Uncool Music Appreciation ~ Episode 2 ~ Bon Jovi Appreciation Thread!

[Zoots]

Jesus Christ, Zoots... you're halfway there.

Dear YLB,

It is possible and perfectly okay to enjoy Arcade Fire, Phil Collins, Radiohead, Bon Jovi, Sigur Ros, Def Leppard etc. all at the same time, in the same universe. Maybe I should make a U2 appreciation thread. Some people consider them quite uncool and cheesy!

Love,

Zoots.


Dear Naysayers,

Please grow up and realize that the world is not always so black and white like you think. Sure, Bon Jovi have a lot of cheesy material I admit. But they've also written stuff like Dry County, Someday I'll Be Saturday Night and Hey God. Have you people even glanced at the lyrics of these songs? And even for the majority of their catalog, so what if it's cheesy? It is okay to not like a certain band but not okay to refuse to accept that others like them.

Thank you.

PS: Dear Laz, Lots of people think Poison are cheesy.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

I thought that Shot Through The Heart song was cool for about a minute when I was 10.

 

[LemonMelon]

It is possible and perfectly okay to enjoy Arcade Fire, Phil Collins, Radiohead, Bon Jovi, Sigur Ros, Def Leppard etc. all at the same time, in the same universe.

Who claimed that mutations don't exist?

Dear Naysayers,

Please grow up

"Bon Jovi Appreciation Thread"

and realize that the world is not always so black and white like you think

Oh, I don't deny the greyer shades of Bon Jovi. As a matter of fact, much of their recent material is as mediocre as it comes. Definitely grey on all counts.

Sure, Bon Jovi have a lot of cheesy material I admit. But they've also written stuff like Dry County, Someday I'll Be Saturday Night and Hey God. Have you people even glanced at the lyrics of these songs?

See there's nothing in this paydirt
The ghosts are all I know
Now the oil's gone
And the money's gone
All the jobs are gone
Still we're hangin' on

Bruce Springsteen, eat your heart out.

Hey my name is Jim, where did I go wrong
My life's a bargain basement, all the good shit's gone

Preach it, brother.

Hey God - Tell me what the hell is going on
Seems like all the good shit's gone

Preach it again, brother.

Seriously, why is every single song about some pissed off guy who's down on his luck? Aren't these guys trillionaires?

And even for the majority of their catalog, so what if it's cheesy? It is okay to not like a certain band

Cool. Will do.

but not okay to refuse to accept that others like them.

Who did that? People can be as stupid as they want to be.

 

[Zoots]

I thought that Shot Through The Heart song was cool for about a minute when I was 10.

GAF, you have no business poking fun at Bon Jovi. You like Britney Spears. Case closed!

Bruce Springsteen, eat your heart out.

Gimme a break! Is it wrong to be inspired by the Boss?? You're as bad as those U2 fans who scream "rip off"!

Who did that? People can be as stupid as they want to be.

Ohh plenty of people here have done that! I can still remember that one quote like it was only yesterday... "There are Bon Jovi fans on this forum??? God!"

 

[LemonMelon]

Gimme a break! Is it wrong to be inspired by the Boss?? You're as bad as those U2 fans who scream "rip off"!

No, that's OK, but it's pretty clear that every song you mentioned is about the same topic, using the same imagery and setting Bruce would use. Toss in Wanted Dead Or Alive and you've got some absurdly rich hair metal rock stars who claim to be badass heartland cowboys that receive their daily sustenance from dirt and well water. It's not so much misleading as it is lame.

And, again, no one is denying Bon Jovi fans their right to enjoy the band. As matter of fact, we accept them for who they are...Bon Jovi fans.

 

[LMP]

Dear YLB,

It is possible and perfectly okay to enjoy Arcade Fire, Phil Collins, Radiohead, Bon Jovi, Sigur Ros, Def Leppard etc. all at the same time, in the same universe. Maybe I should make a U2 appreciation thread. Some people consider them quite uncool and cheesy!

Love,

Zoots.

