Sorry that this is running so late. I meant to write this during my lunch, but things got hectic and I didn’t get time to log in and write up a review of the song.
Unfortunately the first thing that I notice out of the gate is that the bass of this song sounds exactly like Livin’ On A Prayer. The problem is that it immediately inspires a comparison between the two songs, and Work for the Working Man comes off poorly in comparison to its elder sibling in the Bon Jovi catalog. I’ve tried to give it a fair shake and try to evaluate it on its own merits, but all I can hear in this song is Prayer.
The two songs aren’t all that different; they both have the same theme and make the same point, more or less. However, Prayer makes it point with more subtlety and renders the plight of the ‘working man’ much easier to relate to. In comparison to the heartfelt plight of Tommy and Gina, Work for the Working Man comes off ham-handed and makes its point with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer blow.
However, on the good side, this song does come closer to delivering the classic Bon Jovi sound that was promised. It has a great chorus, which seems to be made for singing along in big arenas. If that’s not the hallmark of the true ‘Bon Jovi sound’ I don’t know what is.
Related posts:
- Work for the Working Man
- Bullet (album track)
- Superman Tonight (album track)
- Live Before You Die (album track)
- Thorn in My Side (album track)
Tags: Bon Jovi, politics, The Circle
[...] Work For The Working Man [...]