Artist: Bon Jovi
Label: Mercury Records
Released: 1992
Running time: 65.10
Rating: 4/5
When the music world of the early 90s of the last century was going through the final phase of catharsis under the crushing pressure of grunge, the standard-bearers of the glam metal crowds, who had been wildly popular only a short while before, faced one of the biggest tests of their careers. The reality check took ages to arrive, and for many the wait seemed downright endless. Once grunge finally stormed into the so-called “mainstream,” the icons of the 80s became, practically overnight, a rusty old bugle from some long-gone era. Stripped of their baroque trimmings, their faces soon faded, and plenty of them vanished into oblivion with unbelievable speed. A transformation that would let the tougher MTV heavyweights stay on the shelves as relevant products, while still holding on to a bit of credibility in the eyes of the old guard, was therefore a must, even if it was undoubtedly painful for the biggest of the big, too.
Bon Jovi had successfully adapted to the constant twists and turns of trends before, mostly in terms of commercial recognition of course, but that metamorphosis had always been gradual, spread across stages of varying length. The situation with Keep The Faith is different. The album brings a number of sharp departures from the established course of earlier Bon Jovi triumphs, and, riding on the fruitful creative partnership of Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, who tirelessly keep the catchy ideas coming, along with a successful embrace of modern production tricks, it opens a new chapter in the band’s story. Keep The Faith serves up an effective formula of pop-minded rock & roll right from the start, one that stays permanently lodged in the listener’s ear. I Believe is a worthy overture and at the same time an effective sign of the start of a full redefinition of the Bon Jovi image. They cut ties with the past for good on the title track, built on the sharply clipped funk groove of Alec John Such’s bass guitar. Most of the song’s punch hides in a boldly placed bridge that flows neatly into the proverbially singable chorus, and a final helping of muscle gets spat out by an excellent solo spot from Richie Sambora. Add to that infectious energy a homogeneity that doesn’t strike the average music consumer as off-puttingly complicated, and the first in a line of big hits on the album is here. A little more cautiously, but no less successfully, Jon and the gang head off to conquer the top of the charts with a package of heavily sugared ballads, In These Arms and Bed Of Roses, the latter cultivating a heap of expertly arranged backing vocals courtesy of Sambora, often soaring a third above Jon’s already high line.
Those were still the days when Richie’s presence was an indispensable part of the Bon Jovi machine. The Jovi/Sambora chemistry back then spawned a whole string of promising tunes, not necessarily commercial ones, but strictly heavy, rock-oriented creations like If I Was You Mother or Fear, tracks with granite riff foundations whose success was, of course, utopian to expect with favorites like I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead around. Woman In Love and I Want You throw in a pinch of nostalgia, but only for a moment, because the band’s ongoing creative maturing shows nicely in the more complex motifs of the album, like the epic Dry County, a song with an unusually wide-branching structure by past Bon Jovi standards, and one that, alongside the New Jersey gem Homebound Train, remains one of the most unfairly overlooked compositions in the entire Bon Jovi catalog.
With Keep The Faith, the gentlemen from New Jersey undoubtedly hit a home run, not just in terms of a successful change of style, but above all in presenting a current musical image that effectively recruited legions of new fans, often from entirely different genre shores. On top of that, with a good dose of unexpected success, the album even managed to calm the heads of the older fans. Given the circumstances, the haul was therefore optimal. Bon Jovi managed to keep their heads cool exactly when it mattered most, and in doing so Jon and company showed a heaping measure of maturity, which at the time of Keep The Faith still went hand in hand with the ability to craft excellent, at times unforgettable music.
Lineup
Jon Bon Jovi: vocals, rhythm guitar
Richie Sambora: guitar, backing vocals
David Bryan: keyboards, backing vocals
Alec John Such: bass, backing vocals
Tico Torres: drums, percussion
Production
Bob Rock
Track list
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 You 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
13. Save a Prayer
