Bon Jovi

Japanese edition of 2001 live compilation includes two booklets, one eight-page booklet with color & black & white photos & a second 44 page booklet with lyrics to all 15 tracks & a list of Bon Jovi's tour dates from 1983 to 2001, including Jon Bon Jovi &

Japanese only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD - playable on all CD players) pressing includes two bonus tracks. Universal. 2008.

What does a wildly successful purveyor of ‘80s big hair power ballads do in an ensuing decade dominated by fervent shoe-gazing and other attendant alt.cliches? If you’re Jon Bon Jovi, you scale back your band’s ambitions, retool yourself as surprisingly accomplished indie film and TV actor, and (mostly) wait for the pop music tides to turn in your favor again. But JBJ and guitarist/collaborator Richie Sambora didn’t let their band’s lukewarm ‘90s fortunes dampen their knack for hook-savvy songcraft, as this muscular anthem-fest argues at virtually every turn. BJ’s songs here may be as infectious as ever, yet they’re seldom mere confections, often infused with alternating doses of bracing cynicism (the title track’s sarcastic riposte to the ’04 election) and reflective, often bittersweet takes on histories both personal and otherwise. If it sometimes stoops to formula--the droning, metallic ethos of the obligatory big ballad "I Am" can’t overcome some equally perfunctory lyrics–it’s also an album with its share of warm surprises, be they unexpected nods to Dylan ("Last Man Standing," the acoustic idealism of "Bells of Freedom"), the hard-edged "I Want to Live" or a winning duet with Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles, "Who Says You Can’t Go Home." Bon Jovi may deliver a sonically burnished triumph here by largely going back to the future--yet does it with one ear crucially cocked towards the anxious energy of the recent past. -- Jerry McCulley

Thanks to Slippery When Wet, Bon Jovi procured the sort of world domination dreamt of by demented European dictators and Bond villains--at which point the band decided that they didn't really want to rule the planet. Though New Jersey contains several Jovi stadium anthems, including the single "Bad Medicine," and though the album's videos showed that the intricately layered and feathered coiffures were intact, this is where Bon Jovi began changing. The title offers a broad hint as to what Jon Bon Jovi in particular was trying to change into: short of renaming the album I Come from the Same Place as Bruce Springsteen, he could scarcely have been more obvious about his intentions. "Living in Sin," indeed, takes Bon Jovi's increasing obsession with Springsteen to the verge of pastiche. --Andrew Mueller

First of all, hats off to Bon Jovi for trying something different with This Left Feels Right--a selective collection of their most popular songs with a twist. That twist isn't a purely acoustic reworking, MTV unplugged style--anybody looking for that experience will be sorely disappointed by what's on offer. What Bon Jovi have done is re-record these songs in a completely different way while maintaining the original lyrics, melody and song structure. What's different then? Well, quite a bit actually. Check out the almost trip-hop beat and distorted vocal of "Wanted Dead or Alive", or the lazy soul of "Livin' on a Prayer". "It's My Life" is a beautiful piano-only standout, almost worth having the whole album for.

The tracklisting isn't perfect, concentrating largely on their 1980s period (there's nothing from These Days, for instance). As such, the venture works as an effective cheese-extraction exercise, keeping the elements that made the originals so great, but removing shouty, hairspray-fuelled "whoa-yeahs". What we get is something that is closer to Jon Bon Jovi's last solo offering--the criminally underrated Destination Anyway. It doesn't always work ("Bed of Roses" just sounds like a warbling cover of the powerful original and by the time they reach "Always" it's obvious they've run out of new twists), and no doubt there will be legions of bemulleted faithfuls who will denounce this as blasphemy of the highest order. Sure, it's probably just record-company filler, but it's a worthwhile investment and you won't be embarrassed to have it on when your mates come round. --Cortman Virtue

"Artistic freedom made this record possible," says Jon Bon Jovi. "Musical freedom to explore--and emotional freedom to express what was in our hearts."

The result of that freedom is Lost Highway, an album Jon describes as "a Bon Jovi record influenced by Nashville."

Bon Jovi explains. "Nashville is all about songs and songwriters. If you're someone like me who loves songs and hanging out with songwriters, Nashville is the place. I thrive on that feeling and I'm inspired by that creative ambience."

The result, a haunting set of 12 new and original sounding songs, is a stunning, multi-layered look into the nature of love and life in all its glory. Love, like life, is lost, found, forgotten and reclaimed in this collection.

The moods are many, but the core feeling is pure Bon Jovi.

"Writing this record with Jon was deeply cathartic," says Richie Sambora, who collaborated on ten of the songs. "I was going through emotional changes that were new for me. An ailing father. A painful divorce. The start of a new chapter in my life. I poured everything I had into this project, every last bit of soul at my command."

"For over twenty years now," Jon explains, "Richie and I have been close collaborators. Even when our songs create fictional stories, they reveal our states of mind. To a large degree, Lost Highway focuses on the light that love brings. When you shine the light on love, you see the chinks in the armor. You see every crevice, every crack. And that's all right".

Lost Highway is Bon Jovi's tenth studio album since the band formed in the early eighties. One hundred and twenty million albums and 2500 concerts in over 50 countries later, Bon Jovi is enjoying the greatest popularity in their history.

The CD Slide Pack is a New Form of No-frills CD Packaging featuring an Outer Slipcase with the Original Cover Artwork, and an Inner 'slider' Including a CD. Note: There is No CD Booklet in this Package.

Slippery When Wet transformed Bon Jovi from minor-league poodle rockers to global superstars on the back of hit singles "You Give Love a Bad Name," "Never Say Goodbye," and, of course, "Living on a Prayer." From the scantily clad car-wash girls on the inner sleeve to the "You lost more than that in my back seat / Yeah!" lyrics, the album is blissfully untouched by irony and subtlety, which actually adds to its charm. With guitarist Richie Sambora and songwriter Desmond Child, Jon Bon Jovi has produced a slew of consistently memorable tunes, and this album contains its fair share of them. Slippery When Wet won't change your world, but it will, undoubtedly, rock it. --Ronita Dutta