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Album Review : Bon Jovi – ‘Forever’

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Review by Paul Monkhouse for MPM

Life’s been a bit of a rollercoaster ride for Bon Jovi recently, issues with Jon’s voice having set certain parts of YouTube alight as concert footage of the clearly struggling singer was posted on a regular basis.

Fortunately, the problems were addressed and after some surgery an obviously invigorated band headed back to the studio with a new passion, the response to their last opus ‘2020’ somewhat lukewarm due to its disappointingly flat nature. Having been in the business for forty-one years now, most of it as a global dominating stadium filling act, they’d seen and done it all but seemingly determined to not tarnish their reputation a lot was pinned on this new album and it’s good to say that it delivers.

The early 80’s hair metal days may be long behind them but what we see now is a Bon Jovi who have grown into their collective skins, happily becoming veterans of the scene rather than an act desperate to relive the glory days of old. It may not have the urgency and excitement of ‘Slippery When Wet’ or ‘New Jersey’ but what ‘Forever’ glories in is good old fashioned rock ‘n’ roll and storytelling, Bon Jovi’s voice no longer imbued with the sparky bounce of youth but instead enjoys a rich warm and gritty gravitas. Having outlived and outperformed all of their contemporaries of that time, any taking their foot off the gas has been truly routed now and the twelve tracks on this new release see the band back doing what they do best, reclaiming their crown.

A sense of celebration runs through ‘Forever’ and it’s not just one to acknowledge their four decades but of all the richness of life. Whilst the titles of ‘Legendary’ and ‘We Made it Look Easy’ may appear to be cocksure boasting on first glance, the joy is infectious and captures the bonhomie of their stadium shows. As the old saying says, “you can take the boy out of New Jersey, but you can’t take the New Jersey out of the boy” and in this latter track and others sprinkled throughout there’s more of a Springsteen feel than the sugar rush of numbers like ‘You Give Love a Bad Name’. This isn’t to say that they’ve left the huge chorus days behind as rockers like ‘Living Proof’, ‘Seeds’ and ‘The People’s House’ crackle with that old energy.

The songwriting and playing throughout is excellent and it’s nice to see Phil X continue to stamp his own mark way out of the shadow of Richie Sambora, his classy solos throughout walking the sensitive line between blistering and tasteful. Highlights are many but the evocative, all friends together kicking back on a Friday night feel of ‘Waves’ and ‘My First Guitar’ with its almost Elton John in the 70’s feel are some of the best. As well as highs, the album dips on throwaway numbers like the heartfelt but slightly mawkish saccharine of ‘Kiss the Bride’, a song destined to soundtrack a thousand weddings, and the bland ‘I Wrote You a Song’, neither of which attain the heady heights of material like ‘Bed of Roses’.

It’s a minor quibble though as the rest of the album is the return to form that the world had been waiting for and with the big stadium rocker ‘Living in Paradise’ and wonderful slow burn of closer ‘Hollow Man’ the band show that they’re far from out and ready to retire yet. It’s great to have them back and ‘Forever’ is their finest album for years. See them back filling stadiums soon.

BON JOVI: FOREVER – track listing

  1. Legendary
  2. We Made It Look Easy
  3. Living Proof
  4. Waves
  5. Seeds
  6. Kiss The Bride
  7. The People’s House
  8. Walls Of Jericho
  9. I Wrote You A Song
  10. Living In Paradise
  11. My First Guitar
  12. Hollow Man

FOLLOW BON JOVI:

BONJOVI.COM

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