Lately there has been a trend among a lot of rock bands to play complete albums in concert, especially on the anniversary of the original release. Judas Priest recently performed British Steel in its entirety in concert, and I have a live recording of Dio’s Holy Diver.
The 25th anniversary of Slippery When Wet is coming up soon, and it occurred to me that that would be the perfect time for Bon Jovi to join this trend. The 25th is a big anniversary, and Slippery When Wet is the album that made the band famous.
The problem is that Slippery When Wet is mostly known for containing three separate, very famous songs. It isn’t quite the same as British Steel, where the album as a whole is the iconic entity. While everybody knows Prayer, Wanted and Bad Name, the rest of the songs on the album aren’t anywhere near as well known.
Obviously, serious Bon Jovi fans know that the rest of the album is excellent, not just the three iconic songs that it contains. However, songs like Let It Rock and Never Say Goodbye are pretty much unknown to more casual fans. While a performance of the entire album would be a gift to the hardcore fans, everybody else would probably be sitting around scratching their heads and wondering what happened to It’s My Life.
Also, I would prefer hearing all of New Jersey performed live instead, and I suspect most of the hardcore fans would have the same preference. (That, or These Days, which would be really offputting for casual fans!) It doesn’t have the name recognition that Slippery When Wet does, and we’d have to wait a few more years for its 25th, but it does have more of the band’s hits on it, even if they aren’t as famous as the Big Three. I suspect New Jersey would work better as a whole-album performance.
Either way, I don’t see Bon Jovi doing it. Their current concert lineup works well for them, even if it does get tiresome for the fans that attend a lot of concerts. Doing all of Slippery When Wet would shake things up a bit too much.
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- The A.V. Club Suggestions for Star Wars: In Concert
- Live concert stream on Sunday 4/11/10
- Bruce at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concert
- Bon Jovi DLC for Rock Band
Tags: Bon Jovi, Slippery When Wet
[...] ago, I discussed the possibility of Bon Jovi doing some full album concerts. At the time, I didn’t think that it was likely, because I really didn’t think that Bon [...]