BON JOVI: THESE DAYS (1995)
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; 13) All I Want Is Everything; 14) Bitter Wine.
By the mid-1990s, they took it way too far. At least Keep The Faith still retained some
features typical of a rock'n'roll album — These
Days took its formula of ecstatic power ballads and foam-at-the-mouth
social anthems to such a hardcore conclusion that even Richie Sambora's
electric guitar sounds like a superfluous addition, used mainly to control the
high volume levels rather than melodic potential and rock'n'roll energy. The
goddamn thing is long, too — fourteen tracks that go on forever, one
demonstrative stab of one's own heart after another until you just can't help
but wonder, how much soul can one heart contain, physically?
Every song on this album is soaked in sentimentality
of the most blatant order: not even ol' Bruce himself probably could cram that
much in 73 minutes. The band did say that they were under heavy influence from
old soul and R&B records at the time, but stylistically, they sound as if
they were probably just trading influences between themselves and Aerosmith: if
Permanent Vacation sounded totally
modelled on Slippery When Wet, then These Days takes its lessons from Get A Grip — ʽThis Ain't A Love Songʼ and
ʽHearts Breaking Evenʼ in particular sound like carbon copies of ʽCrazyʼ and
ʽCryingʼ, even borrowing some of Tyler's vocal moves, let alone the total
similarity in arrangement and mood. Consequently, all of this sounds well
tested, unimaginative, and supported only by the sheer physical strength of
these guys, as if making music were in the same department as pumping iron.
As always, I make no claim about tracks like
ʽHey Godʼ or ʽSomething To Believe Inʼ lacking sincerity. Sincerity is so much
in the eye of the beholder that it is useless to speculate on how much Jon Bon
Jovi was really worried about all the
evil in the world, or on whether it is at all ethical for a millionnaire rock
star to sing songs about poverty and social injustice (it is hardly a
coincidence though, I guess, that both These
Days and Get A Grip begin with
such a song: first and foremost, the world must be shown that they really care). It is not the lack of
sincerity that bothers me — it is the «overcooking» of these products, whose
instrumental melodies never stray away from tattered alt-rock clichés, but
whose vocal execution taxes Jon's voice to an extent where he cannot pay these
taxes, yet still makes us believe that he can; check out his attempt to «gurgle»
and stay in key at the same time on
one of the "somethiiiiiing... to believe in!" of the «climactic»
chorus — anything goes to show us
just how much he cares. Who gives a damn if you're a poor songwriter? Just beat
your working class breast like nobody else.
On the other flank of the love front, the band
is now trying out an additional formula: stripped-down acoustic balladry with
Jon in weeping troubadour mode (ʽLetting You Goʼ, ʽDiamond Ringʼ). Its effect
is exactly the same, though: the songs could pass for inoffensive, unimpressive
filler if not for the DRAMA in the singer's voice that immediately converts them
into unlistenable crap. Maybe somebody like Willie Nelson could uncover the
true potential of ʽLetting You Goʼ, but this rendition carries an instantly
lethal overdose of sweetness. Just as a song with a title as pretentious as ʽMy
Guitar Lies Bleeding In My Armsʼ (a monster hybrid of ʽWhile My Guitar Gently
Weepsʼ and ʽLove Lies Bleeding In My Handsʼ, I suppose) carries an instantly
lethal overdose of TRAGEDY GLOOM DESPERATION KILL YOURSELF NOW NOW NOW. Also, "I
can't write a love song the way I feel today", he says, but then
apparently today turns into tomorrow, because the very next song is a love song. Oh well.
Occasional catchiness is the only redeeming
factor for this wreck of a record, but this time it is not enough to get it off
the hook — These Days pretends to
more seriousness than any other preceding Bon Jovi album without any musical
development whatsoever. Give me a straight, no-frills, no-pretense song like
ʽBad Medicineʼ over ʽSomething For The Painʼ any time of day: as I already
said, New Jersey had the optimal
balance between ambition and potential that these guys could ever establish for
themselves, and since then it's all been downhill, and These Days is the first Bon Jovi album where I cannot fix myself a
positive outlook even on one single song. Totally thumbs down to a band that
should have never outlived its big hair, really.
In many aspects, Bon Jovi were MTV created dinosaurs. Also U2, and ahem, yes, REM. By 1995 everyone with an ounce of taste. integrity, individualism... was sick of all of them.
