Reviews (page 8 of 10)
bit middle of the road rock
Pues como que canaliza el hair metal ochentero con pop?, y pues eso lo arruina para mí. Gracias, pero no, gracias. Jajaja. Me gustó solo You give Love a Bad name porque ya la conocía, Living on a prayer también la conocía, pero no me gusta. Mood: Gracias, pero no, gracias
3.2 - Bon Jovi's magnum opus. A high octane hit parade that crams in all the excesses of 80s rock. Richie Sambora slays. This record’s three blockbuster hits continue to dominate radio airwaves, and they're on constant blast at any given stadium, sports bar or dive.
Pues yo creo que sólo le tengo cariño a "You Give Love A Bad Name" y un tanto a la clásica "Livin' On A Prayer", pero no veo mucho que rescatar del disco. Supongo que esto es glam, que no suele despertarme tantas emociones. "Wild In The Streets" es otra buena, yo digo. Y pues ya, quiero rescatar que Jon Bon Jovi grabó una película en el pueblo de mi papá, en el Estado de México, la sensación cuando se vio en pantalla a un señor conocido con su burrito. 7/10
Heavy 80ntero. Nueno
What a collection of chart-topping head-banging hair-metal anthems. Talk about a genre classic. This used to represent all that was wrong in the world of rock but the mellower disposition of mature age helped me appreciate it for the great craft it is.
Some all time classics, no major B sides
ok this kinda hit but not enough to make it a 4 idk. I really liked never say goodbye 😁
I totally get the earned place this has in the pantheon of Rock and Roll, and I could listen to any song from it at any time without rancor, but I don't ever need to hear it again.
Meh
I don't love Bon Jovi. But, I get why people would like it. I can't deny You Give Love a Bad Name and Livin' on a Prayer are just kinda fun, the choruses are catchy. I don't mind his voice, it meets the super earnest party rock fuck ya brah attitude. This all sounds very 80s montage though, which I always think is dumb fun. Never would listen to any of it on my own, but if it came on I'd enjoy it for what is is... and move on.
Nice album to listen to
lots of classics. I'm not a huge Bon Jovi fan but can recognize that this is a beast of an album.
Stereotypical dad/stadium rock. but who doesn't love some of that. I wasn't blown out of the park because of the album, but that's not the point. It was fun laid laid-back, epic rock music. 6/8 will be playing it during a cookout.
It was ok. No great but not bad either.
Cheesy 80’s pop-rock, that has 3 of the biggest genre defining hits
Since I'm from Jersey, I'm pretty much contractually obligated to appreciate Bon Jovi to some extent. I definitely do have some sentimental attachment to the boys from Sayreville, at least more than I would have for the likes of Dokken or Motley Crue. The album itself is listenable if a bit samey, and not bad if you've got the sudden urge to drive down the shore in your IROC. Best song: Wanted Dead Or Alive is utterly flawless as an '80s hard rock song, but that's about the most entry-level choice I could make, so I'll go with Let It Rock for the sake of contrarianism.
It hurts because of my affinity for glam. This was competent and dated-sounding (in an endearing way, but not endearing enough). There's nothing wrong with mass appeal, of course, but without referring to that I struggle to explain my indifference. It also seems like Mr. Bon Jovi is a pretty neat dude, which makes it hurt a little more. Anyway, nothing wrong with liking this music: It's good and sneerers should be sneered right back at. But is there anything to love?
It's Bon Jovi. I hate it but they can't leave your head lol
Я вже забув про них))) Який жахливий гурт! Гірше і не придумаєш)
Tre ritti sture numre på albummet, men resten siger mig godt nok nul og niks - desværre bon jon bovi (ja for helvede, det er med vilje at bogstaverne er byttet om)
I just fucking can't w this nonsense.
Just paper thin. The sound, the music and the lyrics.
2.5 "Remember when we lost the keys and You lost a lot more than that in my backseat, baby"
an ok guitar rock album. very popular group - not for me though. a solid 2 stars
Rating: 3/10 Some seriously average boring shit, in all its attempts to be epic and fun it just feels creatively empty. You Give Love a Bad Name and Livin' on a Prayer are passable classic hard rock songs even though it brings almost no joy to listen to them for the thousandth time, and then the album doesn't have much substance after that. Literally every non-hit Bon Jovi song is pointless
990 albums into this project before getting one from a “hair band.” Might as well be this one. Decent hooks but the lyrics are downright laughable.
Просто эталон нормисной коммерческой американ музыки. Если они еще сами не могут песни написать…. Ну что могу сказать. Пресные как курица с рисом.
I just don't particularly like hair metal, and this is like the most hair metal. "You Give Love a Bad Name" "Livin' On a Prayer" and "Wanted Dead or Alive" are karaoke classic, it's true, but mostly because they're in the "so bad it's good" category.
3/10
Hair metal just isn’t for me. Best served with a dodgy karaoke bar and too many pints
Cool. I should definitely be listening to this instead of Phoebe Bridgers’s new album.
every song can be cut in half and it won’t lose anything
2.0
ummmmm idk it was okay until it wasnt. some lyrics were WEIRDDDD
Popular anthem rock for sure, and a couple of huge radio hits on this, but as a musical must-do, it’s a fail in my book
2/5
Fav: Wanted Dead or Alive (it’s funny guys I promise) L: Social Disease 2 I don’t really hate the Jovi but I haven’t been subjected to him for very long Iuntil now. Wasn’t as bad as I feared but I don’t want to listen to any of it again
The three singles have transcended the overall corniness of this album and I actually liked "Wild in the Streets" but the rest is pretty awful.
1. rock - 1 2. bad - 2 3. prayer - 3 4. zocial- 1 5. alive - 2 6. handz - 1 7. love - 1 8. die - 1 9. goodbye - 2 10. uuild - 1
It’s feel good 80s rock But some of the lyrics are dodgy as hellllll I’m a Bon jovi hater here - bland and boring music with a few karaoke classics. Wild in The Streets is just horrible. Bad way to start a Monday, but I’d be lying if I said it was a 1.
I have the utmost respect for Jon Bon Jovi (or John Bongiovi) as a person, and I guess he's good at what he does - music wise, but damn Bon Jovi's music is the blandest crap to my ears.
Can I get some extra cheese with that ...
For as much as this album can be simple or cheesy, I find it to a major staple of its genre. It is as anthemic and energetic as it is fun. I do prefer as an experience his follow-up 'New Jersey' but this does somehow work as a collection of bangers. 7/10 [KEEP]
I've never been a fan of Bon Jovi. It's too 80's. I knew Livin' On a Prayer, You Give Love a Bad Name, and Wanted Dead or Alive. I think Jon Bon Jovi got by on his looks because he's not that great of a singer.
Oh man, so on one hand this isn't something I like, I would never choose to listen to it on my own, but on the other hand I know it's super popular 80s songs that I know a few of them and they aren't horrible, but still.
Bunch of skips for songs I'd heard a million billion times (I don't dislike them, they're fun but cheesy). What's left kinda sucks.
I’m not trying to be edgy, I promise, but I will always hate Bon Jovi. It’s like… music for uncool dads (my uncool dad, God rest his soul, loved Bon Jovi)
fallait s'y attendre mais en dehors des hits (qui sont probablement les meilleurs de cet époque avec Billy Idol) le reste est très classique et pas spécialement bon
If you’ve got a father-in-law then chances are they go crazy over this shit.
