After already having revealed what we think are the 5 best Bon Jovi concerts of the past 40 years we're celebrating the upcoming release of new track ‘Living Proof' this Friday (17th May) by looking at what we think are the best 10 Bon Jovi songs of this century.
‘Living Proof' is taken from new album, ‘Forever' which is out June 7th and the snippets of it available online seem to be hinting towards something of a classic Bon Jovi banger! With that in mind we thought you might like to see what we consider the band's best songs since the ‘Crush' album in 2000 have been.
It's My Life
If ‘Livin on a Prayer' was the song that drove the band forward in the first part of their career, ‘It's My Life' was the song that dominated and defined the second phase. Lead single from the ‘Crush' album, ‘It's My Life' gave the band the shot-in-the-arm that it needed on a comeback that some people didn't even think would happen after Jon seemed to want to walk away from music after ‘These Days' and become an actor.
Just Older
Another song from the ‘Crush' album, ‘Just Older' is a kind of ‘Blood on Blood' part II which finds Jon ruminating on the ageing process and finding peace in some of the changes. An absolute banger that hasn't featured enough in the live sets over the years.
Undivided
Written in the aftermath of the 9-11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, ‘Undivided' is a dark yet uplifting track about togetherness and resilience from 2002's ‘Bounce' album which saw the band conflicted about what sort of album they wanted to release. It was originally slated to be all 9-11 inspired and then some changes were made to the track list which saw the album become a little bipolar. Another track that the band haven't played live enough in this second phase of their career.
Last Man Standing
This track, from the ‘Have a Nice Day' album suffered from the success of the title track, which had its own little ‘It's My Life' time in the sun, commercially. This was Jon's attempt to position himself as the last remaining authentic musician in the face of auto-tune and backing tracks and it should have been the opening song on the live set list for many years to come. Dramatic and meaningful, it came and went with little fuss outside of the die-hard circles.
Dirty Little Secret
An absolute Jon, Richie and Desmond Child banger (although John Shanks also gets a writing credit too as his influence on the band began its embryonic journey) – this was a song that made it onto the ‘Have a Nice Day' album as a bonus track. Bon Jovi have a habit of leaving some of their best songs off albums – ‘Edge of a Broken Heart' should have been on ‘Slippery When Wet,' ‘Love is War' would have slayed on ‘New Jersey,' ‘Starting All Over Again' was ‘Keep the Faith's missing gem, ‘Neurotica' should have been on ‘Crush' and ‘Postcards From the Wasteland' would have improved ‘Bounce'
‘Dirty Little Secret' would have been a huge hit as a single, let alone as an album track, and it remains one of the biggest mistakes the band have ever made.
Brokenpromiseland
What an atmospheric, ambitious song this is. From it's anthemic beginnings as the drums and backing vocals slowly come in to the dramatic opening line of ‘Angels falling from the sky, imagine that,' to the singalong chorus this song defines everything that was good about Bon Jovi in the 21st century – taking their tried and tested rock blueprint and twisting it into something slightly different and very, very unique – they haven't done that enough but when they do, it's music magic!
Love's the Only Rule
Another song, like ‘Brokenpromiseland,' from ‘The Circle' album that sees the band stretching their creative chops a little whilst still remaining true to their rock origins. Jon channels a kind of Coldplay-esque vibe with that repeating guitar line which is very different to anything else they ever did before or after. Fans of songs like ‘Social Disease' and '99 in the Shade' might have struggled to recognise the band on songs like ‘Love's the Only Rule' but this was the band evolving, ageing and growing.
That's What the Water Made Me
If you've watched the recent four-part documentary on Disney+ you'll have seen the bit in part 3 where Richie Sambora name checks the ‘What About Now' album as the beginning of the end of his tenure in the band as John Shanks' influence begins to assert itself in Jon's mind. ‘That's What the Water Made Me' is probably the best song on that album and the one song that really feels like it's been dipped in that ‘Bon Jovi DNA' – maybe it's Richie's backing vocals? Who knows. Great song though.
Fingerprints
Taken from the ‘Burning Bridges' album which was Jon's attempt to get some content out in order to fulfil a record deal with Mercury Records it was a surprise hit with fans, featuring some interesting songs that Jon described as ‘unfinished' and we described as ‘different & interesting.' ‘Burning Bridges' doesn't have John Shanks lighter, more technical sound all over it, (despite the fact that he was producer and co-writer at this point!) meaning it was consequently well received by the long term fan base! ‘Fingerprints' is a kind of hazy, mazy, Beatles-esque track that is nearly 6 minutes long. There's some terrific guitar work on it and it feels unique and original.
Luv Can
Another bloody bonus track that is better than the main songs on the album! Taken from the band's ‘2020' album, this song, despite it's ridiculous spelling, is an ‘Always'-like masterpiece that builds and builds. Again, there's a darkness underpinning the sound and style of the music as Jon sings about the power of love over the top. When JBJ writes a banger of ballad, he really knocks it out of the part. Think ‘I'll Be There For You,' ‘Bed of Roses' and the aforementioned ‘Always', ‘Luv Can' is as good as those ‘gold standard' ballads.
Close but no cigar: Blood on the Water, We Don't Run, One Wild Night, Any Other Day, This House is Not For Sale, Have a Nice Day, Novocaine, Happy Now.
