So Jon Bon Jovi is all about ‘burning bridges’ in the twilight of his career. He’s burning Richie Sambora and he’s burning Mercury Records. And he’s using big words like integrity…but where is the integrity in throwing together some half-assed compilation of B (more like D) material and expecting fans to lap it up?
And right there is the third factor in the equation. With this album JBJ is so desperate to stick it to the man, he’s also burning fans. Fans that expect and deserve better.
This is supposed to be a contractual obligation album to free JBJ Inc and Irving Azoff to figure out a new paradigm to pillage the fan base, but having been burned by this release, how many will return for another dose in 2016?
The law of bad albums affects an artist in two ways – first word gets out that a turd has been delivered and it subsequently underperforms. But those fans that did purchase will now be far more weary next time around, meaning the following album could be a masterpiece, but no one may be left listening. So Jon, screw the fans if you must, but get ready for return fire.
The other absolutely disgraceful thing about this album is the shitty packaging for the CD. A plain single page cover and bare tray card offering zero information or lyrics or an apology from Jon for taking your money. Disgraceful.
The only remotely interesting track is the uptempo modern rocker We Don’t Run, which frankly is something we have all heard before and is hardly essential.
There are some absolutely dreadful songs on this “release”. Truly self-indulgent, slow, emotionless dross.
It may be fashionable to criticize recent Bon Jovi outings, but this takes it to a new level. This makes The Circle seem like Sgt Peppers.
It starts slow, ends slow and is slow in the middle. This is a record without life. Without energy. Without any artistic integrity.
For many years Bon Jovi shat gold nuggets, but this is without any doubt whatsoever, a giant lump of turgid dog shit.
I’m off to play the new Iron Maiden to clear out my ears.
BON JOVI have walked from their decades long association with Mercury Records. JBJ talked to Billboard about the departure, which you can read below.
But taking a look at recent developments, here's my little cobbled together theory.
Bon Jovi has long been run as a family business. Jon's signing to Irving Azoff Management suggests to me that Jon is looking at the end game now. Azoff does not do small. Azoff only does big, or bigger. So this to me looks like a partnership designed to ensure the most amount of money possible can be extracted from the remaining years of BON JOVI.
My guess is that Azoff has gone to Mercury with a deal in mind and the label has rejected it based on the lack of Richie Sambora involvement. So the guys walk, delivering a final studio album that's really cobbled together with little effort and no real passion. 10 tracks, mainly leftovers (for good reason) and a really shitty physical product with no liners, no pictures, no nothing. 'Burning Bridges' indeed...
So be on the look out for a new mega-deal that someone will swallow encompassing a huge worldwide tour, that 'great' new studio album Jon has already spoken of and a merch tie-in deal beginning in 2016. Perhaps then you'll see a final 'reunion' world tour for even bigger money.
Watch this space I guess!
Here's the Billboard article:
After 32 years on Mercury Records, "It's the end of an era," the singer tells Billboard.
Bon Jovi's 32-year relationship with Mercury Records is ending, Jon Bon Jovi tells Billboard.
"It is the end of an era," says the singer just before taking the stage for a show with his sideband, Jon Bon Jovi & The Kings of Suburbia at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada.
The news comes one day after the release of Bon Jovi's "fan album," Burning Bridges. The record, he explains, is a collection of songs that was meant to accompany the group's upcoming 12-show tour of Southeast Asia, but in reality, it was something more, he said.
"[It fulfills] a commitment to Mercury Records," he tells Billboard. "After 32 years, we have parted ways. That is the big news. If you listen to 'Burning Bridges,' the song, it is clearly spelled out."
The song is last on Burning Bridges' tracklist, and includes the scathing lyrics, "After 30 years of loyalty, they let you dig the grave / Now maybe you can learn to sing or strum along / Well I'll give you half the publishing / You're why I wrote this song."
The Sayreville, New Jersey native says he's fully aware that the song is targeting the label, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group which effectively operates under the Island Records banner. Says Bon Jovi: "This hits it right in the head and tells you what happened. Listen to the lyrics because it explains exactly what happened. And that's that."
Bon Jovi has sold 21.8 million albums in the United States, according to Nielsen Music, including five which hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The band has also notched 25 Billboard Hot 100 hits, including 10 top 10s and four No. 1s.