There's nothing here outside of the 3 massive hits.
as good as pop metal possibly can get
There were quite a few hits on this album. Alas, big hair 80s rock isn't my thing.
Bon jovi - slippery when wet This was an ordeal. First album on this challenge which I have actually skipped forward when I’ve got the gist of a track rather than playing each track to its end. Boring. Elevated from one star by Wanted Dead or Alive and Springsteen pastiche Wild in the Streets ⭐️⭐️
Villain origin story: this album is released on the edge of our villain's puberty. He thinks the songs are okay, but the girls go wild for the good looking band and their lead singer, which causes him to hate the music. Fast forward many years later, and this shows up on the album generator. He decides to be open-minded. After all, Livin' on a Prayer is on this and that's a catchy anthem, and he remembers You Give Love a Bad Name and Wanted Dead or Alive. Then he listens to the album and is gobsmacked by how dated it sounds. The guitar solos don't flow. Every song is designed to be an arena rock anthem. What the villain now understands is that the band was a marketer's dream: the hits were good enough, and that the girls who were into this band probably weren't ones he wanted to be with anyway.
(3/7) music that gets better the louder it is played
This is the album for you if you like generic, formulaic rock. I'll give it two because there's a couple of decent songs on there. You Give Love a Bad Name is actually a decent song
I don't like Bon Jovi style.
Dit vind ik niet leuk. Johannes Bongiovi legt een potsierlijk glam-/haarmetaal album op de mat waarbij hij z'n Axl Rose imitatie welig laat tieren met z'n gemaakte stemmetje. De reverb vliegt je om de oren want het moet klinken als een stadionact. Wat is dit knetterfout. Zo'n 'Wanted Dead or Alive' ook, man man man. Ik zie er voor laten we zeggen een procent of 15 de lol wel van in, maar ik kan er niet omheen hoe fout en lelijk dit oud is geworden. Als ik dit geluid in een beeld zou moeten vangen zou ik het vergelijken met slappe, natte friet. Tegelijkertijd krijg je wel een paar hitjes die je niet niet kunt kennen en hitjes zijn houvast zei m'n over-overgrootvader altijd al. Ik weet echt niet wat ik hier qua cijfer mee moet. Als ik puur op m'n gevoel af ga moet ik een 1 geven (zelfs zonder de kreungeluiden op track 4), al weet ik rationeel gezien ook wel dat dat te streng is. Het is geen Astrud. Als je dit een 1 geeft ben je te lang niet serieus getest door de lijst der lijsten. We krijgen krijsende gitaren met keurig afgemeten, in spandex omwikkelde solo's en dat mogen we eens in de zoveel tijd best een keer leuk vinden ('Raise Your Hands' heeft een lekkere solo bijvoorbeeld). Ik zet het op 2 sterren, maar dit is echt niet aan mij besteed.
This was a really funny listen. Some songs start off so strong and then Bon Jovi's got some silly lyrics or singing style going on and you just gotta appreciate the goofiness of it. I personally can just have Livin on a Prayer and leave the rest.
++: Social Disease, Wanted Dead or Alive, Wild in the Streets +: Livin' on a Prayer, Never Say Goodbye +-: Let It Rock, You Give Love a Bad Name, Raise Your Hands, I'd Die for You -: Without Love 4,9/10
I dont like it but its not horrible and also milly bobby brown is dating someone bon Jovi and she ran over the homo xoxo
Back when I was a teenager, there was a bar called “Cooke’s” right beside our school that we used to spend our lunch breaks in. We were only 15 or 16, but the bar staff seemed to begrudgingly tolerate us sitting there drinking vats of coffee and smoking cigarettes. Cooke’s had a jukebox. We were very into bands like Radiohead, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, The Beatles, The Stones and the likes. So, the local barflies were forced to listen to a medley of our music, or whatever of it was populated on that machine at least, each weekday for a full hour on repeat. One of my friends was a huge Bon Jovi fan. He used to get a lot of shit from the rest of us over his choices, and we’d join in with the groans of the barflies when he’d go up to the jukebox to play “You Give Love A Bad Name” or some other stadium hair rock nonsense. One day, he walked up to the jukebox as we pleaded with him to not put us through another Bon Jovi tune. He asked us to give it a chance and put on “Wanted Dead Or Alive”. Have you ever seen that Limmy sketch where the two long-haired metal heads listen to an Aha song? Limmy’s character is wearing an Iron Maiden t-shirt, surrounded by AC/DC and Motorhead posters, while his friend dons an “Aha” shirt. “What’s gotten into you, mate??” exclaims Limmy. “Just wait until you hear it” his friend replies smugly, as he puts an Aha record on the turntable. It starts off as a typical Aha soft pop song. But when it unexpectedly takes a turn and kicks off, Limmy can’t resist, admitting “It’s good. Really good.” And the two can’t contain themselves, head-banging along to the song. I didn’t have exactly the same reaction to “Wanted Dead Or Alive”, but it did catch me off-guard compared to anything else I’ve heard from the denim-clad one known as Bon Jovi. The acoustic guitar intro is decent enough to catch my attention, but the rest of the song is a very catchy country blues affair. Musically it’s good. Pretty good. The lyrics and content are cheesy as hell of course. But it’s a good song. These days whenever I hear it, I immediately think of Mac and Charlie’s fake funeral in “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”. The song plays as a projector shows a slideshow of photos of the two dressed as cowboys on motorcycles, overlaid with the text “Goodbye cruel world”. What can I say about the rest of the album? Cheesy stadium rock. Elements of the worst parts of hair metal, watered down for mass consumption. The kind of music that’s inoffensive, but also causes you to groan out loud when your Bon Jovi loving friend makes his way up to the jukebox.
Sort of music you hear from a pub juke box but don't choose yourself.
If I gave Metallica 1 because it was to fucking serious and Springsteen 3 because it was authentic then I suppose this sits between the two. There's a reason it's so popular at karaoke.
I want to give it a 1 because I loathe the two big Bon Jovi tracks with a burning passion..but it's not /awful/. It's just really big flashy run-of-the-mill hard rock that exists for no purpose but to be commercialised.
I’ll be honest: hair metal is probably my least favourite genre. Too many clichés, too much image, and way too much music that feels focus-grouped for arenas rather than written because someone actually had something to say. So when Slippery When Wet came up, I wasn’t excited. But I also wasn’t dreading it. Bon Jovi has always felt different from the sleazier side of the genre—they’re basically a pop band that happens to play rock music. The album starts exactly as expected. “Let It Rock” is pure cheese, arena-rock fodder with big vocals and glossy production. Then the hits arrive and remind you why this album became a phenomenon. “You Give Love a Bad Name” is ridiculous, nostalgic, and impossible not to enjoy. I’d never put it on to look cool, but that opening line and massive chorus still work. Then there’s “Livin’ on a Prayer,” which is simply the best thing Bon Jovi ever recorded. It’s cheesy, over-the-top, motivational nonsense in the best possible way. If that chorus comes on and you’re not singing along, check your pulse. The biggest surprise was how uneven the album is. Every time a hit showed up, I was reminded why Bon Jovi became superstars. Every time a weaker album track showed up, I was reminded why I don’t listen to much hair metal. “Social Disease” is particularly awful—a gross, cliché-riddled suckfest that sticks out for all the wrong reasons. Even “Wanted Dead or Alive,” despite its cinematic production and great guitar tone, never really clicked with me. Still, there were some unexpected gems. “I’d Die for You” is packed with dramatic synths and shameless 80s excess, but it’s a blast. “Wild in the Streets” feels more like a pop song than anything else on the album and ended up being one of my favourite deep cuts. Even “Without Love” had enough crunchy guitars and shimmering synths to keep me interested. What surprised me most is that this album made me understand why Bon Jovi survived while so many of their peers became punchlines. They just wanted people to have a good time. Slippery When Wet is loaded with cheese, but it’s mostly the fun kind. I’ll probably never revisit the whole album, but “Livin’ on a Prayer” remains mandatory listening, and a few deep cuts earned a place beside the hits on my playlist. For an album from a genre I generally can’t stand, that’s a pretty good result. 5.6/10
Without Bon Jovi there wouldn't be "Elän humpalla" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WydbjejNQA
It’s bad, but there are a couple of guilty pleasures in here…
Hair metal just isn’t for me. Best served with a dodgy karaoke bar and too many pints
Did not age well
One star each for a couple of great tracks but too much overblown midding stuff around them
I don’t like this because I am tough
Bland. Bon Jovi to me are the epitome of what makes a lot of 80s hard rock boring, and nothing on this album, from the mega-hits to the deep cuts, convinced me otherwise.
