Poll Results: Favourite Bon Jovi album

The poll is now closed and results are as follows.

Bon Jovi (0 votes)
7800° Fahrenheit (1 vote)
Slippery When Wet (3)
New Jersey (15)
Keep the Faith (2)
These Days (11)
Crush (1)
Bounce (1)
Have a Nice Day (1)
Lost Highway (3)
Other (1)

This is only 39 votes and out of millions of Bon Jovi fans worldwide, so it's a very small sample, but the results came as a bit of a surprise personally. I knew New Jersey and These Days were fan favourites but I didn't think it would be quite so lop-sided. I thought Slippery might have received a few more votes, for example.
Lost Highway was a divisive album among fans but technically got the equal third number of votes.

Thanks to everyone for voting and of course for reading the blog. :)

Something to Believe In

My previous post was for David Bryan's birthday on February 7, but unfortunately that date will now be a permanent scar in Australian history due to the horrific Victorian bushfires. As I write this, the official death toll stands at 181 but is expected to climb. Hundreds have been admitted to hospital. More than 1000 homes have been destroyed. Entire towns have been wiped out. Worse still, some of the fires were deliberately lit. But the ongoing bushfire disaster has also brought out the best in the community, with people keen to do their bit to help by donating time, money, and much needed supplies.

I've been thinking of the right Bon Jovi song to play. The obvious one, I guess, would be "Undivided" but I was in the mood for something acoustic. I've gone with this performance of one of my favourite songs, "Something to Believe In". I think it's live from Minneapolis circa 2003 (please correct me if I'm wrong).



Donations can be made to the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal.

Happy birthday Dave!

And celebrating his 47th birthday today, on the keys if you please, Mr David Bryan!

David Bryan Rashbaum was born February 7, 1962. :)

Here's a picture of him with Chris Jahnke and Joe DiPietro on the set of Memphis.

Will Richie Sambora ever release his solo album?

With the band working on the next Bon Jovi album, Richie fans might be wondering if that third solo album will ever be released. After all, Richie's been talking about a follow-up to Stranger In This Town and Undiscovered Soul since about 2000, and seemed to be working on it post-Lost Highway tour until Jon came calling. I'm starting to get excited about a new Bon Jovi album (and tour?) but I love the solo work that was done in the 90s and would love to see where the guys are at individually these days.

Now if destiny should ever grant me the opportunity to wax lyrical with Richie Sambora, and he should ask for input into his album, I'll be able to give him the perfect title:



Okay, I admit the only reason for this post was to show off that picture. But if you're not so keen on my sense of humour (or if you don't get the joke), here are a couple of great Soundstage videos of our Richie with legendary blues man B.B. King.

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL


THE THRILL IS GONE

Jon & Richie on Countdown Revolution (1989)

Been looking at some vintage footage on Youtube and thought I'd share these. A couple of interviews with Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora on the now-defunct Australian music show Countdown Revolution. Filmed in promotion of the New Jersey tour, there's no hint of the tension that threatened to break up the band between the late 80s and early 90s, at least nothing that I noticed.

Aussie Aussie Aussie...

Arena Football might be suspended but there is still the Super Bowl. If I remember, I'll get up early on Monday morning our time to watch it. I've never actually watched a full game of American football in my life, but former Geelong Cats star Ben Graham is going to be the first Aussie in the Super Bowl. Even though he's just a punter, it's my patriotic duty to barrack for Arizona. (I guess the American equivalent of "barrack" in the previous sentence would be "root", but in Australia, to "root" means to have sex. Free language lesson for you. Gotta love regional slang.) Plus Bruce Springsteen is playing at half time, even if it's only for 12 minutes.

Ben Graham's 85-metre kick-in, 1999 Australian Football League season:


And the "We Got It Going On" Arena football promo:

Poll: Favourite Bon Jovi album?

There's a new poll up on the right hand side of this blog. Pretty straightforward question: What is your favourite album? I only listed the band's studio albums of new material, but there is an option for "Other" if you're a fan of This Left Feels Right or the solo albums or whatever.

Personally I'm a big fan of Bon Jovi's 90s output, both band and solo, and These Days is my favourite album by any artist. That's almost the cliche favourite among diehards, but to quote JD from Scrubs "If my heart could write songs, they'd sound like these." (Zach Braff's character was talking about a Dido album, but it's still a cool quote.) On the other hand, I've been a bit critical of Bon Jovi's work this decade overall, but Have a Nice Day was released at a pivotal point in my life and has a special meaning to me too.

Point is, Bon Jovi has been around for quarter of a century now, and has fans spanning at least three generations, whose tastes and experiences are vastly different.

PS - I didn't spell "favourite" wrong; I'm Australian, and we use British spellings. :P