Author: Jernej Vene
Artist: Bon Jovi
Label: Island Records
Released: 2005
Running time: 49:40
Rating: 3.5/5
Bon Jovi are definitely one of the most popular rock bands of the last few decades. The band broke through in the eighties and became one of the main players in American melodic (pop) hard rock. In the early nineties, Bon Jovi went through a hugely important stylistic transformation. On their later albums they cultivated a much more modern-sounding rock that still kept some of the old edge and melodic tenderness. It’s exactly this shift that has kept Bon Jovi right at the top of the rock scene all these decades. The guys, of course, have stayed honest with themselves, their craft and their listeners the whole time. And their success surely also lies in the fact that they can write incredibly catchy, high-quality songs. Sometimes they get help with that from friends, well-known American songwriters. On Have a nice day, John Shanks and Desmond Child played that role. The ninth studio album Have A Nice Day is, in its approach, a pretty logical continuation of its predecessor Bounce from 2002. The songs are built from distinct verses, singable melodies and seductive choruses.
Bon Jovi mostly stick to very mainstream, typically American-sounding classic pop rock. The opening and title track is an example of what I just described. But it’s hard to shake the feeling that in 2000 they put out a big hit, It’s My Life, on the album Crush, which sounds a lot like the title track of Have A Nice Day. That’s a big problem for bands that have been around for a decade or more. It may not be a matter of running out of ideas so much as working within a predictable musical circle, which makes it seem really hard to create a competent record that will mean more over the years than just one more pebble on the band’s career path.
Have a nice day also has some excellent acoustic tracks and some ballads. Overall, though, the record is closer to mainstream, predictable and instantly recognizable American pop rock than to the heavier rock directions the band has often reached for in the past. Still, it wouldn’t be fair to say that Bon Jovi made a conservative or boring album. Pretty much every song has a more modern touch to it. Their mainstream rock identity goes very well with the bittersweet lyrics, which are still quite personal and always very close to the ordinary American. Here Bon Jovi came very close to their role model and fellow New Jerseyan Bruce Springsteen. Their lyrics are considerably less politically engaged than his, but in one of the songs Bon Jovi did touch on the 2004 American election with quite a bit of irony. As is already customary with the band, everything is in its place this time too. The performance is excellent, the production likewise, and the songs are perhaps a touch more listenable than on some of their earlier albums. An interesting album for fans of mainstream rock.
Lineup
Jon Bon Jovi – vocals, guitar
Richie Sambora – guitars, backing vocals
David Bryan – keyboards, backing vocals
Hugh McDonald – bass guitar, backing vocals
Tico Torres – drums, percussion
Production
Jon Bon Jovi, Dann Huff, Rick Parashar, Richie Sambora, John Shanks
Track list
1. Have A Nice Day
2. I Want To Be Loved
3. Welcome To Wherever You Are
4. Who Says You Can’t Go Home
5. Last Man Standing
6. Bells Of Freedom
7. Wildflower
8. Last Cigarette
10. I Am
12. Complicated
13. Novocaine
14. Story Of My Life
15. Who Says You Can’t Go Home