I just never got into JBJ. Lots of iconic songs here but I just don’t really care for him. 2.5
This album 100% should be on the list....it is still a 2.
Childhood nostalgia for me. But yeah, that doesn’t mean it’s great. Relistening to it Wild In the Streets is a great song. Makes me think of Springsteen. Otherwise, Wanted Dead or Alive is a classic but other than that, the writing is cheesy.
Never been a fan of Bon Jovi, oh well. Still not surprised to see this on the list as this album has all their hits.
Opening track sounds like an exact 50/50 Def Leppard/Deep Purple castoff. It's pretty fun IG, same goes for the following tracks "Yu-Gi-Oh! The Card Game" and certified white people national anthem "Squidward on a Chair." After that we get into some really bad territory with some horrible Ozzy and Def Leppard worship tracks that should have been left in 1986 In all seriousness though, Richie Sambora really elevates this- he is a fantastic guitarist. "Wanted Dead Or Alive" is this band's crowning achievement, one of the best glam rock tracks of the decade.
Yeah, I mean, if I'm a drunk mom on South Street maybe.
This is so cheesy it could've been called Buttrock Parmesan. I mean, it's not the worst thing in the world, but between this and Springsteen I almost feel bad for New Jersey. The first mistake on this album is putting “Let it Rock” first and not “Livin’ on a Prayer”. This is a mistake that Cross Road, the only Bon Jovi album you need, if you feel you need a Bon Jovi album, does not make. You start with that classic of big, dumb, hairspray-laden pop metal, and a multitude of sins can be forgiven. It's anthemic, it's everyman… it's got a talk box on the main riff. It's basically the foie gras of the Monster Ballads era. It's everything that, say, following track Social Disease is not. The A-side is the Hits Side, tho, and the three here have some classic riffs, even as JBJ yowls about blood red nails and fayngertips. And if Wanted: Dead or Alive is a foreshadowing of the band's eventual descent into schlock-Country pablum, you'd at least be forgiven for thinking they could have pulled it off. It even has one of the greatest worst lines ever, seeing a Million faces yadda yadda. But then side B starts, with a stupid “we're a rock band rock with us” song that makes the one beginning side A sound forgivable. And on this side, there are no singles to save it. Not even the Born to Run wannabe Wild in the Streets. Most of this album is a big helping of How Dare You, so even with the hits, this is a high 2*
So boring
You have already heard what's worthwhile here.
Very well done, very poor generic ‘80s rock-pop. “Let It Rock” kicks it off with loads of organ and sounds like Yes or Kansas playing a third rate AC/DC song. Side one contains the big numbers, “You Give Love a Bad Name”, Living On A Prayer”, with that irritating voice box, and “Wanted Dead or Alive” - the three Bon Jovi songs I thought I never had to hear again although the Atmos mix seems to add a lot of keyboards to the soundscape, so that was a thing - now I never have to listen again. The rest of the album is full of forgettable, very earnest tracks with no substance and very little depth. I just don’t get Bon Jovi; there aren’t even any ‘guilty pleasures’ here. There are worse records but maybe not many as bland.
It's Bon Jover.
The hits are great fun. The rest of the album is bad.
I hate pop. Pop disguised as hard rock or metal or whatever isn’t much better. I was glad when grunge came around because it drove out the hair bands like Bon Jovi. Wanted… is probably the least wussy, for lack of a better word, on the whole album. Relative to stuff coming out now, I don’t mind it as much as I did in the late eighties, but I’m still not going to listen to it if given the choice.
low energy boomer rock
Fine but nothing special in my opinion.
Bon Jovi is insufferable.
Overly polished pop rock, the definition of kitch
Oh boy, 80s arena rock. It's not horrendous; it's okay for what it is, I guess. Pop metal hooks arent the worst thing in the world. But personally, I find myself annoyed by all the 80s guitar squeals, and mostly bored by the rest of it. Special shout out to whoever created the ugly trash bag and water droplet album cover in the 11th hour.
It’s OK but I wouldn’t pick it
lembra mto qdo eu tinha 10 anos, livin on a prayer era um CLÁSSICO do carro do ex-marido da minha irmã. não escutaria nem pagando. mas se desligar o cérebro dá até pra se divertir um pouco. glam rock de arena de qualidade PÍFIA
Couldn't wait for it to be over
Don't ever play Bon Jovi at your wedding or I'll leave the dance floor. Too overplayed? Maybe. Do I get why this is on the list? I guess. Just not into it!
Albums that could have been a single
Don't get me wrong, it's catchy stuff and there's even some hits on this one, but Bon Jovi really aged badly and I don't think it sounds as good as common people think it does.
3 mega hits, catchy like nothing else, but damn... The other songs are fillers, and annoying fillers.
squidward on a chairrr i hate hard rock i hate hard rock i hate hard rock i hate hard rock i hate hard rock i hate hard rock i hate hard rock i hate hard rock i hate hard rock i hate hard rock i hate hard rock i hate hard rock i hate hard rock i hate hard rock i hate hard rock i hate hard rock i hate hard rock ts so boring omg the only time i can tolerate music like this at my white families family barbeques. would maybe go hard when im in my 40s
Standard for it's time and genre
OK.
Number: 71 Date: 3/14/2026 Artist: Bon Jovi Album: Slippery When Wet Year: 1986 Genre: Metal Rock Rating: 2 Notes: Before: Argh, my third least favorite genre, behind Rap and Modern Country. I foresee a 2 rating. We'll see. I've never listened to this album but I'm sure I'll recognize some of the songs. During: Yep, pretty much what I was expecting. After : Well, that was awful. I was going to give it a 1 even though my composite rating is a 2. I had a change of hear though and decided 2 is about right, all things considered. I do agree it deserves to be on this list though, if for no other reason than as an example of this type of music. Rating Track Name 1 Let It Rock 2 You Give Love A Bad Name 1 Livin' On A Prayer 1 Social Disease 2 Wanted Dead Or Alive 1 Raise Your Hands 1 Without Love 1 I'd Die For You 1 Never Say Goodbye 1 Wild In The Streets ----------------------------------------------------- 1.20 WEIGHTED AVERAGE (accounts for song lengths) 1 my personal rating 4 suitability for this list 2 relevance ----------------------------------------------- 2.3 composite rating
This album might well be the turning point for hard rock as we knew it in the 80s, the "peak" that marked the beginning of the decline. Richie Sambora was a way better player than I ever gave him credit for and the keyboardist reasonably decent. The rhythm section was dire (and got no help from the production). Jon Bon Jovi's vocals? Did the job that needed to be done to get his face on MTV, I guess. Now I'll hopefully go another thirty or forty years before I have to listen to it again.
