Awhile 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 Jovi has had any of the sort of albums that work well in this format. They are a band that are (justly or not) mostly known for their singles.
Now it seems (at least according to Billboard) that Jon and the boys may be considering doing this.
I still stand by my earlier assessment–the best candidate for this treatment is New Jersey, as it has the best balance of well-known singles with a strong overall album. Yes, Slippery When Wet has more of their well-known singles, but as I’ve said before, the rest of the album isn’t anywhere near as strong as the Big Three singles from it that made Bon Jovi famous. New Jersey has more Top 10 hits than Slippery, and even the filler is stronger on that album.
Unfortunately, the two albums mentioned are Slippery When Wet and Lost Highway. While Slippery When Wet wouldn’t be a bad choice, I personally think that doing a complete performance of Lost Highway is a terrible idea. While Lost Highway does have Make a Memory, which is the best ballad that the band has made since This Ain’t A Love Song, the rest of the album isn’t all that great. Plus, with that being the “country” album, I think a lot of folks turning up for a show on The Circle tour would be really disappointed if they got treated to an evening of the back tracks off Lost Highway.
I suppose that if I did get stuck at a show where the band decided to do a complete album, I’d much rather have Slippery than Lost Highway. For one, I’m really not a country girl at all. Don’t like it. And I really didn’t care that much for Lost Highway, other than Make a Memory. Also, the song that originally introduced me to Bon Jovi–Wanted Dead or Alive–is from Slippery When Wet. Granted, you get to hear Wanted at pretty much every Bon Jovi concert, so it’s not like that’s a big incentive to hear them do the entire album live. But even the lesser songs from Slippery When Wet beat Lost Highway hands down.
All told, I really think that if they’re going to do this, they should do something like the Holy Diver live CD that I have. It’s actually a two-disc set, and the concert includes all of Holy Diver–but Dio also throws in a smattering of songs from his days in Black Sabbath (Heaven and Hell) and Rainbow (Man on the Silver Mountain) to break it up. If Bon Jovi could pull off a show like that–Slippery When Wet spiced up with a few songs from The Circle and maybe a few of the covers that Richie mentions in the article–that would be awesome.
Related posts:
- Why do you go to concerts?
- Five songs I’d like to hear on the next tour
- The Circle
- The Circle Cover Art
- Springsteen to play last concerts at Giants Stadium
Tags: Bon Jovi, Dio, Holy Diver, Slippery When Wet, The Circle Tour
They did Lost Highway in its entirety on the last tour and it fell flat on its face so I don’t think Jon will be up for that again. On the other hand, The Circle in its entirety has also been mentioned by Jon and Richie and I’d be pretty happy with that but I can’t speak for anyone else.
Slippery and New Jersey are the two that IMO would work the best live for the biggest percentage of the audience. I’d love to hear Keep the Faith and These Days but Jon would probably kill himself if he tried to sing something like My Guitar or If I Was Your Mother.
If that’s the case and doing Lost Highway didn’t work before, I think Jon didn’t notice, because that was one of the albums specifically mentioned in the article. Personally, I think that The Circle wouldn’t work too well either–it’s got too many dud songs, like ‘Fast Cars’ and ‘Live Before You Die’ for me to really enjoy a complete performance of the album.
I’d honestly prefer Slippery or New Jersey. There are more songs that I enjoy on those, and I think you’re right about it working better for the audience in general.
They could always just bag the whole album concept and just stick to the high points and fan favorites. Then they could let Richie sing These Days again.
Creative Loafing Atlanta is holding a contest. Winner gets Bon Jovi Tixs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7SWYIpB60U
Please check it out. Thanks!