I stand corrected. For some reason, I expected the new Bon Jovi material to be mellow. Maybe it’s because I was confronted with a picture of a - what I considered to be impossible - fully grey haired Jon Bon Jovi, sometime last year. It was very shocking. It was just one of those moments in which you realize someone has reached different phase of life. And, in some way, I expected a change; a new phase.
Bon Jovi’s last album release hardly got promoted, because their contract was ending with their long term record company and negotiations were rough, to say the least. In fact, Bon Jovi used their last recordings to really speak their mind about the label and I’m still not sure how that ended up getting the label’s approval to even make it on a record.
But for Bon Jovi, it was time to move on and the strategy of Island Records is to bring back some of that classic Bon Jovi sound. “This House Is Not For Sale” is the first single released from the upcoming album, by the same name, due for release on October 21st.
To me, the song reminds me of the “It’s My Life” era, but I can’t really put my finger on why that is so. I’ve always thought that “Keep The Faith” was probably their most creative phase, whilst their early days was probably their peak. But “Keep The Faith” (the song) was pretty different from the rest of their repertoire and they managed to bring a new energy to their usual sound throughout that album. “It’s My Life” was more predictable, but they still had it. After, I feel their light faded a little.
We have a saying in Dutch that says (freely translated): “a change of spices creates appetite.” Bon Jovi changed labels, two unofficial band members have become official members and it’s their first album since the departure of Richie Sambora. In short, there’ve been enough changes to rejuvenate the band, and I think it worked.
The new song is catchy, it sounds familiar in the typical Bon Jovi sound and they’ve clearly listened to dance music because there’s a bit in this song that reminds me of “This Is What It Feels Like” by Armin van Buuren. That said, I’m not sure if this song will put Bon Jovi on the map, but then again, it did get me to reconnect with the band…..