8 year old core
Cringeworthy.
I was so pumped that the album opens with a couple of true eighties classics, but the rest of the tracks are so aggressively mid. It's the real deal, but that's all it is.
Shit-stain/pit-stain rock that is very occasionally kind of fun.
I don't like bon jovi
“I’ve seen a million faces and I’ve rocked them all.” Ugh. Well, it has at least three songs I have heard an uncountable amount of times. Mr. Jovi has a recognizable, formidable singing voice. There’s some shreddage, you could say, I guess. I should just accept this as a fun party record and move on, but it left me empty when it was all said and done. Just no cake under this frosting. Huge hooks and obviously it has staying power, but I did not enjoy my album experience today. Sorry Mr. Jovi. Your soul kitchen is cool though!
Aged like fine milk. Livin’ on a Prayer and You Give Love A Bad Name are good songs, but have been played to death since 1986. The rest is the most generic 80s rock you can find, complete with endless ‘woh-oh’ choruses and power guitar. Very generic overall.
Don't normally like Bon Jovi, this is no different.
if I was forced at gunpoint to listen to bon jovi I'd choose to be shot. singing in that fake rasp all the time has to hurt as much as it does to hear
Zugegeben ein paar eingängige Lieder haben sie, aber mag ihre Art von Musik überhaupt nicht. Das ständige "whow" oder wie man immer dieses Geräusch nennt, quasi jedes Lied baut darauf auf. Bin gleich abgeturnt.
Dead or Alive is one of the best songs of the 80s. Unfortunately, everything else this band has done is pure garbage. I love Bon Jovi as a person. The band is talented. Like a Toyota, it checks many of the boxes on paper but I just can’t stand it.
Two bangers, rest dross
Some songs are vibey but not really my cup of tea and i think it's so overplayed that i can't even listen it properly anymore.
It's not absolute ass, but it ain't good. It sounded much cooler when I was 10 and hadn't found punk rock yet.
For me, this is a great example of how something popular and award winning can be just not all that good. If I was forced to listen to hair rock, I'd absolutely choose Motley Crue over these guys.
I liked some moments of this one which is more than I expected.
It's pretty bad, over-the-top, cheesy, and dated. But on rare occasion in a fun way, so it's not the worst thing I've ever heard.
It’s Bon Jovi.
I mean, at least it has their 3 best songs on it? Otherwise, Bon Jovi sucks chunks
Fun at times, but mostly just trite and corny.
Hmm some catchy songs but otherwise easily forgotten
0 songs added to my favorites. Would avoid listening again.
I mean, it's not bad...
They say don’t judge a book by its cover, but to be fair the cover for Slippery When Wet is also rubbish.
It’s an alright album, I do like the guitar work and obviously the hits are good, some of the other songs are lacking in substance, pretty generic 80s rock tbh
Big dumb fun, except the dumb vastly outweighs the fun I've never much cared for Livin' On A Prayer, but hearing it's worse bootlegs as the album goes on sure makes you appreciate it
Far too much synth to open an album with a track titled ‘Let it Rock’ for my liking. It does however descend into hair metal by numbers, which feels very dated and almost a parody. you give love a bad name continues the dated feel, but at least brings the semblance of a good tune and a sing along chorus. Livin on a prayer is undeniably a eighties classic and maintains the good vibes from the previous track. Social disease is frankly horrendous. Wanted dead or alive brings some welcome relief before we go back to generic 80s hair rock. The majority of this album follows a very generic formula, which unfortunately is one i dont like
OMG, a hair "metal" album on this list? Well, I guess when there are albums by Destiny's Child or A-ha (!) on this list, why not Bon Jovi? It surely forces me to listen to albums I normally would never play, no matter how critically acclaimed or the opposite (in this case). Bon Jovi are THE pinnacle of mainstream (hard) rock, and by the time they had their hits, I was already listening to Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth, and the likes, so all we could do when hearing and seeing these hair "metal" bands was give them a laugh and a shrug. This, apart from some guitar solos, had nothing to do with metal. Fast forward nearly 40 years, and my opinion hasn't changed much - although I can see the craft in their catchy and cheesy hits (in particular "Livin' on a Prayer"), this album is merely mediocre and made for flat radio pop rock. Not my cup of tea, even after all those years. 2/5
mom is going to use this to spread the gospel of saint bongiovi. he seems lovely. i just wish he made better music. it's mass market radio rock. its fine. 2.5
Better than Coldplay
Very well done, very poor generic ‘80s rock-pop. “Let It Rock” kicks it off with loads of organ and sounds like Yes or Kansas playing a third rate AC/DC song. Side one contains the big numbers, “You Give Love a Bad Name”, Living On A Prayer”, with that irritating voice box, and “Wanted Dead or Alive” - the three Bon Jovi songs I thought I never had to hear again although the Atmos mix seems to add a lot of keyboards to the soundscape, so that was a thing - now I never have to listen again. The rest of the album is full of forgettable, very earnest tracks with no substance and very little depth. I just don’t get Bon Jovi; there aren’t even any ‘guilty pleasures’ here. There are worse records but maybe not many as bland.
The hits are pretty good but the rest is forgettable
meh
verstand op nul, blik op oneindig.. danvloer op, luidkeels meezingen en luchtgitaar spelen... zo moet je deze plaat benaderen en dan valt het op zich nog mee (behalve de zeemzoeterige obligate ballads)
No
Popular, but not my type of music
ALL of the testosterone, Mr. Bovi?
2 Punkte wegen raise your hands ansonsten Schrott
Well known songs. Doesn’t mean I like them. It’s not the sort of music you can listen to and expect your family to respect you any longer.
I refuse
So bad. Should have been 15 minutes shorter, at least. This might be the lowest 2 I ever give but it's not unlistenable like a 1
my cursor is pixels away from giving it a 1/5 but i cant bring myself to do it
the only thing bon jovi reminds me of is the hit cw show supernatural
Layer upon layer of processed American cheese.
Tommy used to crank it all day, scrolling through the hub, he watched in 4k...
This album took hair metal mainstream. A bit too rock radio friendly for my taste but commercially very successful. A couple of catchy singles but still wouldn't make into my collection.
usually i like albums like this, but nothing really resonated with me on this one. not sure why?
No es mi género favorito. Es más, me cansa y aburre soberanamente. Las tres canciones famosas las he tenido que pasar por razones obvias. Y la curiosidad por saber que más tenía el disco que ofrecer se me ha pasado inmediatamente. Creo que todo lo demás que ha hecho Bon Jovi es copiarse a sí mismo interminablemente. Lo que no entiendo es cómo tantas bandas y cantantes han querido imitarlos.
Never been a fan. This is just too cheesy.
Nothing for me here really. It’s a silly album. I do like it when a lyricist uses convoluted grammar to make a line fit though, and “On a steel horse I ride” might be the single most famous/prominent line like that in all of pop music. Extra star for that.
Pretty terrible arena rock and the entire album did not age well. Hits I thought were great in high school (dead or alive) are forever ruined by constant radio overplay. Bumped up to 2 stars solely because Living on a Prayer has its rightful place: to be blared loudly in arenas during 3rd period hockey comebacks.
