Over on BlueSky, my friend Mame and I decided we were gonna do a chronological Bon Jovi discography revisitation and pick what we thought were the three best songs off each album. We’re going to include live albums and some compliations, as well as Jon’s solo stuff (at least, we’re going to do BLAZE OF GLORY. I assume we’re also doing DESTINATION ANYWHERE, but I haven’t verified that yet). That’s more than twenty albums, and IDK if we’re doing weekends, so it’ll take a while to get through it all!
We’re having a great time, but from the start, this has proved much more difficult than anticipated, so I decided I’d write up blog posts by decade about our thoughts on the matter. :D
Mame came out strong on BON JOVI (1984) with:
Get Ready
Runaway
Come Back
and I was sure I was gonna disagree with two of three of those.
…well, I was sure, but I wasn’t right.
A distinct problem I had with judging them is that one of my favorite songs on the album, Shot Through the Heart, is objectively not one of its best. But I love it because it’s the first glimpse at how Bon Jovi, as a band, comes back to ideas/phrases/characters & reworks them until they shine.
7800° FAHRENHEIT (1985)
I don’t think of this as a great album, so I was surprised that it took some effort to whittle it down to:
Tokyo Road
In and Out of Love
To the Fire
as my cautious top three choices for best songs. Mame went with Tokyo Road as well, but chose King of the Mountain and The Hardest Part is the Night, which I absolutely can’t fault. It’s not a bad album, and I considered two other songs entirely, but it doesn’t have the “this is impossible” aspect to it that…
SLIPPERY WHEN WET (1986) does.
I’m sorry. This one is impossible. I’ve got to go with Living on a Prayer and Never Say Goodbye, but I got so caught up in trying to decide between Wanted Dead or Alive and Raise Your Hands that I FORGOT You Give Love a Bad Name was ON this album! And I’d Die For You, because LORD but the line “In a world that don’t know Romeo & Juliet” hits like a gong, I have ALWAYS loved that particular line, and the whole pre chorus is delicious:
In a world that don’t know Romeo and Juliet
Boy meets girl and promises we can’t forget
We are cast from Eden’s gate with no regrets
Into the fire, we cry
::flails::!
Mame said “I listened to the album twice before remembering I had to pick a list” and settled on Living on a Prayer and Wanted but said he was gonna have to listen to it again to choose between Raise Your Hands and You Give Love a Bad Name, and then I confessed to having forgotten about You Give Love even being ON the album but for god’s sake it OPENS with Let It Rock which is a pure banger, and Mame said, “I went nuts on Let it Rock. I’ve been singing it the last two hours. And it doesn’t even make top three. Or maybe it does, maybe it’s all top three. Or top two. Living on a Prayer and then All Top. It’s hard to believe NJ is even better. This revisitation is the best thing I’ve ever done.”
So we’ve decided that basically yes, yes, Living On A Prayer, then everything else as #2. Maybe Social Disease as #3. :D
HOWEVER! My son weighed in with strong decisive opinions on the matter, so at least SOMEBODY can choose (his favorites, which is perhaps not exactly the same as the best, but who’s to say it isn’t?)! :D
Me, downstairs, to my husband: “…and it’s not the best song on the album, but that one line in I’d Die For You hits like a gong–”
Son, not yet even actually out of bed yet, yelling from upstairs: THAT’S MY FAVORITE SONG ON THE ALBUM!!!
Me: WHAT ARE YOUR TOP THREE?
Indy, getting out of bed so he can yell down the stairs more easily: I’D DIE FOR YOU, NEVER SAY GOODBYE, and YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME
Indy, a moment later: LIVING ON A PRAYER IS ALSO REALLY GOOD
So there you have it, two adults who can’t make a decision on the top songs from that album to save their lives, and one teenager who’s sure of himself. :D
NEW JERSEY (1988)
Mame came out strong again with confident opinions that this is a perfect album and there are no weak spots and that everything is top three, but unlike with SLIPPERY, he was able to call out three specific favorites/bests, with the delighted report that “nothing has changed in thirty years and never will:”
Lay Your Hands On Me
Blood on Blood
Wild is the Wind
and I cannot disagree with any of those, which only leans into “basically perfect,” because, look, I have STRUGGLED to winnow it down to
Lay Your Hands On Me
Bad Medicine
Born To Be My Baby
but I’m not strictly sure I can live with myself for denying 99 In The Shade and I’ll Be There For You, so if you add those and Mame’s two I rejected, I mean…that’s seven out of twelve songs and I love Living In Sin, so, like… god damn. :D
I will be bold and say Homebound Train is the least song on the album. There. I’ve said it.
Going on to the 90s next!