These Days [Enhanced] [Original recording remastered]

The production on These Days is superb, down to Jon and Richie with Peter Collins (who should also be thanked for Always), creating a feeling of warmth and familiarity as some of the bands greatest songs ooze out of the speakers and impress themselves on your memory.

The rockier tracks have greater edge than before, such as the opener "Hey God" in which Jon questions life in the nineties and Richie's guitar howls in pain as he strangles its neck, or the surging "Something For The Pain" that follows and became a classic Bon Jovi track.And then there's the swinging, balls-out tune "Damned" which features the Astbury Dukes' horn section joining in the fun.

Of course there's the ballads, it wouldn't be a Bon Jovi album otherwise, but here there are ballads which have rarely been so heartfelt and true, the ache in Jon's voice on the hit "This Aint A Love Song" and "Lie To Me" is about as emotional as he's ever sung. Not to mention the atmosphere created on "It's Hard Letting You Go" (originally written as a thank - you to the producers of Moonlight and Valentino) created by Jon on keyboards and featuring only Jon and Richie.

Later Bon Jovi albums have featured story songs of epic proportions (Keep The Faith's superb "Dry County")and These Days is no exception,with the brilliant title track bringing to mind Springsteen, as does the majority of the album, while the bluesey, jam-like "Bleeding In My Arms" is a stroke of genius.

The variety and quality of this album stand testament to the bands versatility and excellence. This is more than a mere album, its more than a Bon Jovi album, its a work of art that will stand the test of time.

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The album opens with Hey God and features a line we've all probably used at some point or another in our lives, "Hey god, do you ever think about me?". It's quite a fiery song for Bon Jovi but it opens the album on a high and is a decent hard rock song.

The album then goes from strength to strength. My Guitar Lies Bleeding In My Arms is a stunningly dark track that is incredible to listen to. This is followed immediately by the awesome It's Hard (Letting You Go), a quiet track that is quite experimental for the band and deviates from their usual sound.

There are some ballads on here of course, such as Lie To Me and Hearts Breaking Even. The album finishes with the beautifully relaxing Bitter Wine. You'll be pleased to know that every song is worth listening to on this album, which is something of a rarity (think how many albums you listen to from start to finish without skipping a single track - I bet there aren't that many!).

There is one track that appears to have been clipped from this remastered release. On my copy of the album, All I Want Is Everything is nowhere to be found. I'm sure it was on the original 1995 release but on the remastered copy it has been replaced by an enhanced CD-ROM music video for These Days. Personally, I would rather have an extra track as opposed to a grainy CD-ROM music video. Maybe this was a weak link on the album and it was decided to remove it. I've not had the opportunity to hear All I Want Is Everything so I can't say whether the song was any good or not.

Overall, despite that one criticism, this is an incredible album. In my opinion, this is the best Bon Jovi album ever released and one of the best rock albums of the past 10 or so years. It's hard to think this album is now a decade old! It really is one of the best albums I have ever had the pleasure of hearing and I would recommend it to anyone.

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