There's a lot of people that hate on bon jovi and I never understood why After listening to this album all the way through, I get the hate now. It's bland and boring with two songs that fit the "okay I guess" category
not my cup of tea
Meh
not for the lactose intolerant - nothing but cheese
I've heard it said of Stephen King that he "writes books for people who don't read books". Likewise, Bon Jovi makes music for people who don't listen to music.
Hair metal goes stadium pop - sleek, machined, crammed with hooks, and with one foot up on the monitors
Crazy vill bekannti lieder aber fühle de bon jovi nid so..
Worse than I thought, it was a real slog for a slightly hungover jay
Sexy men and sexy hair. Some classics on here, but I don't think I vibed with it, every song sounds the same, whiney man and whammies. Sorry Jon bon Jovi you didn't make me slippery
Groupe connu et pas apprécié du tout à l'époque. Le "hard FM" me paraissait très mou et peu intéressant : la même année Slayer sortait 'Reign in Blood', Metallica 'Master of puppets' et Kreator 'Pleasure to kill', des albums vraiment créatifs que j'aime toujours écouter presque 40 ans après. Mon avis sur Bon Jovi n'a pas changé avec cette première écoute d'un album complet : pas désagréable mais toujours pas intéressant. Au moins le classement en 'Metal' m'a fait sourire ... =>2/5
New Jerseys näst största. Klär man av pudelrock-kostymen finns här några hyfsade Springsteenpastischer.
Här var det pudel! 80-tals-synthar och och tuff på låtsas. Inte helt lätt att ta till sig. ”Hårdrockens” största problem är att den inte är hård. Allra minst i den här tappningen. Dock några melodier som kanske låtit bättre i annat arrangemang (avslutande spåren är nästan helt okej).
Svårt att ta sig an det här albumet utan förutfattade meningar. Hitsen har ingen kunnat undvika. Schlager komplett med tonartshöjning och allsångsrefränger. Dessa har jag hört till leda. Inte fullt så uselt som jag förväntat mig. Känns som de lyssnat sjukligt mycket på Van Halen. Här finns egentligen bara material till en ep. Resten är utfyllnad. Om man mot förmodan satt på skivan bör man stänga av efter Livin' On A Prayer. Svag 2:a.
standard classic rock
Why does Jon Bovi sound like he’s constantly straining?! Honestly, that can’t be healthy.
Oh, glam metal, great. Side 1: Let it Rock is laughably bad, wasting a cool proggish intro with a terrible song. Then the two big singles. Decent for what they are, which are desperate, blatant claims to the charts. And it worked, 3 billion streams between them. Social Disease sounds like what a small town cover band would pull out, saying 'now for one of our own songs' while the crowd goes for beers. Wretched, with the keyboard 'horn stabs' being the absolute cherry on the festering pile. And then the worst cowboy song until Kid Rock. But I still enjoy it, because I am a sick man. And that's the end of Side 1, which is the good side of the album. I'll make this side short - Raise Your Hands is the best track on the album, Without You is dreck, I'd Die For You is decent, Never Say Goodbye's awfulness doesn't even have the excuse of being written by Desmond Child, and Wild in the Streets is also a song on here. I owned this cassette as a youngster when it came out. Of course I did, everyone did. But I don't remember really ever playing it, because you could hear the singles on the radio every half hour if you needed your Jovi. One thing I noticed on this playthrough is that John Bongiovi Jr really only has a one-octave voice, with anything above that becoming more of a strained screech. But I'm not giving this a 1, I'm just not. It is what it is, a 2.
This was not nearly as terrible as I expected
Big guitars over the top on almost every song. Pop music that sounds like real rock.
kind of like bruce springsteen if bruce springsteen sucked lots of hits, kind of fun!
The hits are rousing, I admit! Crazy sounds at the beginning of Livin on a Prayer that I love. It’s not that bad but he just has a very theatrical sound that is kinda funny to me… not my thing. I see why this album was huge for him though, it’s stacked!
Due to my age, I've a nostalgic fondness for the singles from this album. They're not very good, but they remind me of the freedom I had as a child. Thanks to this I'm giving the album 2 stars because otherwise, frankly, it's shit.
I didn't like it then, still not a fan. Hair metal was kinda so-so and hasn't really aged that well. It's the kind of music that needs to be in movies set in the 80's as someone skates down a street clearly late for something.
It’s OK.
Wild how many hits come off this but it’s not particularly good. Listenable I guess
Well one or two songs Livin on a prayer
The hits are still funny for karaoke nights but I don’t need to listen to the rest.
Another of those "I've listened to this, I never have to listen to it again" albums.
Another album that definitely deserves to be on this list, but definitely doesn't do anything for me. Maybe I'm just too young for Bon Jovi to be anything other than the music you hear in the background of a sporting event.
A suppose as a cultural touchpoint for the late Reagan era, this album is essential listening. But it's really not very good. It wasn't then, and it hasn't gotten better with age.
I mean, it's so silly
You Give Love a Bad Name Livin' on a Prayer Wanted Dead or Alive
Very much Bon Jovi, the singles were all super hits and this album is more of that flavor. Wish there was more variety, just feels a bit samey.
Some earworm anthems for sure, but terrible lyrics and horrible 80s drums.
Overrated!
Just dont like it
Pretty good start to this album-I didn’t realize how hard they actually rocked back in the day! “Let it Rock” is the perfect opener with a stadium feel. Then the second track ruins it with the pop/rock hit “You give love a bad name”. Just so overdone, and why I’ve never been drawn to Bon Jovi. And then “Livin on a Prayer”? All the hits on one album I guess. So far only liking the songs I don’t “know”. Fourth track is crap. Then “wanted dead or alive”. Damn! They really made it with this album! Unfortunately all way too overplayed for me. I gave it a good solid play twice, but not for me. Listen again: no Purchase for my collection: no Favourite Song: the first one. It’s the only good song.
First track sounds like Argent's Hold your head up- but Shitter. I don't remember the 80s being this horrible when I lived through them. Three massive hit singles and some sub Aerosmith rock music. I will never listen to this album through choice ever again. 2/5
I understand the appeal, just not my cup of tea.
Album was ok with huge classic singalong songs. Not my cup of tee but i understand it. (2.5/5.0)
When asked if they wanted extra cheese, BJ clearly answered in the affirmative. That this poor excuse for a hair band ever got into the RRHOF is ridiculous. What a waste of time (other than being good for a chuckle) and certainly a waste of a lost in this esteemed list.
I’m sorry, you’ll never make me like Bon Jovi
I’m I liked this less than I thought I would. I thought I’d like the hits? I guess I always considered Bon Jovi to be a notch above glam/metal arena rock. Boy, was I wrong. Thumbs down.
The hits are the hits for a reason. The rest is mostly forgettable 80s shlock, partly quasi-unlistenable AOR dreck. Definitely not an album anybody must hear before they die. This surely must hold some sort of record for Most Pinch Harmonics per Second, right?
No, just no
Je m'attendais à un truc kitsch et nul. J'ai pas été déçu.
lol what are we doing? Favorite track: Livin' On A Prayer 2.5/5
Very 80s big hair. Hits are very memorable, but not that great, and not much beyond that
They did what they did, millions loved them, and he was adored by many! Sadly not me, and listening to this now doesn't change anything. It's indie rock & roll for me :) The second star is for the 'Livin' on a Prayer' bassline which is really cool, especially through the chorus.
