I remember when Bon Jovi really hit the music scene in 1986 even though I was just a teen. To this day I remember my brother coming home and he had mentioned that he heard this song called "Wanted Dead Or Alive" playing on the radio. His exact words to me were "these guys are going to be big". Of course he ran out and purchased the album "Slipper When Wet" and I have been a Jovi fan ever sense. To me, this was just another group that hit it big in the mid-80's and another reason why I say the 80's was the best decade for all around music. They always had a rather unique style about them. Not as fast, or hard, as other 80's rock bands and not slow enough to put them in another genre. They have a little of everything so they appeal to a wide variety of listeners.
This Bon Jovi "greatest hits" album mainly consists of songs off their "Slipper When Wet (1986)" and "New Jersey (1988)" albums which is a good thing. There are two songs from "Keep The Faith (1992) and just one song each from their first two albums. The album was released before the rule that they had to have at least two unreleased songs on a "greatest hits" album. However, there are two songs that make their way on here that were not released on an album of theirs. "Blaze of Glory" from the movie Young Guns and a nice acoustic remake of the the song Livin' on a Prayer. They just changed the name to "Prayer '94". If you liked the first two albums I mentioned then you should really enjoy this album all together.
John Bongiovi (Jovi) has a clear voice with just a enough scratch to it that he can sing slow and fast. You can always here that slight scratch at the end of his notes no matter what and when he wants to be faster and get more forceful you can here more of a that same scratch. However, when he wants to sing slow and more smoothly he definitely can as well. He just always had to be careful not to try and stretch his voice out when it came to fast songs and not hit notes for too long in the slower songs. To me, this album shows off his true voice to perfection. He will never go down as one of the best voices but, he is still recording and singing today for a reason. I just always had wished the band had stuck together and never went their separate ways so we could have even more great music as in this "greatest hits" album. No matter what, there is 14 excellent tracks here that even today would stand with the best of em' out there.
Fast Tracks: Since I am more of a rocker when it comes to music I always like to start with the songs that get my blood pumping and head rocking. Still, this album has a fine mixture of fast, medium, and slow tracks. The song that originally got me to like their music was the western/rock song "Wanted Dead Or Alive". This is a very unique song from the very beginning with some very distinctive acoustic guitar that just sticks in your head for hours after to listen to it. One of the songs that started this very rare and hard to accomplish blend between the two genre's. You get the softer acoustic country style in the beginning and the end but, in the middle it is all rock. It is a perfect blend and comes with some excellent lyrics and background vocals. Just one of those songs that takes pure guts to attempt but, when done right, it becomes a song for generations. There are two excellent songs on this album that for some reason, are uniquely related to me, and they are"Livin' on a Prayer" and You Give Love A Bad Name". By related I mean, they both just do the same to me when I listen to them and that's just makes my legs go up and down, head and body sway back and forth, and just puts me in a better mood when I listen to them no matter what. I feel the same way about two Scorpion songs "Rhythm Of Love" and No One Like You". These two Bon Jovi songs vary quite different when it comes to lyrics and meaning (both are great though) but, it's the rhythm, beat, and guitar play that are related. "Livin' on a prayer" is about love and the tings you will do to stay together while, "You Give Love A Bad Name" is exactly about what the song title implies. Still, both have great rhythm's, excellent beats, well thought out lyrics, and excellent guitar play. Both are at the top of my list of Bon Jovi songs and would make a top 50 rock songs list to me.
Bon Jovi even turned it up a notch with a fast rock song titled "Bad Medicine". As I mentioned before about Jovi needing to be careful not to push his voice to fast, he stays in that safe range here. Although the music is fast from start to finish (even with a little acoustic organ to start with), he keeps his tone down a notch to stay within his range. Of course, this song shows how scratchy his voice if pushed, and a couple of notes get there when he screams more than sings, it doesn't hurt the song at all. It has a fast catchy beat right from the start, with a couple a quick and solid guitar solo in the mix. The two parts that stand out the most are the use of "puns" in the lyrics and the fact you can't help but sing along with every note. This maybe not their best work but, it was a good addition. The last two of the faster songs that never really stood out to me. However, "Lay Your Hands On Me" is not a bad song. It just has some serious faults. The beginning they slowly work into the song with some screaming of, "hey" or "lay"I can't tell, and beat of drums is way to long. This beginning lasts for 2 minutes and had me turning it off the first few times I heard it. When I did finally listen to the whole thing, there is just nothing unique about it. It has an pretty good fast electric guitar rhythm but, nothing else. for a 6:00 minute song It has just 2 choruses and the lyrics themselves are just all right. Out of all of the good songs here, this is one you will probably just seek through here the next song "You Give Love A Bad Name". The last of the faster songs is In And Out Of Love" off their second album. Just one of those songs that seemed unfinished to me as if it was just thrown together at the end. Gives me a feeling they had an idea for a song, worked hard on it, just never got it right but never wanted all of that time spent to goto waiste. It has a faster rhythm which why I mention it in this section, just is the same song over and over till it ends. Still, the good songs out weigh the bad when it comes to their faster side.
