Artist: Bon Jovi
Album: These Days
These Days was the last Bon Jovi album that I got. I actually received it as a birthday present a few hours before I went to see Bon Jovi live for the first time at the Prudential Center in November of 2007, and didn’t have time to listen to it before I left.
As it turned out, I had the honor of hearing Richie perform These Days live at the concert. Maybe because I heard Richie sing it before I heard the original version, Richie’s take on the song still colors how I hear it, and I still to this day think that Richie’s live version is superior to the original. I was highly disappointed at the Wachovia Center a few months later when Richie sang I’ll Be There For You instead.
All that aside, These Days is on of Bon Jovi’s best songs, both musically and lyrically. Jon’s voice is pretty much at its peak of power and strength here. The lyrics are beautiful and powerful, with extremely strong imagery. This song is an excellent example of how Bon Jovi adapted to the changing musical tastes of the 1990s without losing the lyrical strength that distinguished them from the meaningless unmelodic screamers of grunge.
In a lot of ways, the death of hair metal did Bon Jovi a favor; it allowed Jon and Richie to showcase the full range of their songwriting and vocal abilities. It wasn’t until Keep The Faith and These Days that Bon Jovi could break out of the party band mold and show just how much they were capable of. As the song These Days shows, they’re capable of quite a lot.
Related posts:
- These Days live in Edinburgh
- Random Song: Captain Crash & The Beauty Queen From Mars
- Random Song: Always Run to You
- Random Song: Secret Dreams
- Random Song: Hell Is Living Without You
Tags: Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, These Days
My favorite song from These Days is Something for the Pain. I used to listen to this CD when driving to college everyday (45 min. one way). I have all of these songs memorized! Lots of memories…