Artist: Bon Jovi
Label: Mercury Records
Release: 1984
Length: 38.33
Rating: 3/5
Bon Jovi’s debut is nowhere near fanning the flames of some new musical revolution. Within their limited creative and developmental means, they really just obediently follow trends for starters. The boys from New Jersey never stray far from a predictable touch-up of the popular musical tricks of the mid-80s, whether it’s out-and-out rocker maneuvers or softer, at times even pop-leaning impulses. The nine simply built songs before us open up a grayish musical collage of unnaturally moody character, dominated by elements of so-called new wave “hair rock” of American origin: a sharply metallized guitar sound crossed with the ever-present fullness of keyboard fills, and a parade of catchy, utterly pompous choruses.
The lion’s share of the album’s songwriting load is carried by alpha male Jon Bon Jovi. The young man’s creative vein was still in an early stage of maturing when it was made, which at last also gives us an excuse for the rather monotonous overall sonic picture the set of songs delivers. By far the biggest chunk of the deadly arsenal for boosting the band’s reputation and commercial recognition is carried by Runaway, a neat combination of heavy rock and saccharine melodicism that gets under your skin fast. The album’s undisputed favorite, which actually dates back to 1982 and is the work of “Jon’s reserve phalanx”, lets the restless spirit of the New Jersey stallion out of the bottle in record time! Too bad we get no more flashes like that for the rest of the album. Bon Jovi quickly lose all control of the situation, mostly thanks to piloting through the barren soil of genre indecision, where outlines of half-baked motifs have sprouted that nonetheless hint, in embryo, at untapped potential. Of course, that needs time to grow. Burning For Love and Come Back promise a lot, but their predictable flirting with the fabricated pop melody of the 80s is just too much to stomach. The first attempt at forging a power ballad is interesting; it plays out as the likable but still rather flawed Love Lies, which She Don’t Know Me beats by a wide margin. With an enviable amount of testosterone in its blood, Roulette steps up, a braid of sharp riffing and vocal catchiness with a recognizably balmy effect, which presents itself as the only serious challenger to the quality standard set by the opener, while Breakout, Get Ready and Shot Through The Heart wander without a compass over terrain whose genre is hard to pin down.
Bon Jovi is, frankly, at best a fairly average product, chronically short on the creative muscle needed to open new chapters in the evolution of rock music. So it’s hardly surprising that, in the whirlwind of newly opening fronts in heavy rock, the album simply failed to make a serious mark. The lack of character and innovation, without which Bon Jovi were cruelly robbed of any chance of carefree racing alongside the main players of the new wave of “hair rock”, is obvious, with the welcome exception, of course, of that one big-hit anomaly. What remains an interesting question, though, is how things would have played out if Jon and company hadn’t been struck by Runaway, which left Bon Jovi saddled for a good two years, right up to the release of the famous Slippery When Wet, with the nasty stigma of a flash in the pan.
Lineup
Jon Bon Jovi: vocals, guitar
Richie Sambora: guitar, backing vocals
Alec John Such: bass, backing vocals
David Rashbaum: keyboards, backing vocals
Tico Torres: drums
Production
Lance Quinn & Tony Bongiovi
Track list
1. Runaway
2. Roulette
3. She Don’t Know Me
4. Shot Through The Heart
5. Love Lies
6. Breakout
7. Burning For Love
8. Come Back
9. Get Ready
