subject: A Review Of Bon Jovi's Greatest Hits [print this page] Whether someone was introduced to Bon Jovi during its hair band days, its more sophisticated adult contemporary era, or through the opening credits of Discovery Channel shows, its easy to understand the appeal of the bands catchy hooks and heavy beat. With a career spanning more than 25 years, the members of Bon Jovi have done well for themselves, and their new greatest hits collection is a reflection of that.
Bon Jovi found their niche early on in rock anthem tributes and power ballads. From Livin On A Prayer to Its My Life, their songs are on the edge of inspirational, holding short of saccharin.
Even though the songs on Bon Jovis Greatest Hits span 1983 to the present, its hard to hear the difference in the songs years from a production standpoint. It retains a timeless quality, perhaps because 80s clichs, strange synths and over-the-top guitar solos, barely creep into just two of the tracks, Bad Medicine and Born To Be My Baby. The only song truly hair-band, cringe-worthy track is the bands first hit, Runaway. Even so, its forgivable because the bands true voice still comes through, and its still a good tune... and historically speaking, it was significant to their future success.
The only departure from their heavy sound in the one-disc version of Greatest Hits is the country-inspired Who Says You Cant Go Home, a duet with Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland. It sounds a bit out of place next to the rest of the hard rock collection, but this charted better than its rock version, hence its inclusion.
For total fans, the Ultimate Version of Bon Jovis Greatest Hits includes a second disc with songs that, while not chart toppers, include some of the bands best work. These include more country sounds such as Lost Highway, the mellow (You Want To) Make A Memory, and more hard-driving rock in Keep The Faith.
The only place this album lets down the listener is the new, never-before released numbers.
The lone standout amongst the new tracks is This Is Love This Is Life on the second disc of Bon Jovis Ultimate Collection. This track is as hard-hitting an anthem as any of Bon Jovis best, worthy of becoming a single with the bands signature lyrics and beat married perfectly.
Disc twos other new song is The More Things Change, which is schizophrenic in nature. The opening notes set the listener up for more hard rock, but then deliver a bit of a country or southern rock tune about how things in the music business today are the same as they were when the band started, by listing things that have changed in the past few years. The message there seems muddled.
The new songs on disc one are What Do You Got? and No Apologies. Both are decent tunes, but No Apologies sounds like it would be more at home on a Meat Loaf record than here.
Overall, though, fans new and old cannot deny the staying power of a band that survived the backlash of 80s metal and has kept going through the years with very few changes to its sound. Good music always has staying power, and Bon Jovis Greatest Hits is good music, no matter the decade. Its worth a good close look.
by: BigPond Music
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