ALBUM OF THE WEEK #182 BON JOVI - THESE DAYS (1995)

[RJhog (Admin)]

Artist: Bon Jovi

Genre: Rock

Country Of Origin: United States

Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Member: No

Album: These Days

Producer: Peter Collins/Jon Bon Jovi/Richie Sambora

Best Songs: Hey God/This Ain't A Love Song/These Days/Damned/My Guitar Lies Bleeding In My Arms/Diamond Ring

Disclaimer:  All "facts" come from wikipedia.com unless otherwise noted.

Well, this should crash and burn like the Hindenburg before it even get's started good with my two regular listeners.  A little note about myself, I like to offer a counter point as often as possible.  Our SHT producer, Scott, posted a thread regarding albums you are thankful for earlier in the week.  And since he and Jon are the only folks that read this stuff and listen to the album offered,  here is my counter point: Albums that you are most definitely not thankful for.  I present to you the last really good Bon Jovi album (These Days).

Seriously, there is no love lost for the boys of Bon Jovi at CRB, but I liked them at one point in my life.  And this is one of the two Bon Jovi albums I'm likely to still reach for and play (7800 Fahrenheit being the other).  Personally, I think it's a very good album.  It's dark from a lyrical standpoint (which I like), although a couple of songs are previews of what this band would become as they (or Jon Bon Jovi at least) reached to become Bruce Springsteen. And Jon may occasionally get on my nerves with his vocal style, but he is outstanding on this album.  That goes for Richie Sambora as well.  Check out the riff and solo on Damned.  Anyway, that's all I have to say.

1. Hey God

2. Something For The Pain

3. This Ain't A Love Song

4. These Days

5. Lie To Me

6. Damned

7. My Guitar Lies Bleeding In My Arms

8. (It's Hard) Letting You Go

9. Hearts Breaking Even

10. Something To Believe In

11. If That's What It Takes

12. Diamond Ring

[Jon]

Oh, COME ON!

[Scott]

[Jon]

TWICE I have typed something and TWICE it's been erased.

I am four songs in, this is absolutely horrible. The singing on the first song was pure shit. And the second. And the third. And the fourth. I had a nice little rant going on with both the deleted posts and don't want to have to start all over again, which I'm kinda doing. But, this time it's shorter (for now).

Crap song, crap song, crap ballad ("YEAH!", he yells at the end of that first ballad), another ballad with the cliche of dreams in a friggin' suitcase which makes NO SENSE AT ALL WHATSOEVER. They must have had the cliched-line book available or something. 

Oh, wait....

1. Hey God, please make this album and band go away

2. Something For the Pain, like a needle in my eye? 

Holy crappers, ANOTHER CRAP BALLAD? Well, it's either a crap ballad or a crap "rocker", BJ style.

3. This Ain't A Love Song, no it's not,  it's just a sucky song

4. These Days I wish I had IBS instead of having to listen to this

5. Lie To Me, remind me again how that first song is one of the BEST songs on this album

Oh, I just remembered something from one of those deleted posts, how JBJ throws in a ton of words and has to sing it really fast in order to match up with the music. Or something like that.

Say  what? Are they getting funky? Must be, there's horns.     

6. Damned, that I am after having to listen to this.  

This last song wasn't as horrible as the others. It's not good, but it's not bad.

Hell, still have 6 more songs to go.

7. My Guitar Lies Bleeding In My Arms, and I have something bleeding in my hands, something I just tore off because it's ANOTHER SAPPY BALLAD. But hey, let's get some jazzy geetar in there, ok boys? We had horns on the last song.

Wait! WE GETTING HEAVY HERE, FOLKS. Oops, it's over. Hold on, did he just say that he couldn't write a love song even though he kinda did before yet claimed it wasn't a love song? Ok, maybe it wasn't a love song. Don't think I was paying attention to the lyrics on that song too much considering I was coming down off that "awesome" one-two punch that was the

CRAP. ANOTHER BALLAD?????????????????????????????????????????

8. (It's Hard) Letting You Go, actually not, I let you guys go after that second album. Just curious, shouldn't the song title be "It's Hard Letting You Go". Unless something else is hard. Wouldn't know, don't really care because the neighbor's dog doesn't bark like it used to? WTF? What does that mean???????????? Wow, they're trying to get really artsy with the vocalizing at the end here, aren't they? Survey Says: THEY FAIL!  

9. Hearts Breaking Even, don't have anything for this other than that it makes no sense. Nope, I got something now: Brain Frying Bad. Hey, another ballad. I'm shocked now. How cold was it? Cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold? Did I get all the "colds"?

I'm have to pause this. I'm going to go and smoke something toxic.

Damn, the player is still working.

9. Something To Believe In, like I believe this sucks on such a grandiose level that all other suckiness in the world combined can't reach this level of suckititude? Nice U2 channeling there, guys. Guess what? Another ballad! You win NOTHING! Oh yes, I now believe in hell. It's listening to this album. I need something as well, something that'll make me go deaf during the last two songs.   

10. If That's What It Takes, I guess you're talking about a sad attempt to channel U2 again at the beginning of the song? Doesn't make the song better, guys. Oh boy, ballad #3000. Didn't these guys have balls once? Not particularly big ones mind you, but didn't they used to make an attempt to play some half-assed hard rock? Now channeling The Beatles, I guess. I give up. What's the point? Will the last song redeem the album? 

11. Diamond Ring, is uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh............................I haven't had a Ring Ding in years. Probably because I didn't like them. Or Ho-Ho's. Or Ding Dongs. I did like the cherry pies, though.

I'm guessing there was a theme to this album. Guess they want chicks, but can't have chicks and they write songs to get chicks who don't want them? Was this a concept album? Is this prog?

FInally. IT'S OVER!

This was the worst album ever posted on this site. Yes, even worse than that Gene Simmons solo album. This album makes that one sound like "The Raven That Refused To Sing".  

[Scott]

[Scott]

[Scott]

Counter point?  more like counter punch!  hahahaha

In the mean time this an album my wife enjoys... now days she enjoys listening to it sans me!  I once thought this might an ok album but it just grates at you much like any other Bon Jovi album, soundstrack, song, picture, soundbyte, gif, meme, what have you!

[RJhog (Admin)]

Okay, I've had enough...I'm posting Poison next week.

[Scott]

[Gordon Williams]

No way this suxs as much as that Lou Reed/Metallica "Lulu" steaming pile of musical manure.

Having said that, I won't be buying it, but Richie Sambora is still a great guitar player. And I honestly think he sings better than JBJ does.

And I enjoyed reading Jon's post. He really digs this....