In den 70/80ern habe ich viel Metal gehört. Und da waren solche prototypisch radiotauglichen, irgendwie hardrockig melodischen Mainstream Songs/Bands per se untendurch bei den Jungs. Das war Musik für die Mädchen. Heute würde man sagen: Die Käufer:innen dieser Platte hören auch gerne: Michael Bolton, Bryan Adams, Celine Dion...
Fun listen but 2.5
i went through a bon jovi phase in middle school back in the late 80’s. i’m not proud of it, but it is true. it’s not that i don’t still like hair metal today, but there are much better bands from that genre that i still will listen to. richie sambora is a mid-level lead guitarist at best and i can think of a handful of guitarists just off the top of my head from that era that can play circles around him (vito bratta, c.c. deville, george lynch, warren demartini, nuno bettencourt, mick mars). for some reason david bryan, the keyboard player, is shoehorned into songs that sound weird with keyboards (more on that later). the rhythm section is perfectly serviceable. and jon bon jovi comes across as the pretty boy in high school that had a very punchable face. with all of that out of the way, on to the album review… side a “let it rock” - the album opener and many people’s introduction to the band (they had two albums before this, but this was truly their commercial breakthrough). it opens with a keyboard solo that sounds like it was lifted straight from phantom of the opera. weird. anyway the song is about how they are here to rock and you’d better not get in their way. “you give love a bad name” - the lead single and JBJ is PISSED. something about some girl broke his heart and he’s calling her out about it. he’s got millions in the bank and a very handsome (yet still punchable) face… i think he’ll be ok. “livin’ on a prayer” - i do not, nor have i ever, gave a shit about tommy or gina, but richie does fiddle around with the talk box, so that’s pretty cool. next… “social disease” - this one is a fun one, actually. i always liked this one. “wanted dead or alive” - JBJ tries to rebrand himself as a badass cowboy on a “steel horse” with a “loaded six string on his back”. and in a genre full of cringe lyrics he utters “i’ve seen a million faces and i’ve rocked them all”. yikes. side b “raise your hands” - when i first heard this song, i thought it was the heaviest riff ever… again, i was in middle school. this song was featured in the movie spaceballs, so there’s that. “without love” - this song is a total “filler” song. “i’d die for you” - song about JBJ’s undying commitment to his girl of the week. i’m not convinced. oh, and more unnecessarily gratuitous keyboards. “never say goodbye” - obligatory power ballad on the album. ol’ jonny and the girl who “lost more than that in his backseat” is certainly a more moving story that tommy and gina. “wild in the streets” - for a song with “wild” in the title, it might be the most boring song on the whole album. and richie blatantly rips off “johnny b. goode” in the guitar solo. not cool. there you have it. i hadn’t listened to this album in well over 30 years and hoping i’ll never have to listen to another bon jovi album again.
Never cared for Bon Jovi. To slick, too radio-friendly
I mean, we know the songs. Very 80s rock. Honestly, I don't think I've ever been like, yeah let's listen to some bon Jovi. So yeah, meh
A Big Mac of a rock record Soulless and lacking in substance but not unpleasant whilst it’s going down
Man, he had some good hits from this album, but man, I got tired of him yelling at me by the end of it. Even had to skip through a couple of them.
Take nothing away, Wanted... Is a great track. The rest is all I abore about 80s/90s 'metal rock' the same stupid guitar sound over every track. Bigger is not always better. Bon has some decent pipes, but thats about my lot.
Z.T. bekannte Melodien. Ansonsten halt Rock. 2,3
I was never a fan of formula rock. Props for trying.
Couple bangers but otherwise not memorable
Cheesy 80's hair metal is definitely a guilty pleasure of mine, but I've never been a Bon Jovi guy cause I grew up in the 90's when they were a shitty adult contemporary band for moms. I'll stick with Twisted Sister.
Mid. Good choruses but repeat way too many times.
Hair metal shouldn't have been invented, i just wasted almost an hour of my life. listen to something worth your time please
Sang along to the radio hits form my childhood but the rest was average
I’m not a fan of this genre at all, but “Wanted Dead or Alive” is objectively a banger. Too bad the rest of the album is mostly generic butt-rock.
Alkuun on ladattu pari hittiä, mutta lopulta kaikki degeneroituu ihmeelliseksi halpa-Springsteen-imitaatioksi. Hititkin ovat peruskulutuksessa kuuntelukelvottomia - toisin kuin baarissa saati karaokessa. 2,5
I guess I like Bon Jovi more than I thought. (5.3) ★★½
Not for me
5000 points from 13 year old lou
Never liked Bon Jovi. Never will like Bon Jovi. 3/10
There are so many awful people on this list: Nazis, incest committers, sexual assaulters, and more pedophiles than you can shake a stick at. And then there is Jon Bon Jovi. I am sure he has done plenty of terrible things, and his involvement in professional and semi-professional sports definitely makes me think he might be a bad person, but he has also been married to his high school sweetheart for forty years, campaigns for Democratic candidates, has given millions to charity, works in soup kitchens, and even talked someone off a bridge and prevented their suicide. Great right? No. I am sorry if this makes me a hipster, but this sucks. This is music for children. This is just what you listen to after "Baby Shark" and before real music. I am glad that Mr. Bon Jovi is out there doing good, and it is much appreciated, but if I never hear another one of his songs again, my life would be improved.
I am not a fan of Bon Jovi, and it's not that they are bad. I'm just not into pop-hair metal. If I listened to hair metal, I would tend toward Motley Crue. I have never heard this album in its entirety, and apart from the hit radio songs, I find this one mostly forgettable.
Maturing is realizing every Bon Jovi song sounds the same…
No doubt this album belongs on this list. You still can't go to a bar without hearing these songs, nearly 40 years later. I just really can't stand the forced singing, paint by numbers songwriting and made for MTV image.
4.5/10 A ne znam. Na stranu sto Bon Jovija dozivljavam kao isfuranog i kao visak na 80s plejlistama, moram priznati da mi skroz ima smisla sto je ovaj album ovdje. Ovo mu je vjerojatno i najvaznije sto je izdao od muzike. Na pocetku odmah krece jako sa hitovima, kasnije se malo razvodni, iako se u ovakvim glam-metal-pop-rock stvarima uvijek nesto dogadja. Osobno mi sve to zvuci slicno i brzo se izliže, obicno nakon 3-4 stvari, ako ne i prije. Tako da necu puno duljiti oko ovog albuma, ovo mi tesko moze ici iznad neke prosjecne ocjene zbog gore navedenih razloga, ali neka ga.
