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After their meteoric rise in the 80s, Bon Jovi spent most of the next decade weathering the trends and outlasting the tag of being a hair-metal band. After the hard-rockin hedonism of Slippery When Wet and New Jersey , both 90s albums (Keep the Faith and These Days) were about getting serious. There were more epics, more stories and a lot less fist-waving. Both had darker lyrics than usual, and Keep the Faith included Dry County, their first and only ten-minute track. The results were critical praise but a lower commercial profile. For the first time, the Jersey lads were in danger of a long-term career built on playing their old hits.

But Crush changed all that, rebooting the band when it arrived in June 2000. The album opens with a trio of hit singles, but there isnt a song here that wouldnt jump right out of the radio. Its really the first Bon Jovi album that doesnt aim for a unified sound, giving each track a feel of its own. They do sleek and modern, they do guitar-slinging retro, post-grunge and pure pop, depending on what a song calls for. There are also a few hints of the Americana direction theyd head in over the next decade.

Listen to Crush on Apple Music and Spotify.

Much of Crushs success can be credited to an infusion of new blood. Bassist Hugh McDonald was now settled in the band, having replaced Alec John Such in Bon Jovis first-ever personnel change a move that initially shocked fans who thought the five-way partnership was unshakeable. Another key player who took a backseat this time around was songwriter Desmond Child, who added the hit sheen to You Give Love a Bad Name and Livin On A Prayer. Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora did the lions share of writing on Crush and the main co-writer was Billy Falcon, an upstart whose only previous major credit was co-writing (with Bon Jovi) Sometimes Its a B__ch for Stevie Nicks.

Most surprisingly, theres no big-name producer involved with Crush. Hitmaker Bruce Fairbairn was set to produce before his sudden heart attack, followed by Metallica man Bob Rock who was also considered. Finally, Bon Jovi and Sambora decided to co-produce with Luke Ebbins a young guy with plenty of ideas and zero hits to his credit. The gamble paid off, and Crush came out sounding polished but fresh, with no obvious fingerprints on it.

While theres more to Crush than its hit singles, lets dive right into the hit singles. For most bands, Its My Life is the kind of song that comes along once in a career an undeniable anthem, with a universal message and an unshakeable hook. From the two pounded chords that open, it has the sparkle of a pop hit, but its also steeped in classic rock. During promotions for the album, Jon Bon Jovi freely admitted he pinched the songs title and attitude from the Animals. The lyric also namechecks Sinatra and checks in with Tommy and Gina from Livin On a Prayer turns out theyre doing fine and Sambora caps it all off with a talkbox solo, likely the last one to appear on a hit single.

The second single, Say It Isnt So, pulls off the neat trick of sounding like Humble Pie in the verses and The Beatles in the choruses, while Thank You for Loving Me is the albums obligatory ballad, this time done with real strings (and a nice Sambora riff at the very end).

Sambora does some of his best work between the lines, including a few big moments on Next 100 Years, which is a three-minute song with a four-minute coda. It starts as a catchy love song, then pulls a chanted Hey Jude-type fade before the band revs up and Sambora cuts loose. Its a live-sounding moment and tops the list of singles that should have been.

In the period leading up to the 90s and then post-9/11, Bon Jovi got political, but Crush marked the bands return to pure, uncomplicated fun. Long-haul fans doubtlessly appreciated Just Older, a rousing tune that argued hitting middle age was no big deal. And anyone who remembered the 70s had to appreciate Captain Crash & the Beauty Queen from Mars, the only Bon Jovi song that clearly nods to the glitter era. (Even the title sounds like a lost Mott the Hoople track). The finale, One Wild Night, is such a fist-waver that it became the title of a live album a year later.

But the buried treasure on Crush is I Got the Girl, tucked away toward the end. Musically it encapsulates the album, starting as moody electronic pop and then chord-slinging in the chorus. Lyrically it appears to be one more Bon Jovi song about lucking out and finding the perfect partner, until he comes up with the easy-to-miss line the Queen of Hearts will always be a five-year-old princess to me. Yes, hes singing about his daughter, pulling the same narrative trick Chuck Berry did on Memphis. Its the kind of moment that keeps Bon Jovi honest, and a little endearing: Behind all that streamlined pop and arena fireworks sits a beaming dad.

Crush can be bought here.

Listen to the best of Bon Jovi on Apple Music and Spotify.

Read the original here:
Crush: How Stadium Heroes Bon Jovi Reclaimed The Rock Scene - uDiscover Music

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