Single was released on December 5, 1994 and the single did reach #7 on the UK Chart where it went Silver selling over 200,000 copies.
The version I have is the European version with a wonderful picture of Cindy Crawford and Jon on the cover for which a video was made with her as well. The CD Single also had two other Christmas songs from the band including “I Wish Everyday Could Be Like Christmas” and the other was “Back Door Santa”.
2 Loud 2 Old Music 