"Slippery When Wet" is the third album by American rock band Bon Jovi. Glam metal, pop metal, pop rock and hard rock. Yep. Critics credit it as an album that turned heavy metal into a radio-friendly format and breakthrough for hair metal. For better or for worse. The big hits were written by Jon Bon Jovi (lead vocals, guitar), Richie Sambora (guitars, synths, backing vocals) and Desmond Child (songwriter). It was a massive success commercially staying at #1 in the US for eight weeks and it also made it up to #6 in the UK. It had generally positive reviews. A held guitar note and spiraling organ keys open the album and the song "Let It Rock." I think they were going for a Deep Purple intro. Sounds very 80's pop metal and overly produced. The band kicks it into a standard rock song. The loud chorus vocals go back and forth with "Woah" and "Let It Rock." The next song starts "Shot to the heart and you're to blame...You give love a bad name." Yeah, a strong, repetitive catchy chorus. Layered guitars and synths. This is the first single and really kickstarted the album commercially. A slow synth intro and that covered guitar with the talk box sound begins "Livin' on a Prayer." Another song with a loud vocal chorus and another one with a cursory guitar solo in mid song (that's most songs on this album). At least Tommy and Gina have each other if he doesn't make it as a guitarist. I wonder if he ever did? Jon compares himself to a cowboy thief in "Wanted Dead or Alive." The song was inspired by Bob Seger's "Turn the Page." They should have just covered that song. Oops, some other heavy metal band did that. More acoustic-guitar based. These lyrics sounded as ridiculous today as they did back in 1986. And, what would a 80's pop metal album be without a ballad. Enter "Never Say Goodbye." He doesn't want the best of times to go away. I will say Jon does give probably his best vocal performance on this song. On the positive side, the album has the guitar and general sound that the late 80's hair metal music would copy, catchy choruses and Jon Bon Jovi appears to be a very good guy. But, what really annoyed me on this album was: the very 80's sounding over-production and over-mixing, the hair metal guitar tricks (whammy bar, voice box), the overuse of loud and repetitive vocal choruses and the word "woah," the cursory mid-song guitar solo on every song, the cursory metal ballad and the memory of bad 80's music (hello Heart). If you can get past these, there's a chance you'll like the album as a whole.
Unfortunately kinda mid
Ugh the prom king rock. I did not enjoy this album as a whole. I liked the singles aka the ones society pushed on me but everything else is dribble.
high school quarterback rock. earns points for it's hugely influential hits, loses points for their oversaturation and the types of people who get hype for them. Also loses points for "hair metal" not holding up as a genre in 2024 https://slate.com/culture/2018/04/how-bon-jovi-influenced-pop-music-despite-its-critics.html
I was never a big fan of Bon Jovi, it's alright.
got halfway through the album. it only made sense.
I enjoy a bit of Bon Jovi. But only a bit. Really only the singles stand out on this album. The rest is very generic 80s rock.
Cheesy pop rock, mostly boring.
Forgettable stuff outside of the anthems.
MOR hair thingie
Had a distaste for this in the 80s, but figured there may be a gem on the songs I may not have heard. I was wrong. JBJ may be a good person, but I'll pass on his music.
Definitely has some hits (3), but the tracks outside of that are so blah whatever that I just don’t care to revisit this. Real boring and samey.
Is this “hard rock”? Come on. I don’t know there’s absolutely nothing this guy does better than anyone in the 80s or late 70s in the hair metal rock space. The hits have catchy ass choruses of course but even those songs are kinda unexciting for me. It also doesn’t sound too good. How is it that sooo many artists made amazing sounding records in the 70s but this one sounds pretty one dimensional? Anyways I don’t like the guy. Fidn’t hate listening to it tho, so it’s a strong 2
Perfect for Karaoke. Otherwise nope.
Most songs sound “samey” or do not stand out on their own; almost any song on this record could be a single since they sound nearly identical. There are great guitar riffs and usage of synths on the record, but the overall listening experience gets boring after a few songs.
Yikes kicking it off with that oddly toned organ solo is ROUGH which makes me feel more comfortable when the butt-rock kicks in. After the initial opening rock song about rocking, subsequentially rolling is established, we got the 2 midwestern 1:15 AM dive bar classic jock jams that I am now, thanks to this list, listening to on purpose for the first time ever. Don't get me wrong, these songs earned that shit because they're VERY well written songs-- written by songwriter Desmond Child, the guy they called in on quite a few rock bands in the hair metal era when they needed something to say beyond "rocking is appealing to me, and also you should consider rocking as well". I'm glad to hear songs by Bon Jovi that are NOT the 3 singles, as I've never heard them, but I'm still not sure I'm interested in hearing them again. It's not that I hate hair metal, but something about Bon Jovi always felt unnecessary. Why do we need a "blue-collar New Jersey" branded hair metal guy? I'm not sure what I'm missing here but whereas 80's Ozzy, Crüe, GNR, even Def Leppard can still get me fired up on the right song, Bon Jovi just sounds like he's selling me something pre-packaged and I guess I need a better story here. When you look at the "flawed but passionate rocking rebel" archtype of the 80's hair metal era, JBJ plays the role, but just comes off like a guy that didn't struggle with much his whole life. I guess I could rewatch his origin story but from what I know, he didn't struggle with addiction, didn't party super hard, married his high school sweetheart, and acheived huge success early in life, and for the most part, kept it. Mind you, I'm not trying to glorify addiction or controversy, but part of what was so appealing about these personas was that their passions burned so brightly that they had difficult times managing a reasonable balance, hence the often larger than life identities. Their addictions, their physical appetites, their grandiosities all stemmed from feeling misunderstood and undervalued, so they created these gigantic personas to compensate. Bon Jovi just doesn't fit in, it's just what was popular at the time so he shook up the hairspray and slid into the leather pants.
This just about sums up all that is wrong with the poodle rock that was so popular in the 80's. But it's catchy, he's a pretty boy and he made millions out of it. I so want to only give it 1 but something is making me give it a 2. Probably the same something that makes me sing along with it.
This really hasn’t aged well has it? Everything about it is pure hair-rock-cliche. The ‘love songs’ on here are just so corny. Did girls in the 1980s really want to hear that and feel loved? I wouldn’t know as whatever I was doing in the 1980s wasn’t working either 🤣
One of the first cassettes I purchased with my own money and purchased Young MC’s Stone Cold Rhymin’ album on the same trip! I still listen to Young MC — Bon Jovi, not so much. Still this was a good blast from the past.
Dull. Uninspiring. Even Livin’ On A Prayer is by the numbers. Plus one of the most toxic women I ever worked with is a massive Bon Jovi fan, to the extent of going over to New Jersey to see them. Not for me
Corny, annoying, dated, especially the second half of the album. Can't deny Livin' on a Prayer slaps though.
Livin' on a Prayer, You Give Love a Bad Name, Wanted Dead or Alive are three great songs. The rest is corny thrash. Has aged very poorly. 2*
Bon Jovi, Rock an der Schwelle zu Pop, gute Songs zur damaligen Zeit aber heute etwas verstaubt.
Cheeseball hair-band music. I'm so glad the era of metal pop has passed.
This was difficult to get through because it's just so cheesy, and I can only listen to Mr. Bovine Joni for so long. Not my thing but I get why people at the time were into it.
There are some songs I like on this - but the album as a whole is absolutely atrocious. The vocals sound like a nasty exhaust pipe. I think the album succeeds when it gets quieter, but unfortunately everything seems to be chucked in together as loud as possible. The kick drums, synths, power chords, and synths all feel so overindulgent; its like taking a five course meal and drinking it as a smoothie. I do think I might like the album a bit more if it was better mixed though. Best Song: Living on a Prayer Worst Track: I'd Die For You
There are some records that I don’t think I am capable of giving a totally fair shot to. This is one of those. The music I listened to as a teen killed the hair metal category and this is one of those hair metal albums that seem like cheesy music to me. Don’t get me wrong, I will enjoy when the hits come on at a party or bar. So context matters. But all in all I struggle with the music as like I’ve said above it all feels a little excessive and put on.
Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Poison, etc. all basically collapse into a single point in my mind. Over processed glam rock with 80s tropes beaten to death. Ya know, I don't have a ton of love for the Bon Jovi sound, but in isolation You Give Love A Bad Name is a pop rock jam. Hook is catchy as hell and the instrumentals are all very solid. Livin' On a Prayer on the other hand, I am so tired of. Most interesting point here is the vocoder/talk-box work. Otherwise, Bon Jovi just sounds like he is going to crap himself. Also doesn't help that I have heard this about 10000 times. Social Disease, while having an intro that I'd rather not play in public, is one of the better songs so far. Though I feel like the horns are unnecessary and give a new wave-ish vibe (a la Huey Lewis' Hip to Be Square). Raise Your Hands is the vapid sort of song whose only purposes is to tuck into live shows and call out the name of the host city for a little extra applause. Hell they even pumped in simulated crowd noise into the mix... Welp, I made it through and I don't feel like a better person for it. This particular style of music really doesn't connect for me. Something about the vocals really rubs me like they are trying too hard. Add also the 80s bombastic production where songs feel overstuffed with elements, and it makes for a bad time mm'kay. 2 / 5.
Jovi Bon. Pop metal at it's most average.
I really dislike Bon Jovi's brand of pop rock ballads, but Wanted Dead or Alive is class
Ah boyyy, look I had high hopes and it was close to a 3 but too much of it gave me too much second hand embarrassment. I guess that's my problem but these are my stars to give.
I hated this as a 15 year old and it hasn’t gotten any better. 1 point boost for Wanted Dead or Alive. While I still hate it, it does have a slight bit of creativity to it. The rest of the album is garbage.
The hits are radio rock fodder, but pleasant enough. I wanted there to be some underrated jam on this album, but no dice. Maybe I'm being too harsh here, but this is the definition of 80s rock mediocrity. I must admit I am a sucker for that synth keyboard.
Pretty much as expected. I didn't hate it and occasionally got my head bobbing, but I wouldn't seek it out.
Quintessential 80s. This is all the hits. This is exactly what I expected. I still hate it. More and more the 80s across many genres is my least favourite era.
As expected. Cheese as all hell
Not really for me, but you can't argue with its slickness and energy!
I understand this meant a lot in the 80s. But seriously? Bon Jovi?
pure cheese
The guitar work elevates this from a 1 star rating. Horrible cliched karaoke fodder.
I've heard Livin' On A Prayer a million times. It's a certified white boy classic. Truly nothing quite like it. When you really sit down and listen to it and all it's siblings on the album, you get a good feel for how absolutely incredible Bon Jovi is at making a keyboard sound like a 4 years old is just smashing the keys over and over and over until you shoot yourself in the head. There's a certain kind of art to that, you know?
This is a well made and recorded record. That is everything nice I can say about it. I don’t like this at all. So inauthentic sounding. Just the worst parts of the 80’s. Music made for car commercials featuring a pickup truck driving over random piles of dirt and rocks to show how “off road” the four wheel drive is followed by that same truck driven in the city with the whole family riding to show the comfort and luxury followed by the truck pulling a trailer of 2x4s or an ATV to show the towing capacity. This album makes me want to listen to more Bruce Springsteen, the superior New Jersey artist. I understand why someone might like this so it escapes a 1.
Thoughts before listening: Well I guess this should at least be fun to listen to. Bon Jovi is one of those bands that you know are cheesy as hell, but you can't help singing along to the hits. I know this is one of their most popular albums so I'm sure there will be tons of well known songs. Review: "I've seen a million faces and I've rocked them all". Man this is such an over the top cheesy 80s pop hard rock album, but "Livin' On a Prayer" and "Wanted Dead or Alive" are great. Those 2 songs have remained mainstays of classic rock radio, sports arenas, and karaoke nights for a reason. They're big and dumb epic rock songs and there's nothing wrong with that. The other big hit on this album "You Give Love a Bad Name" doesn't quite rise above the cheeseball aspect, and I'd say the same for the album cuts. There's nothing on here that's pulling me in like those 2 main hits. 2-stars
The best songs are the ones written by Desmond Child. The only sole Bon Jovi written song is "Dead or Alive". The rest of their song are extremely mid. I didn't like this 35+ years ago when I was 12 and I still don't like it lol
I had had all I could take of Bon Jovi by the time this album was released. Not exaggerating when I say that I heard Shot Through the Heart ever day of lunch during high school.
The ugly, broken, second hand 4x4 truck of music that your dad just can't leave behind
Very boring!
I will confess this album does bring back some good memories. However, this is a really dumb, idiotic collection of songs that hurt my brain to the point I may have to see a doctor because this album causes concussions. Advil required.
Some rock hits, karaoke central, overall falls flat
I realize with this project I'm gonna have to listen to a lot of albums and artists I'm not remotely interested in. This is one of them.
OK pop music.
If you ever need an album to envisage American High School in the 80's (The good, the bad and the incredibly suspicious), listen to this. Also: headphones on for the start of Track 4 if you're in a public place.
Very bland 80s stuff, throwing in some questionable 80s glam lyrics... I would give 1.5 if I could, but Dead or Alive is a great song so I feel okay with giving it a 2. Definitely not without merit, but not a great album in my mind.
I appreciate other music more because I listened to this. It is must listen because it makes me enjoy music that isn't this album.
It’s actually spelled Bongiovi. I got through the first few songs but it’s honestly just typical overproduced 80’s nonsense. The man can sing and Richie Sambora can kinda riff but this is the soundtrack to teasing your hair to Mars and jumping in some guys T top Camaro for a cruise down Broadway. Pop rock as fuck with no real purpose except to party with someone named Sharon and smoke Newport 500s. No thanks.
I could just copy and paste my Def Leppard review from a few months back, as I feel the same way about this. It's bland over-produced rock music made for stadiums, it sounds souless to me. The singles are fun, but that's probably nostalgia talking. The rest has nothing to offer me, lyrically or musically. It's the rock equivalent of listening to Taylor Swift or Ed Sheeran, it's really not for me.
Huge yeet dispensable AOR.
Not that good
Not my thing!
i know living on a prayer and you give love a bad name and those are popular for a reason but generally not my vibe
-Oh no, not Bon Jovi! Maybe it will be something different from the hits I've heard?Well shit, all three songs I could think of are there, and it's... not that bad actually. Wish I had listened to this album as a teenager, then maybe it would have had a tiny chance. Feels like something produced by 80's business men, perhaps well made in detail, but lacking any semblance of soul or depth. And that voice gets old fast. Best song of the album: Living on a prayer. Worst: Never say goodbye
I was expecting to enjoy it but obviously ic changed. Not for me now
Obviously I haven't listened to this album in its entirety in the past. It was probably always the same three songs. "Wanted Dead or Alive", "You Give Love a Bad Name" and especially "Livin' on a Prayer" kept popping up on party playlists. These songs are indeed fun at a party. The rest is insignificant and boring. But now I understand better why my brother, who sees himself more in the heavy metal corner, reacted rather sourly when he was compared to Bon Jovi. 2/5
Rocking out with your cocking out. Music for meatheads, and the girls who wanted vanilla hair metal. Except Wanted Dead Or Alive - that is epic. East coast cowboys....
Not my jam at all, but not a *bad* record. I guess it can be liked if it's your style. But for me there's nothing to go back to
1-2, всичките ме дразнят
2.5 Surprised to see this is listed as Metal/Hard Rock with no mention of Pop. Pop isn't necessarily a negative for me, but I would call this soft metal if anything. Not moved by anything other than the usual suspects. I admit I may not be giving those three track their due based on sheer oversaturation, but there's only so many times one can listen to them before you die. Cool guitar though.
Honestly, I was ready for a lot worse than this.
The type of shit my little brother used to listen to when we were younger. I liked a couple songs but most were way too similar and boring.
5/10
This did not make me wet.