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27 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Get It Now!, 4 Jun 2007
Lost Highway- Nice lyrics it has to be said. The beat is constantly driving, like, well driving! The texture is great with the sliding fiddle and banjo. Bon Jovi-branded Plastic Dashboard Jesuses anyone?! However, the solo is too short, but I like the bridge. All in all not adventurous enough. Solid, though not spectacular opener. There is some nice although faint guitar work in the mix in the outro. Will be a great driving song. 7/10
Summertime- This one nicely attacks us, bringing over some aggressiveness from HAND. Some great drumming once again. Feels very much like summer, however the Who Says You Can't Go Home guitar riff is blatantly reused, although in a slightly different way to the original. 7/10
(You Want To) Make A Memory- Fantastic keyboard work. Simple but very effective. Percussion is also solid again. Harmonies between Jon and Richie are amazing. There's a constant heartbeat underpinning the whole thing, a combination of bass and percussion. Amazing build up and climax. Ending is much better than the original fadeout we heard. Richie in the outro... woo! Repetitive lyrics. 9/10
Whole Lot Of Leaving- I have not faulted the percussion up to this point and I'm not about to start by any means. Great lyrics again. Nice distortion guitar work. Nice solo into bridge once again! There's a lot of soul been poured into this one, it is obvious on listening. Effective melody variation in the last chorus. A very strong album track, although could not see it standing as a single alone, this is not much criticism. 9/10
We Got It Going On- Is there anybody out there looking for a party? We are! We have not had a good playabout Bon Jovi song since Captain Crash, but this one is astounding. The talkbox feels more natural, more like the live sound, far less sampled than in previous albums. Great fill. Love everybody! Gorgeous meaty lengthy talkbox solo. Big & Rich are not overused but nicely complement the song. I think this is the first time Richie and Jon have referred to themselves by name in the lyrics! Nice outro once again. Will be a truly stonking live act. 10/10
Any Other Day- Has to absolutely be the next single. Lyrics, beat, rhythm, guitar work, percussion, keyboard, absolutely EVERYTHING IS PERFECT. You will love this guitar solo. Richie is here and he's letting you know it! The two quarter-note slams on the distortion after 'me and you...' electrify me. Bridge is amazing once again. Did I say the solo was amazing? There's TWO SOLOS! AND THIS SECOND ONE IS LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE HEARD ON ANY 2000s BON JOVI RECORD! Your hair will stand on end! The fade out comes way too soon... we are left hungry for more, and for a proper ending. Can't wait to hear the ending live. It has to be 11/10
Seat Next To You- Sounds very much like a Jon Bon Jovi solo record, like on Destination Anywhere. The percussion and the lyrics are sweet and make you want to go aww :) Unfortunately, it is not spectacular, there isn't much guitar, and including a female backing singer (LeAnn?) sounds a bit of a cobbled together way to make it sound different. 7/10
Everybody's Broken- I think this will be a great driving song too... this for some reason reminds me of driving into the sunset. I love the bridges. Percussion once again spot on. Melody in the chorus is heartwarming. Little guitar once again, but is a solid album track. But I can't see it being good live. 7/10
Til We Ain't Strangers Anymore- So we have the first Bon Jovi song featuring another artist on the main album. The harmonies are admittedly fantastic, and it does a good job of painting a bedroom scene. Nice guitar solo and background work too. Some of the lyrics really work but some are dross 'Make love with me baby til we ain't strangers anymore' as the last main lyric does not ring true with me. And I always see fadeouts as a copout of a real ending. 7/10
The Last Night- Sounds a lot like I Am off Have A Nice Day. No guitar solo. Kind of mediocre really, although the melody is nice in places. Not adventurous. Repetitive. Overall however it does have a good thick texture, and a nice structure. Won't be good live. 7/10
One Step Closer- Immediately strikes me that this will be good live. Towards the end of the main set perhaps. Beautiful sweet lyrics and keyboard work. Warm harmonies. Great placement of the bridge. Nice last 4 bars. Redeems the back half of this album. 9/10
I Love This Town- This song has little international appeal. Strongly US-centric I feel, very twangy. However, it has to be said that this song features all of the band members nicely and so is a good way to round off the album. I hope this doesn't take up space on the set of non-US live shows or get released as a single though; strictly an album track in my opinion. As I have said already, strong guitar (including solo), percussion spot on again, keyboards nicely complement the texture. Warming backing vocals. Great ending + guitar... woo! :D 8/10
Overall- Left step on this occasion comes up trumps for the band. I put this on an equal footing with Have A Nice Day, musically as competent but lighter. Special mention must be made of Any Other Day. Without a doubt the best track on the album and one you will want to play over and over again. Back half could have been better although not quite slipping into the same mediocrity that plagued Crush and Bounce, and the front half is very strong indeed. I will say it once again. ANY OTHER DAY! Next single! Please! Now!
Overall rating- 17/20
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Jovi's got it goin on!, 12 Jun 2007
This album is what happens when the quintesential American band dabble in the most American form of music, country. Bon Jovi have always been obsessed with cowboy imagery and have finally got to the point in their career where they are able to make the images a reality. For the first time since These Days the band are not trying to fit in with current musical trends and they are playing to their two main strengths - Superb songwriting and excellent musicianship. This is probably the best amalgamation of the solo styles of Jon and Richie that they've managed so far. Jon is allowed to explore the themes and ideas he started with Destination Anywhere while being elevated to a higher plain by Richie's rootsier contributions. The results are probably the most accurate account of what Bon Jovi is about since the career high of These Days.