Slow Tracks These guys have one of my favorite romantic tracks in I'll Be There For You which is definitely on this album. It's slow pace, great use of quick drum solos, good use of when and where to use the electric guitar, strong verses, and excellent lyrics is what puts this one high on my charts. The song just has no faults that I can find and I if you like romantic songs at all, I can't imagine you not liking this one. A song you just don't hear people really talk about much, if they are speaking about Jovi, is Always. However, this is a very strong slow song that I really like. It is mainly done with soft vocal tone, nice piano play, and a nice slow soft drum beat. The song has always stood out to me also because of it's well thought out and meaningful lyrics. Everything is rolled up into a very nice slow romantic song that can get you thinking after it is over. Another soft track that I may not like as much as the previous two but, deserves to be here is Bed Of Roses. It has a little faster beat and rhythm and he puts a little more power into the verses than he does in most of his songs. This is what hurts it a little to me, he tries to a little to much into the high notes which makes him sound a little distorted. Still, the song has more of that nice soft piano in the background, changes from being soft and slow to faster from verse to chorus well, and overall is a welcome addition to the album. The lyrics are all right just nothing that really stands out in them. My one complaint about this song would be the vocals on the higher stronger notes which he uses quite often in the choruses. Still, I'm sure a lot of people would still really enjoy this song that likes Bon Jovi and I don't hate it myself.
Notable Tracks A song that really stands to me is a remade version of Livin' on a Prayer titles Prayer '94. If you like the original, I'm sure you will also like this version as well. It is more of an acoustic version starting with just drums and a soft guitar twang in the background. The lyrics are the same but, the tone is much different as he sings them much softer to match the rhythm and volume of the music. There is a nice solid guitar solo tossed in as well. In all, this is a great song that has a very catchy style to it. Another was the very popular song Blaze Of Glory from the movie Young Guns. This is where they try that rock/country style again for the movie Young Guns. And again, they nailed it perfectly. This is an excellent song from the begging as it starts right off with that country style twang acoustic guitar along with some nice electric guitar that play together. Jovi's voice varies quite of bit in this song as he hits quit a few different ranges. His voice does crack somewhat on the higher stronger notes but, that fits perfect with this kind of country/rock style song. The song stays pretty straight from start to finish with a lot of changes. The verses are slower and softer as the choruses are faster and stronger. The lyrics are just fine and fit the movie well. Even if you haven't seen the movie, the lyrics fit that cowboy theme well. One of my favorite songs on the album just due to how unique it sounds when you try for the country and rock sound together. Again, it is done very well.
Conclusion: This album offers quite a wide variety of different styles of music. Whether you like rock, soft rock, romantic, or even country there is a little of something in here for you. Unless your particular taste in music is none of these above, I would recommend you giving this album a listen too. The production of the entire album is good and there was only a couple of songs that I found myself changing the volume. This was only because I couldn't quite hear a couple songs as well as I would have liked. Still, it was nothing that was too bad and I would rather have to turn a song up than have it blast when it firsts starts out. There are some questionable songs on this album that could bring it down to some. However, I feel the good songs really help out weigh the bad as there is some great music here. I feel it is a solid 4 1/2 stars out of 5 and a very worthy album for anyone to at least give a listen.
Thank you for reading.
Favorite Verse: "I'll be there for you These five words I swear to you When you breathe, I want to be the air for you I'll be there for you I'd live and I'd die for you Steal the sun from the sky for you Words can't say what a love can do I'll be there for you"
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