ReplyDeleteI'd argue that U2 weren't really "dinosaurs" until their big "comeback" (read: throwback) album in 2000. Not that they were especially good in the '90s, but they were at least actively developing and growing; they had a vision, however misguided.
DeleteThe sentiment that "Everybody with an ounce of taste, integrity and individualism has been sick of REM for 20 years" is one of the most ridiculous comments I've read on this blog.
DeleteDear Anonymous REM fanboy,
DeleteMore precisely, 23 years of not giving shit about REM, and wondering what on earth are they doing in this business.
They aren't doing anything. They broke up years ago.
DeleteI second what the second Anonymous wrote. You see: one can dislike or even hate Bon Jovi, find U2 mostly just annoying and boring (except Achtung Baby that is), but like R.E.M. at least partially (the IRS Years mostly) and be annoyed by someone stirring those 3 totally different bands together for the sake of an argument that starts plain wrong.
DeleteThere's nothing I find more obnoxious than somebody who states their opinion on subjective things like this as if it's empirical fact, doubly so when they don't provide any reason for it and just throw it out there like the most obvious.
DeleteIf you don't like REM, fine, I really could not care less at all. I can even understand the U2 attack since they've been one of the more obnoxious and overexposed acts in the history of music and they totally get on people's nerves, no matter the quality (sometimes) of their music. But REM are the band that nobody with taste, integrity and individualism? That's where the line is drawn? Really? That's the band that you can't like without being a corporate shill or a mindless sheep who...what, blindly follows the trends of early-90's radio?
I really should not have to point out how laughably ridiculous that statement is, so I suppose I'll just continue laughing. You take life too seriously, my friend. I pity you.
Those 3 totally different mega-bands were stirred by MTV.
DeleteAnd yes, REM, like it or not became a corporate band. Warner Bros., anyone?
Anything after (and including) Green is a spiral downward in quality.
" That's the band that you can't like without being a corporate shill or a mindless sheep who...what, blindly follows the trends of early-90's radio?"
Exactly. I am sick of repeating the FM whine of "Losing My Religion" and "Shiny Happy People".
Forgot Metallica. Nirvana ended on time.
Dear Anonymous No.3,
DeleteYear 2011 is not (many) years ago. They should call it quits in 1988. Bon Jovi, too.
I have to wonder why you still read George's reviews then. Considering he's expressed enjoyment and even (*Gasp*) admiration of the hated REM, and thus must be a man lacking in taste, integrity, and individualism. I don't know why you would deign to read anything written by somebody who holds such horrific values that are so offensive to you.
DeleteAlso, I didn't realize being on a major label made you a corporate shill. I guess The Flaming Lips are just trying to suck up to Warner Bros., too.
That reminds me of one of the great ones: Joe Walsh. You Can't Argue With A Sick Mind. Not that good as an album, but what a great title :)
DeleteAnd what a sell-out, eh?
Dear Anonymous No. 5 or 6 (whatever),
Delete1. I read George for entertainment, not expecting to agree with him always. So, why not?
2. You just showed the sick consequences of admiring REM (or just anybody). That is - lack of individualism. Hiding like Anonymous; expecting that everything you read about them must be according to your POV you carved inside your brain; denying their sell-out after Document.
3. Interestingly, U2 or Bon Jovi fans are far from rabid.
Manfred,
I am not following you, what are you trying to say? You're vague, like Stipe's vocal.
George,
Feel free to remove this diarrhea thread on a fungal infection page.
"Whose vocal execution taxes Jon's voice to an extent where he cannot pay these taxes, yet still makes us believe that he can."
ReplyDeleteOr, to quote the Rev. Richard Penniman, "Don't let your voice write a check that your rhythm (read: soul) can't cash."
Hey guys, can't disagree with any of your comments, it's all that. However this album accompanied me through a tough spell in my life and I do have some fondness for it, overblown and bombastic as it is! Proof that even the biggest slice of crap (which this isn't) can still mean something to someone.
ReplyDeleteNo review of this album can be complete without a mention of the fact that the atrocious ballad "Bitter Wine" rips off (and I mean actual plagiarism here, not just a reference) a rather infamous Leonard Cohen lyric about oral sex. Gives a whole new meaning to "Bon Jovi sucks", indeed.
ReplyDelete