The overall mood of the album is more reflective (understandable given the situations some of the band members are living through at the moment) and as a result the songs are very powerful without simply being legions of distorted guitars. There has been more thought put into individual parts than is evident on other recent albums and this contributes to the depth and quality of experience. The guitar solos are back too! Richie is an outstanding guitarist and has a wonderfully expressive style which he allows out to play here. Really adds to the albums worth. Also, We got it going on features a Peter Frampton-scaring talkbox solo which makes you want to jump around with joy. The only niggle is the fact that David Bryan's keyboards remain criminally underused. He is such a massive part of their live sound and it makes little sense why he appears almost redundant on recordings.
This is just a well written, well played expose of everyday life, love and loss. But isn't that what every Bon Jovi cd has been about.
Bon Jovi have definitely still got it going on and for uplifting, heartfelt music of the highest order buy this cd now.
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12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Surprisingly Brilliant Album, 3 Jun 2007
So you might have heard that this is a country album, wrong, it's very much a classic Bon Jovi album that is simply influenced by the Nashville country scene. There's no hoedowm going on here.
LOST HIGHWAY: Very good song. Everything about it is solid and likeable. It's nothing spectacular nor is it very origional or groundbreaking but that's no big deal. It's just a solid song and a good opener. 8/10
SUMMERTIME: This is a great song that makes you smile all the way through it. It really is just a perfect summertime song that makes you wanna be out in the sunshine. The music and vocals are great. It's a strong, powerful song yet laid back at the same time. 9/10
MAKE A MEMORY: This is the first single and an absolute classic. It's one of the best ballads they've ever made. Lyrically and musically it's superb, Jon's vocals are amazing as are Richie's harmonies and it's a great example of how a ballad can be powerful without being overblown in any way. 10/10
WHOLE LOT OF LEAVIN': A really great song. The song is extremely well written. It's dark, sad and very emotive yet hopeful aswell. Musically it's a nice blend between country and rock. 9/10
WE GOT IT GOING ON: This song just doesn't do it for me. The lyrics are absolutely horrific, but they are meant to be. It's fun rock song. The lyrics combined with the music and the whole vibe of the song could've worked but it seems to lack the energy the song needs in order to work. I'm sure it will work live though, however it's easily the worst song on the album. 5/10
ANY OTHER DAY: Could this be the best song they've ever made? Very possibly in my opinion. It's absolute perfection. It must be a single and there's nothing more that needs to be said about it. 10/10
SEAT NEXT TO YOU: I love this song. I doubt it will make anybody's top 10 songs and I can see a lot of people hating it but I think it's gorgeous and they really don't do enough of these full on acoustic songs. Jon's vocals are gorgeous and another really well written song. It could've done with a nice acoustic guitar solo but it's still a very fine ballad. 8/10
EVERYBODY'S BROKEN: This is a very interesting song. It's very unique for them musically and lyrically it's superb, it's just Jon's vocals seem a bit slow. It's not that that they don't work with the song, or I don't like them, they just seem a bit weird. I do love the song though and it will probably grow on my with more listens. 9/10
TILL WE AIN'T STRANGERS ANYMORE (Duet with LeAnne Rhimes): This is another classic. Incredibley well written, beautiful music and superb vocals from both Jon and Leanne. It could've done with a longer chorus at the end but that's a minor complaint. 10/10
THE LAST NIGHT: Brilliant song. Reminds a bit of "Waiting on a Sunny Day" from Bruce Springsteen. I love Jon's vocals in the bridge at the middle, very raw and powerful. Great chorus and great lyrics. I don't even mind that there's no solo. 9/10
ONE STEP CLOSER: Another superb song. Once again, brilliant lyrics with a very interesting melody and a great vocal from Jon. 9/10
I LOVE THIS TOWN: I love this song so much. It's the perfect song to close the album and a great salute to what inspired this album. Cathcy as hell too, and what a cool solo. It's the most overtly country song on the album and it's no bad thing at all. 9/10
The live versions of Make a Memory and Lost Highway are rather brilliant too.
I'm just absolutely blown away by this album. I'm not a hater of country music, nor am I a fan, and I never expected the album as good as this. But as I said earlier, it's not a country album. There's only one or two songs that you could say are country songs, and even those are pretty mild. Lyrically it's the best album since Destination Anywhere and maybe, save for We Got it Going On, the most well written album they've made. It is quite reminiscent of that mid-to-late ninties era and although Richie doesn't have a song where he lets loose a-la Dry County the solos are very much back. It's nice that they're not just just riffs but proper intricate, interesting solos.
It's really well produced too. It doesn't sound laden with technology at all. It actually sounds like a live recording almost, and since Jon sings well within himself for the most part I assume this album will come off superbly well live.
The best song is undoubtedly On Any Other Day, and many of the songs I rated as 8's and 9's will probably be growers too. I'm honestly shocked, I never thought that I'd find that this album can easily sit alongside the classic four: Keep The Faith, These Days, Destination Anywhere and Have A Nice Day.
5 stars without a doubt.
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