The New Jersey based hard rock band Bon Jovi fronted by lead singer Jon Bon Jovi, was formed in the early 1980s and since then their singles and albums practically did not leave the leading chart positions. Having sold over 120 million records worldwide and performed live almost in every capital of the world the band has created several eternal hits including Always and It's My Life, for which it has been twice nominated for Grammy. The current year has become somewhat jubilee for Bon Jovi because the band's long expected tenth studio album Lost Highway is finally released. As Jon Bon Jovi has claimed, the record is based on freedom in expression and freedom in music, which has actually lead the band to a splendid mixture of its most soulful rock, refined with outstanding guitars, and country music. This has been dictated by the success of country version of 2006's single Who Says You Can't Go Home, performed with Jennifer Nettles and highly appreciated by the American audience.
The album's main themes are life and love and their mutual interlace, as usually it usually goes with Bon Jovi. Naturally the band has not become an utterly country collective, and all the tracks confirm it fully. The point is that there are much more reflection and melancholy on some of them, and all the songs are remarkable for artfully written verses. The opening title composition Lost Highway has a nice optimistic feel to it, and Summertime conquers with powerful drums. The lead single off the album, You Want To (Make A Memory) is a soft ballad telling of two people in love who have been parted by the destiny and met again many years after. The romantics of the plot is added by the musical performance, where there are melodious acoustic guitars and a piano, and Jon's voice sounds as soulful as it never did before. Guitars play the leading part on Whole Lot Of Leaving, a real Bon Jovi song gradually growing more and more impetuous. A beautiful ballad Till We Ain't Strangers Anymore performed with LeAnn Rimes lets Jon demonstrate that his vocals can still stretch far and render the strongest emotions, and One Step Closer is refined with country-esque fiddles, that harmoniously combine with the band's playing. At the end of the record live songs including You Want To (Make A Memory) and the final composition Put The Boy Back In The Cowboy (Live) prove that the band is in a great form on the stage. On the whole it is quite an undertaking to find any drawbacks on Lost Higway, and it is sure to please all Bon Jovi fans.
No matter how much time has passed since Bon Jovi's eponymous debut album hit the stores for the first time – in all probability time has got no power on the band's members. The relative stability of the basic line-up also confirms that. This year the band has been joined by two new musicians: bassist Hugh McDonald and rhythm guitarist Bobby Bandiera, but irreplaceable guitarists Richie Sambora and David Bryan and of course Jon himself are together from the very beginning. One cannot help noticing that such loyalty to oneself and one's friends is a grand plus for any band as there appears no need to teach the newcomers, informing them of all the secrets, and all the stylistic changes occur gradually harmoniously corresponding with the members' wishes. That is what happened when it came to Lost Highway. Although we do not speak here of any pivotal changes, there have appeared new elements in the sounding which have wonderfully went along with the loved-by-many rock of Bon Jovi. Therefore, even if Lost Highway is going to surprise anybody, none will be left disappointed.
To Love AgainWith To Love Again the acclaimed musician triumphantly follows the path paved by Carlos Santana, Ray Charles and Herbie Hancock. Sting, Michael Buble, Gladys Knight and Steven Tyler as well as some heavyweight jazz talents lend Botti a hand