Bon Jovi – ‘Live From the Have A Nice Day Tour’ (2006 – Walmart Exclusive) – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

The album ‘Have a Nice Day’ album from Bon Jovi came out on September 20, 2005 and to keep the promotion on that album, the band & label decided to release a companion piece 6 months later. On February 7, 2006, they released ‘Live From the Have A Nice Day Tour’ E.P. that was exclusively sold at Walmart. It was only available in the U.S.

Don’t worry though as the songs weren’t exclusive as they also appeared on the Tour Edition of ‘Have a Nice Day’ that was released in Japan. Plus, you could get 3 of the songs as B-Sides for the single “Who Says You Can’t Go Home”. There are six tracks and they are are all live. They were recorded during the Have a Nice Day Tour in Banknorth Garden, Boston, MA on December 10, 2005.

The album contains 4 live versions of songs from ‘Have a Nice Day’ and two classic Bon Jovi tracks as well. It kicks off with one of my favorite songs from the new album called “Last Man Standing”. It has a killer opening riff from Richie and the song is a pure, high energy rocker. Live they seem to play it a little faster at times, but that doesn’t take away from the track. Just an observation. Live though the song doesn’t sound as cool and dark as the studio track, but still cool to have a live version of it.

Next up is the classic Bon Jovi track “You Give Love a Bad Name” and I have heard this one so many times I can’t imagine they would do anything special to it that would make me want to hear this one again live and I was right. Luckily vocals are still great, the band sounds great and the crowd was really in to it and they even get their own chorus to sing. The band could play this one in their sleep.

“Complicated” comes screaming to life next…well after a fade out from the last song and a fade in to this one which tells me these were played next to each other in the show. Another track that is better as a studio track than a live one. It doesn’t have the heart or the intensity that the studio track gave us. Live, the band felt like they were going through the motions. I don’t really mean that bad, they just didn’t do anything that takes it to another level live.

After another fade in/fade out, we get the title track, “Have A Nice Day”. An anthemic rock track in the same vein as “It’s My Life” which tells you it is catchy and a fun track to hear live…and it lives up to expectations. The band plays this one with a lot of energy and seems to enjoy playing it as it is a real crowd pleaser. Plus, we get a “Richie” solo and name check.

“Who Says You Can’t Go Home” is next and this is not a duet with Jennifer Nettles, this is the Jon Bon only version. How does this one come off live? Well, pretty lifeless in my opinion. A paint by numbers run through with no passion or heart in the vocals. Blah! Feels like a bathroom song if you no what I mean.

The final track is “Raise Your Hands” and thank goodness, I needed something uplifting after that snoozefest. A heavier-hitting track with a lot more energy and a lot more guitar. A tougher sounding track that would make my raise my hands to get the blood flowing again. A classic track that takes me back to the good time Bon Jovi era. And more Richie Sambora name checks and solo. Give me more of that.

And that is it. I will admit, it isn’t the most exciting live set, but it is a nice piece to hold you over until the next album comes out and it is good to help continue to promote the new album. But the song choices weren’t the best, the performances were a little dull and lifeless at times. It felt like they were going through the motions on some of these. The CD opened well and closed well, just faltered at times in the middle. My Overall Score is a 3.0 out of 5.0 Stars mostly for a nice collector piece. Otherwise, skippable for non-collectors.

NEXT UP: BON JOVI – ‘LOST HIGHWAY’ (2007)

THE BON JOVI COLLECTION SERIES:

  1. Bon Jovi – The Albums Box Set (2017)
  2. Jon Bongiovi – The Power Station Sessions (1980-1983) (2001)
  3. Bon Jovi – Bon Jovi (1984)
  4. Bon Jovi – Shot Through the Heart: Live in Cleveland, OH March 17, 1984 FM Broadcast (Bootleg)
  5. Bon Jovi – “Burning For Love” – 12″ Single – Japanese Edition (1984)
  6. Bon Jovi – 7800° Fahrenheit (1985)
  7. Bon Jovi – Slippery When Wet (1986)
  8. Bon Jovi – “Borderline” – 12″ Single – Japanese Edition (1986)
  9. Bon Jovi – New Jersey (1988)
  10. Bon Jovi – New Jersey: Super Deluxe Edition – Disc 2/DVD (1988)
  11. Bon Jovi – “I’ll Be There For You” – Cassette Single (1988)
  12. Jon Bon Jovi – Blaze of Glory (1990)
  13. Jon Bon Jovi – “Blaze of Glory” – Cassette Single (1990)
  14. Richie Sambora – Stranger in this Town (1991)
  15. Bon Jovi – Keep the Faith (1992)
  16. Bon Jovi – “Keep the Faith” – CD Maxi Single (1992)
  17. Bon Jovi – “I Believe” – 7″ Single (1992)
  18. Bon Jovi – Cross Road (1994)
  19. Bon Jovi – “Please Come Home for Christmas” – CD Single (1994)
  20. Bon Jovi – These Days (1995)
  21. Bon Jovi – Live From London – DVD (1995)
  22. Jon Bon Jovi – Destination Anywhere (1997)
  23. Richie Sambora – Undiscovered Soul (1998)
  24. Bon Jovi – Crush (2000)
  25. Bon Jovi – Live From Osaka E.P. (2000)
  26. Bon Jovi – “Thank You For Loving Me” – CD Single (2000)
  27. Bon Jovi – The Crush Tour – DVD (2000)
  28. Bon Jovi – The Love Songs E.P. (Promo) (2001)
  29. Bon Jovi – Tokyo Road: Best of Bon Jovi (2001)
  30. Bon Jovi – One Wild Night Live: 1985-2001 (2001)
  31. Bon Jovi – Bounce (2002)
  32. Bon Jovi – Unauthorized: Rock ‘n Roll Legends – Bootleg DVD (2002)
  33. Bon Jovi – Target E.P. (2003)
  34. Bon Jovi – This Left Feels Right (2003)
  35. Bon Jovi – Wild in the Streets: Unauthorized – Bootleg DVD (2003)
  36. Bon Jovi – This Left Feels Right – DVD (2004)
  37. Bon Jovi – 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong (Part 1) – (2004)
  38. Bon Jovi – 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong (Disc 1, Part 2) – (2004)
  39. Bon Jovi – 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong (Disc 2, Part 3) – (2004)
  40. Bon Jovi – 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong (Disc 3, Part 4) – (2004)
  41. Bon Jovi – 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong (Disc 4, Part 5) – (2004)
  42. Bon Jovi – 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong (Disc 5 & 6, Part 6) – (2004)
  43. Bon Jovi – Have a Nice Day (2005)
  44. Bon Jovi – Live from the Have a Nice Day Tour (Walmart Exclusive) (2006)
  45. Bon Jovi – Lost Highway (2007)
  46. Bon Jovi – Lost Highway: The Concert (2007)
  47. Bon Jovi – The Circle (2009)
  48. Bon Jovi – When We Were Beautiful Documentary DVD (2009)
  49. Bon Jovi – Live at Madison Square Garden – DVD (2009)
  50. Bon Jovi – Greatest Hits: The Ultimate Collection (2009)
  51. Bon Jovi – Greatest Hits: The Ultimate Video Collection – DVD (2010)
  52. Bon Jovi – Inside Out – DVD (2012)
  53. Richie Sambora – Aftermath of the Lowdown (2012)
  54. Bon Jovi – What About Now (2013)
  55. Bon Jovi – Live E.P. (RSD – 2013)
  56. Bon Jovi – Live 2 E.P. (RSD – 2014)
  57. Bon Jovi – Burning Bridges (2015)
  58. Bon Jovi – This House is Not For Sale (2016)
  59. Bon Jovi – This House is Not For Sale – Live From the London Palladium (2016)
  60. Bon Jovi – The Albums Box Set – The Extra LP (2017)
  61. RSO – Radio Free America (2018)
  62. Bon Jovi – 2020 (2020)
  63. Bon Jovi – 40th Anniversary Box Set (TBA – I Hope it is out by the time we get here)

We’ve reviewed a bunch of pieces already over the years and won’t review again. They are as follows:

  1. Bon Jovi – The Brotherhood Tour Book (1988-1990)
  2. Bon Jovi – Bon Jovi Tour 2011 – Tourbook
  3. Bon Jovi – The Rock History – Bootleg CD
  4. Bon Jovi – “You Give Love A Bad Name” – 12″ Single
  5. Bon Jovi – “You Give Love a Bad Name” – 7″ Single
  6. Bon Jovi – Red Hot & 2 Parts Live E.P. – 12″ Single
  7. Bon Jovi – “Wanted Dead or Alive” – 7″ Single
  8. Bon Jovi – “Bad Medicine” – 7″ Single
  9. Bon Jovi – “Born to Be My Baby” – 7″ Single
  10. Bon Jovi – “I’ll Be There For You” – 7″ Single
  11. Bon Jovi – “Lay Your Hands on Me” – 7″ Single
  12. Bon Jovi – “Living in Sin” – 7″ Single

Bon Jovi – ‘This Left Feels right Live’ (2004) – DVD Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

In 2003, Bon Jovi was going to do a little acoustic side project, but that turned in to ‘This Left Feels Right’ which was released on November 4,2003. To commemorate that album, they did two shows in Atlantic City, New Jersey on November 14 and 15, 2003. The DVD, ‘This Left Feels Right Live’ was the result of those two shows. The DVD was released on February 9, 2004. Now, if you read my review of the CD, you will see I wasn’t very fond of that, but this is a little of a different animal. This is live. Live shows, I don’t mind when a band changes a song up as it is fun to see their different interpretations of their own songs. That for me is the perfect time for re-imagined songs. Not a full studio album of them.