Bon Jovi adds that he is looking towards the future with a new album and tour scheduled for the spring of 2016. He intends to complete recording by the end of this year, and he promises that the material -- which comes after a difficult 2014 that saw longtime collaborator Richie Sambora leave the group -- is worth the wait.
"A lot happened," says Bon Jovi. "Richie's sudden departure, my trying to buy the [Buffalo] Bills and now this with the label. I have a lot of material to write about. Believe me, the new record is good. It's pointed. It is something we are going to be very proud of in the spring when we put it out."
Right now, Bon Jovi says he is focusing on the evening's show at Rogers Arena, which was scheduled to take place in Stanley Park but moved to the arena after plans fell apart with the original promoter, Paper Rain Promotions. A "stressful" week involved discovering all of the pieces weren't in place for his show with The Kings.
"When it all fell apart, my initial reaction was it's too bad, make sure everybody gets their refunds," he shares. "And the second sentence was, there isn't going to be any refunds. Now we got to take over. So we called the arena and God Bless them for coming to help and the Tourism Board. We made it happen."
Bon Jovi describes the Kings as a group of friends from New Jersey who give him "the freedom as a player to go and make music when it's not in official capacity." And the snafu as "a situation that turned left," adding, "All I care about is the folks who paid their hard-earned money. We are like the International Silver String Submarine Band from The Little Rascals... We're gonna do a show! So we're playing baby!"
Billboard has reached to Mercury/Island Records for comment.
Ok, so here’s the Billboard BON JOVI article – so far the only official source of news for this newly announced Burning Bridges release.
Bon Jovi is releasing a special fan album leading up to its overseas fall tour, Billboard has learned.
The band is releasing two new tracks not even one month before the Aug. 21 release of their new album, Burning Bridges.
A spokesperson for Bon Jovi tells Billboard: “Burning Bridges, which will be released August 21st, is an album for fans and will accompany an upcoming international tour. The band is hard at work on their next album, which will see a full-scale release in 2016.”
The first track -- “We Don’t Run” -- is written by Jon Bon Jovi and Grammy-winning producer John Shanks. An anthem in the Bon Jovi tradition, the tune features meaty production and a shredding guitar solo by Shanks. Shanks has a long history with the band, having produced What About Now, The Circle, Lost Highway and Have a Nice Day.
The song leads off with a driving drum beat and a chain-gang chorus before Bon Jovi gets down to business with a gritty vocal throwing down the gauntlet as he sings, “Not afraid of burning bridges/ 'Cause I know they’re gonna light my way/ Like a phoenix from the ashes/ Welcome to the future, it’s a new day!”
The second -- "Saturday Night Gave Me Sunday Morning" -- is a happier, more romantic, bright pop song with a hooky chorus featuring the lyrics “Saturday night gave me Sunday morning/ Opened my eyes and it’s a new day dawning/ Think I might have pushed my luck a time or two/ Everything about us is what gets me through.” It's classic Bon Jovi and sure to inspire a big sing-along on the road.
Credited to Jon Bon Jovi, John Shanks and former guitarist Richie Sambora, the song -- released internationally on July 16 -- was written previous to Sambora’s departure from the group.
While the band's live dates kick off overseas on Sept. 11, fans can catch keyboardist David Bryan in a solo headlining spot Aug. 29 at the Rock the Farm event at Regan's Hollow Farm in Farmingdale, New Jersey.
So what’s behind this album?
What I’m hearing is conflicting information. I’m told it is an album of unreleased studio tracks from the last 2 albums. That part seems confirmed.
But that would therefore suggest that Richie Sambora will be part of the performances on the album. But one source suggests that Richie’s parts might have been taken out and replaced, as he would have to grant permission for his parts to be used. Whether that has occurred is unknown (but unlikely given the animosity between Sambora and band boss Jon Bon Jovi).
Only the two tracks mentioned in the Billboard article are brand new.
The album’s title is a not so subtle dig at line-up changes within the band, but is it Jon suggesting Richie has burned bridges by leaving the band, or is it Jon declaring that this album represents the last of the Samboa era and it is therefore he who is burning that bridge and moving on?
Bon Jovi are heading to Asia for a short tour starting September 11.
Meanwhile, check out the new single from Nickelback Bon Jovi:
