Bon Jovi

What About Now

Written by: PP on 05/06/2013 23:52:45

In a recent interview I conducted with Converge's Jacob Bannon, we discussed the idea of a legacy band, or as he put it, a band that relies almost exclusively on their hit material from decades ago. Bon Jovi must fall squarely underneath that category, because it is practically impossible to argue for their relevance in 2013. You could reasonably state that not since 2000's "Crush" have they released anything of value to the music industry, a trend which their 12th studio album "What About Now?" continues unabated.

Because if there ever was an album full of sappy love ballads riddled with clichés played completely on autopilot, it is this one. It's full of soft, over-romanticized songs that are as cheesy as they are forgettable, as bland as they are uninspired. Admittedly there was a time when Bon Jovi wrote some of the greatest love songs in the history of rock, but that time was at least two decades ago, and that time certainly isn't on "What About Now?", which presents us a version of Bon Jovi where all the rock'n'roll danger has been removed from the equation. Okay, so that hasn't been a part of their charm since "It's My Life", but the fact that they continue writing this type of cheesefest stadium ballads album after album is starting to become a little bit ridiculous. What's worse, the rock star persona of Jon Bon Jovi himself doesn't translate through at all anymore, and instead, the vocalist singing on this album sounds more like a has-been than anything else.

Yes, the title track is fairly catchy, and the 80s pop styled "Because We Can" is surely a fun experience in the midst of thousands of people in a live environment, but musically it is honestly just not very good. The big acoustic anthem "I'm With You" borrows the same chord progression as Oasis' classic "Wonderwall", and while it's an OK track, it's never more than that. Forgettable, bland, and uninspiring. That's the three words best describing "What About Now".

5

Download: What About Now, I'm With You, Thick As Thieves
For the fans of: Aerosmith, Whitesnake
Listen: Facebook

Release date 08.03.2013
Island Records

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