Audio CD review:
Bon Jovi - Keep the Faith

Bon Jovi - Keep the Faith

Band: Bon Jovi Title: Keep the Faith Rating: Release Date: 03 November, 1992 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: I Believe 2: Keep The Faith 3: I'll Sleep When I'm Dead 4: In These Arms 5: Bed Of Roses 6: If I Was Your Mother 7: Dry County 8: Woman In Love 9: Fear 10: I Want You 11: Blame It On The Love Of Rock and Roll 12: Little Bit Of Soul

Customer Reviews The Last Great Bon Jovi Record. This is an opinion that I am somewhat inclined to agree with. Some previous reviewers called this the last great record by Bon Jovi. To be sure, the records that follow "Keep the Faith" have some great moments. But this was the last one to have real consistency and a good edge. Starting with # 4 "New Jersey," Bon Jovi started to change his direction of music. On this 6th record, he continues to try some different things, but he does provide his old 80s fans with some decent tracks. The record begins with 'I believe. ' This is most akin to "New Jersey's" 'Lay Your Hands On Me. ' (A good opener, but not in the zone of 'Slippery When Wet. ) Then comes the title track. 'Keep the Faith' is also a great "New Jersey" type song with a good chorus. 'Sleep When I'm Dead' is a nice almost square dance song with a rock edge. 'In These Arms' is akin to "New Jersey's" 'Wild Is The Wind' and 'I'll Be There For You. ' A great song with emotion and a moderate rock edge. 'Bed of Roses' is a nice piano edged tune. It's unlike anything on his previous records, and it shows that Bon Jovi is willing to try new things. I didn't much like 'If I Was Your Mother. ' But one could probably find some way to advocate for it. 'Dry County' is a long, but good song. It's a well done social awareness song. Moving on, 'Women' sounds like an attempt to recreate a "Slippery When Wet" tone. But it is the track 'Fear' where Bon Jovi really does succeed in giving us a taste of the "Slippery When Wet" days. 'All I Wanted Was You' is a bit clicheish. But if you can get past this, it is alright. 'Blame It On the Love of Rock & Roll' is a really catchy song that reflects "New Jersey. " 'Little Bit O Soul' is somewhat low key, but some people like the last song on a record to be so. Despite the fact that Bon Jovi showed that he could manage alone on "Blaze of Glory," it was really nice that he and the group got back together to make this great reunion record. While it offers some new touches, Bon Jovi did not forget his old 80s fans. . Bon Jovi's Answer To The 90's Grunge Bands After playing with the best of the hair-metal bands in the 80's (ex. What I like best about this album is the maturity they showed. Poison, Winger, etc. ), this was a great way to keep the Bon Jovi fans of the world happy. Great ballads and rockers, keep this album at the top of my best of the 90's list. The longer songs they put together on here also was a plus from the 3 minute grunge rock of this time. It takes me 3 minutes before I can even get into a song and this was epitimy of what mature music should sound like. Jon, Richie and the rest of the band are on the top of there game here and I don't think any of the cd's after this one really reach the beauty of this album as a whole. I highly recommend this album to Bon Jovi fans old and new. After all they are the best New Jersey band. . Simply Put - Bon Jovi at their Best At this time, the sound of pop music was moving away from synthesizers and hard rock was becoming much more a part of the 80s landscape. When Bon Jovi hit it big in 1986, the music industry was ready for them. Bon Jovi would parlay this into superstardom with the release of "Slippery When Wet". They would soon follow-up with "New Jersey" in 1989 which continued to ride the hard rock wave. By the time 1992 came along, Bon Jovi would face much more of a challenge for two reasons: 1) It is very hard for a group to have a follow-up to a successful follow-up (i. e. a follow-up to "New Jersey"); and 2) Alternative music was now beginning to take over as the pop music sound, so hard rock was beginning to decline from the pop music scene. With the release of "Keep the Faith", Bon Jovi not only meets the challenge, but would release what probably is their best album of their careers - while still maintainingsolid commercial music sales. What is nice about this effort by Bon Jovi is that they will remain true to their "Arena Rock" roots as well as explore some new directions showing that they can not only be creative, but keep up with the times. Finally, this album is the most complete effort by the band - with every member getting a chance to shine on the collection. Although the album is titled "Keep the Faith", the song "Keep the Faith" isn't the first song. Bon Jovi picked the song "I Believe" for the first song. This is a true "Arena Rock" song and the perfect song to open the collection with. Bon Jovi rocks hard in this song. The real star of this song is going to be drummer Tico Torres who is going to have some thundering percussions that will really steal this song. The "Arena Rock" roots continue with the title track "Keep the Faith". Sometimes Alec John Such is the forgotten member of Bon Jovi, but his bass work won't go unnoticed in this particular song. While Jon Bon Jovi's vocals are awesome in this song, it is Jon's spoken words about 2/3 of the way into the song ("Walking in the Footsteps. . . ") that really make an impact. Things begin to take a different a different spin in "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead". This song almost sounds like mid 1990s Bryan Adams song (perhaps Adams was influenced by the band). This song doesn't have the "arena rock" feel of previous works by Bon Jovi and almost has a bluesy beat to it. This time its David Bryan's keyboards that are going to surface in this song. Another song that has a similar Adams-like feel to it will be "Blame It on The Love of Rock and Roll". Finally, a third song that will have a the blues feel is the final track "Little Bit of Soul". Both of these songs show that Bon Jovi is ready to branch out into new directions. Without a doubt, the best song on this album is "In These Arms". This may be the best song ever done by the band. In 1993, this song did get some radio airplay, but it seemed to disappear from the airwaves within a few years. This song has a lot of intensity and passion. Everyone in the band - Jon's vocals, Richie Sambora's guitar, David's keyboards, Alec's bass, and Tico's percussion all have their moments in the song. Jon probably is the real star of the song - showing as good a vocal range as he showed in any Bon Jovi song. You really feel that Jon wants the woman he refers to in this song - "In These (his) Arms". This song does have more of a pop feel that an Arena Rock feel, but whatever it is - everything just clicks perfectly here. The song "Bed or Roses" is more of an epic-like song. This song has a softer feel, but once again Jon's vocals come to the forefront on this song. You'll hear the passion in his voice as he sings. Track 7 is perhaps a track that really shows that Bon Jovi has matured and arrived on the scene. The track "Dry County" takes more of a historical perspective and this is an area I never saw Bon Jovi go in before. "Dry County" is a masterpiece discussing the plight of those who went into the great west in search of oil and prosperous farming back in the late 1800s. Here again is another new direction by the band and this works perfectly. The song may be almost 10 minutes long, but you won't get tired of it. Songs such as "Woman in Love" and "Fear" won't disappoint. They will remain true to the roots of the Bon Jovi sound. The song "I Want You" is a bit of a letdown - this almost has a start to a song that would follow this album called "Always" which is a very pop-ish Bon Jovi ballad. The collection has some nice liner notes. All of the lyrics and songwriting credits are included. There is a page included for credits and "thank yous". Perhaps the only let-down about the liner notes is that when the band members are listed, the corresponding instruments they play are not (a disadvantage for new Bon Jovi fans). Overall, this is Bon Jovi at their peak in their careers and this album comes highly recommended. . You can see a complete list of all Bon Jovi discography, or go back to the Bon Jovi tabs