Bon Jovi - This House is Not For Sale
Cards on the table time. I like
Bon Jovi. I've always liked
Bon Jovi ever since hearing
Tokyo Road from the 1985 album
7800° Fahrenheit. For my money they were the best live band i've ever seen circa 88-96, but for some reason they lost their way following 1995's
These Days album.
Something happened in the five years leading up to next album 2000's
Crush and the band seemed to be coasting along albeit on a seemingly ever popular wave. With subsequent albums they didn't feel vital anymore and i had no urgency to race out to buy them on release day as had been the case in the past. Yes the big singles were always present even if they failed to chart due to ****ing about with the singles charts but the big chorus, big ballad anthems seemed stale.
However with Jon Bon Jovi's side kick and song writing partner the seemingly indispensable Richie Sambora long gone and new boy Phil X promoted from touring band to full time band member,
Bon Jovi sound revitalized anew and fresh.
This House is Not For Sale is a big album. The deluxe version i have is home to 17 new slabs of prime
Bon Jovi and having listened to it through twice on headphones i can say not a single track of the 17 is filler. The 5 exclusive songs are as accomplished and vital as the opening title track and i'd even say
We Don't Run (#15) is the best song on the album although i'm sure New Yorkers will disagree as closing rocker
Goodnight New York is guaranteed to end the live set in said city.
From the off the music sounds relevant and vital (at least as vital as
Bon Jovi have ever been) The self titled opener has had a lot of airplay and videos are appearing for many of the albums songs. Back in the 80's 7 singles were released from
Def Leppard's seminal
Hysteria album, they could easily do the same thing here. The albums mid section of
Roller Coaster,
New Years Day and
The Devil's in the Temple power along, in fact the whole album is seemingly built for sold out stadiums the world over.
This House is Not For Sale is
Bon Jovi's best album since
Keep the Faith. Give it a go, you won't be disappointed.