When Bon Jovi debuted 40 years ago with their 1984 self-titled album, which featured the hit “Runaway,” they were compared to bands like Loverboy.
A review in The Washington Post described their music as “distinct” and “characterless” and Jon Bon Jovi’s singing voice as “a high-pitched, hysterical shriek.”
The review went on to slam his songwriting, stating, “He writes silly songs about women.”
The review concluded with one final criticism: “The band’s sterile hard rock only makes me want to root for pure heavy rock bands like Mötley Crüe all the more.”
Ouch. The shadow was real.
So where is Loverboy now, 40 years later? And, um, Motley Crue hasn’t released a new studio album since 2008.
Despite starting out (without any respect) as the Rodney Dangerfield of rock bands, these New Jersey boys didn’t just pray on their way out 40 years ago: In fact, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018, and on Friday they returned with the release of their new album, “Forever.”
And despite the rough times that have passed — guitarist Richie Sambora grew fed up and left the band in 2013, and frontman Jon Bon Jovi undergoing vocal cord surgery in 2022 at the age of 60 — Bon Jovi are still Bon Jovi.
The opening track is rock. “Legendary” That title is no exaggeration, because they teeth Legendary.
And when JBJ sings, “I don’t lift what I can’t lift,” that really sums up what works for Bon Jovi.
They’re doing exactly what they do best — what the millions of people who bought their 1986 smash hit “Slippery When Wet” expected them to do — and they’re sticking to their own path.
Even if that makes them, to me and many other critics, a more basic version of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band.
But really, is it such a bad thing if they can consistently churn out catchy (if sometimes corny) songs like they do on “Forever”?
It all feels instantly familiar, as if you’ve heard it all before — and trust me, you have — but it would be a shame if they’d lost their knack for the big sing-alongs.
And there’s one surprising track: “The People’s House,” a funky shimmy that captures the charitable spirit of JBJ’s Soul Kitchen, a community restaurant in his native New Jersey: “Come inside and keep your heart open/It’s time to let love in/Mom, dad, I’m broken/I’m on my last breath but I hope/My sins will be forgiven.”
It’s certainly hard to dislike it.
I can’t forget any of them “You’ve given love a bad name.” “Wanted dead or alive” or “it’s my life.”
But when they sing “We Made It Look Easy” on one song, no words could be truer.
Because they’ve been making it look easy for 40 years.