The small crowd in attendance was ready for anything Bon Jovi and the women were ready for anything from Jon Bon Jovi as they were screaming a lot. The show was also broadcast on the web as they were filming so some people saw the show before the DVD release. I was not one of them. You knew this was going to be different from the first song as it was “Love for Sale” from ‘New Jersey’ and I loved hearing that one live. What a great way to start things off. Then they go in to the classic, “You Give Love a Bad Name” and I will admit I did not like this one much as Jon kept saying “Bad” over and over in a stupid way that annoyed me.

With “Wanted Dead or Alive”, Jon changed his mic for a radio voice type vocal and the band rocked out a little on it and I actually enjoyed this one enough. With “Livin’ on a Prayer”, they went all acoustic and it was perfectly fine in this new version. Not much different then a regular acoustic version of the song. Richie’s backing vocals are what helps make this song great and he did not disappoint at all here. Speaking of acoustic, they turn “It’s My Life” in to an acoustic masterpiece. They turned the rock anthem on its ear and slowed it down and gave it a whole new feel that really made the song shine in a different light even though it took a dark turn. 

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Bon Jovi – ‘This Left Feels Right’ (2003) – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

Once the ‘Bounce’ Tour was complete, the band was ready to do a side-project. It was originally supposed to be an acoustic album of all their hits, but someone thought why not re-imagine the hits so the band re-recorded and re-constructed numerous Bon Jovi classics in to what became known as ‘This Left Feels Right’…but does it??? The album was released on November 3, 2003 and charted at #14 in the U.S. but did much better in Europe like most of their albums did. They sold over 500,000 copies in Europe, but I have no sales figures in the U.S. I know a lot of people that did not buy this album and we will soon see why.

The band had written two new songs for this project, but Jon and Company decided to drop them as one of the songs he felt didn’t send the right message to up and coming artists. The song in question was “Last Man Standing” which had Jon singing about his anger towards the music industry. The song did see the light of day as it was re-worked for the ‘Have a Nice Day’ album. The original wound up on the box set ‘100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong’ along with the other new song “Thief of Hearts”. Okay, let’s get right to this painful journey…I guess that gives away a little of how I feel about this one. Oh well…

The album opens with the classic “Wanted Dead or Alive”. It still has an acoustic feel to it, but there is a loud electronica sound bass and a horrible ass electronic drum beat that grates on my last nerve. The backing vocals are more gang style and not just Richie’s backing vocals and it is awful. Richie’s backing vocals made this song and they destroyed it by removing him. If this would’ve been the original version, the band would’ve faded away into oblivion never to be heard from again. It is simply awful.

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Bon Jovi – ‘One Wild Night Live: 1985-2001’ (2001) – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

2000 was a big year for the band with a hit new album, a live DVD and to follow it up, the band gave us their first ever live album. But don’t get your hopes up as it isn’t one show from the tour. No, I guess the Crush DVD was enough for that. Instead it is really a greatest hits compilation with live songs taken from shows from 1985-2001. So, not a true live album in my book. But I’m being petty. We do get 14 live tracks and one remixed studio track of “One Wild Night 2001”.

The songs are taken from 8 different shows and some are actually repeats as the London shows were on the Live From London DVD and The Crush Tour DVD so we’ve heard a few of the songs before. And the band has one small change during the songs. We get Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, David Bryan and Tico Torres on all the songs. But we also get Alec John Such on bass for only 2 of the songs from Tokyo back in 1985 and then Hugh McDonald on bass for the rest. And we get one special guest with Bob Geldof on one song.

The album came out on May 22, 2001 and went to #20 in the U.S., but was never certified Gold. However, the album did better around the world as Bon Jovi continues to actually be more successful in Europe then their home country where the album sold over 1,000,000 copies in Europe making it Platinum status. It went to #2 in the UK as well as several other countries including Spain, Austria and the Netherlands and to #1 in Switzerland and Belgian. Europe continued to love on Bon Jovi.

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Bon Jovi – ‘Tokyo Road: Best of Bon Jovi’ (2001) – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

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.

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Bon Jovi – ‘The Crush Tour’ (2000) – DVD Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

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.

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Bon Jovi – ‘Live From London’ (1995) – DVD Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

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.

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Bon Jovi – ‘Cross Road’ (1994) – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

After the release of their last album ‘Keep the Faith’ in 1992, the band set out on an extensive worldwide tour. They hit 37 countries while performing over 177 shows and those shows saw reached over 2.5 million people. The boys were busy and as a result of this tour, very tired. They also needed more time to work on their next album. To hold fans over, a greatest hits compilation was released by the band and the label. The album came out on October 11, 1994 and contained songs from every album including 1 from Jon’s solo album and 2 unreleased tracks. The U.S. version got a special track of Livin’ on a Prayer which had been redone and called “Prayer ’94”, however, my vinyl set of the album does not have that song.

The album was titled ‘Cross Road’ which is possible that was where the band saw themselves at. The music landscape was changing rapidly, their 80’s rock glam style was no longer popular, yet this band kept on chugging. ‘Cross Road’ sold went to #8 in the U.S. and #1 in so many country. Worldwide they sold over 21,000,000 copies as Bon Jovi was even bigger around the world than at home. The cover art was taken at a diner called the Roadside Diner and it was near the crossroads of Rout 33 and Route 34 so it was a very appropriate cover.

The one strange thing about the album was inside they had a picture of all the band’s albums including Jon’s solo album and even Richie’s solo album, but no song from Richie’s album made the set yet Jon’s did. Another prime example this was Jon’s band and even the back cover only had Jon on it. A picture says a 1,000 words I believe is the saying.

The compilation kicks off with one of their most popular songs, “Livin’ On A Prayer” off the album ‘Slippery When Wet’. It opens with a wicked bass line, finger cymbals and a talk-box. But that wasn’t all that was great about it, it is the story of Tommy & Gina in “Livin’ on a Prayer” that makes this such a great song. Jon has a way of making the songs human and easy to connect with. The everyday person with problems just like you so the songs feel personal.  The song is loosely based on Desmond and his girl-friend as she worked in a Diner, but he was a taxi driver and not working at the docks.  It was that Blue Collar feel to the song that made it resonate with so many people.  It was a time when Bon Jovi actually wrote songs that told a story that connected with people and not try to write just to make a hit. The funny thing about this one is that Jon didn’t like it, but Richie was able to convince Jon that this was a hit and it should be on the album. Thankfully for the band, it was as it went to #1 as well. Hugh McDonald who is currently the bass player for Bon Jovi in 2023, was the bass player on this song back in 1986.

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Bon Jovi – ‘Slippery When Wet’ (1986) – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

Bon Jovi had two moderately successful albums under their belt. However, they weren’t happy with the fact they weren’t superstars yet. So, changes had to be made. Not in the band line-up as it was still Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, Tico Torres, David Bryan and Alec John Such. Nope. They needed to change their approach. One of the first things they chose to do was bring someone in to help with the songs. That person was Desmond Child. Desmond didn’t try to change who the band was with the songs, but he helped refine them, make them better. Jon and Richie wrote well together, but with Desmond’s help, the songs became stories that connected with people, but first they had to record them.

To do that, they changed even more stuff. Jon was listening to Black & Blue’s album ‘Without Love’ and he loved the production of it. So, he reached out to Bruce Fairbairn and he was hired as producer..with some other cat named Bob Rock as the engineer. The band moved to Little Mountain Studios in Vancouver, Canada and the record was started. The album was finished and released on August 18, 1986 and would become a 12,000,000 selling album making it Diamond. It would spark 4 Top 40 singles of which 2 went to #1 and would see the band tour massively. They would start out the tour as an opening act, but by the end they were the headliners. The band got what they wanted and they were now Superstars!

But before we get to the music, let’s talk about the album name and cover. It was inspired by a trip to The No. 5 Orange strip club in Vancouver. The boys saw this stripper who stripped all the way down to nothing, stepped in to a shower and lathered herself all up. That was motivation for the boys to finish the album and inspired the Slippery When Wet name. One of the original names was ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ and had the boys dressed as cowboys, but that was scrapped. They did use that cover for the single though.

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Bon Jovi – “You Give Love A Bad Name” – 7″ Single

In my quest to find good homes for 7″ Singles with picture sleeve covers, I came across another Bon Jovi single. This time around it is for the song “You Give Love a Bad Name” off their mega-selling album “Slipper When Wet”. It was the first single off the album and was the band’s first #1 single and wouldn’t be their last. The song was written by Desmond Child, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora and is about a woman who has done her lover wrong. So wrong that she gives love a bad name.

An interesting note about the song is Desmond had written this song for Bonnie Tyler, but it was called “If You Were a Woman (And I Was a Man)” which had completely different lyrics. The song did poorly so he brought it to his writing session with Jon and Richie and pitched it. They completely re-wrote the lyrics and turned it in to the big hit it is today.

The single I have is the standard U.S Release which was released on July 23, 1986. The B-Side is also off ‘Slippery When Wet’ and is the song “Raise Your Hands”. The picture sleeve I have is in great shape and the vinyl is clean and sounds great. For being 36 years old, I would say it is in pretty great shape.

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