Music Lost Highway
Digital Life Average Rating:

Rating: - Not Bad!
The album is not bad. I was expecting the same music that was on his cable concert and that is not what was on the album. So including the diapointment that the main song I wanted was not on it I have to say that the album was just "OK".

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Rating: - Artistic Statement (?)
For 25 years Bon Jovi has been keeping the Jersey Shore Sound alive, but unless Southside and others (most famously The Boss) they have always been combining it. This time the choice fell on country. Yes, it's not a joke, it's country... although using a banjo in the background or just having "Big & Rich" sing with you doesn't necessarily constitute Country... or Western for that matter.

And let's be frank, Jon can give a thousand more interviews telling everybody who doesn't want to hear it that evolving into country is just an artistic statement, this record has foremost paid off econonomically for the band. It was just a given that any country-pop-rock-combination would work in small-town America, the first Billboard #1 debut since "New Jersey" is just proof of that.

But let's stick with Jon's argument: Let's assume that this album is just an artistic statement, just about the beauty of writing songs, and not about selling tickets or anything. If the art tells us anything about the artist, then the question is obvious: Is this new direction a sign for a creative burnout? Or is this album to the band what a haircut is to an abandoned woman?*) Or, to concentrate on other members of the band, to a failed acting career?

Disregarding that, there is just one bottom line: If you buy Bon Jovi, you get Bon Jovi, no matter what. You get the Jersey Shore, the Pop, the Rock, the Captain Kidd, the King of Swing, the Tommy, the Gina, the Country (attempt), the Live Experience... the uncomparable... just the good ole Bon Jovi. They've given us the soundtrack to all of our Twentysomethings' lives.

Keep the faith these days-ly,
Team Heaton

*) By the way: Alcohol is not the answer, even if you just broke your shoulder.

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Rating: - Another great Bon Jovi album
I got this as soon as it came out. Another great album from the guys in NJ. It certainly has a much more country sound than any of their earlier work, but that's not a bad thing. A slightly different flavor, but still distinctly Bon Jovi. Didn't like it quite as much as Have a Nice Day, but it's still a great album.

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Rating: - No more than average (2 1/2 stars)
Personally I don't like Bon Jovis's evolution. I know times have changed, but one thing I know is that music does not have a time, I listen to Bach, music that was written more than 300 years ago and it moves you and touches your soul. I listen to any of this album's songs, and they don't even come close to a song like "You give love a bad name" or "Bad Medicine", and I am not even going to compare them to "Wanted Dead or Alive". What happened to their music?, this CD is just average, not even a shadow of the music they composed in their early years. I guess inspiration has gone. If you are new to Bon Jovi I suggest you buy the best of them, when they still had the magic: "Slippery when wet" and "New Jersey" have the energy lacking in their latest albums. Just try and compare any song, you will see what I mean. If anyone disagrees with me, your opinion is welcome, I just need to know what happened to them, could you explain it to me?? Because I don't get it.
Anyway, this album has two songs I think they are OK:
- whole lot of leaving
- Stranger