I'm playing with you, Zoots. Sorry I didn't attach a smiley at the end of it for sarcasm's sake. I was hoping the "Livin' on a Prayer" reference would do it, but alas, it did not.

 

[No spoken words]

I'm playing with you, Zoots. Sorry I didn't attach a smiley at the end of it for sarcasm's sake. I was hoping the "Livin' on a Prayer" reference would do it, but alas, it did not.

Fool.

I've told this Bon Jovi story before, but here it is again:

On the Elevation Tour, I saw the band at Staples a few times. One of the times, our seats were down on the floor, adjacent to the sound area, and the little pen where the celebrities go to not be near the flotsam and jetsam that are the general public.

In this pen on this night were Tom Cruise, Cameron Crowe, Billy Zane, Val Kilmer, all 3 Hansens, Pat O'Brien, Eddie Vedder and Jon Bon Jovi. I don't give a fuck about what celebrities like or dislike, but it was interesting to watch these people watch the band. The Hansen brothers, with ease, were the most into it; they were very much rocking out. Who was least into it? Jon Bon Jovi. He stood rock still the whole time, I shit you not. It's not like I lost sleep over it, but, well, here I am relating the story 8 years later or whatever, so it obviously bothered me. Why go and then stand there and completely not care? I should have leaped over the rain in front of my seats, vaulted the rail in front of his area and introduced my boot to his spine. Anyway.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

You've piqued my curiosity...how did Tom Cruise and Eddie Vedder behave at this U2 concert?

 

[corianderstem]

Tom Cruise tried to convert everyone in the Ellipse to Scientology. And kept shouting to the band that they were glib.

 

[Zoots]

No, that's OK, but it's pretty clear that every song you mentioned is about the same topic, using the same imagery and setting Bruce would use. Toss in Wanted Dead Or Alive and you've got some absurdly rich hair metal rock stars who claim to be badass heartland cowboys that receive their daily sustenance from dirt and well water. It's not so much misleading as it is lame.

I understand what you're saying here. I really do. But it's like they can't win! At first they had mullets and sang cheesy, fist pumping stadium rock to screaming female fans and they got ridiculed. Then in the 90s, they got all serious and made a couple of albums with serious songs inspired by the much revered working class hero this side of John Lennon and still they got ridiculed. So I guess now they're like fuck you and just doing their thing of country tinged rock or whatever. Good for them. lol.

I'm playing with you, Zoots. Sorry I didn't attach a smiley at the end of it for sarcasm's sake. I was hoping the "Livin' on a Prayer" reference would do it, but alas, it did not.

I got the reference, dude! I just felt like writing a letter to you.

To NSW: Haha I remember you telling that story once.. in the bar I think.

Tom Cruise tried to convert everyone in the Ellipse to Scientology. And kept shouting to the band that they were glib.

 

[lazarus]

You don't even what to know what Pat O'Brien was shouting:

YouTube - Pat O'Brien's voicemails

0:45+
:shudder:

 

[Catman]

I like their song, "My Guitar Lies Bleeding In My Arms." I don't care what anyone says, it's a good song. I'll say it to my snobby music friends, too...

 

[lazarus]

Too bad it wasn't "My Guitarist Lies Bleeding In My Arms"...hey-oh!

Sambora violence fantasies FTW.

Of course, ripping off a George Harrison song title is pretty inexcusable and actually punishable by death in Laz Country.

 

[Zoots]

Too bad it wasn't "My Guitarist Lies Bleeding In My Arms"...hey-oh!

Sambora violence fantasies FTW.

 

[last unicorn]

I used to love them when I was young, even went to a couple of concerts.

Lately, their music has been underwhelming. Have a nice day, wtf. That song makes me aggressive.

 

[gvox]

Here's my Bon Jovi story: When I was 16-17, I had a gig with 3 other guys after school and weekends cleaning banks and factory offices. It was amazing money (I mean, $15/hr in 86 when you're not even out of school yet? fuckyeah. but I digress). To be sure, I was NOT into 'hair metal' or 'rock' as they called it then. My favorite bands were U2, New Order, Depeche Mode, The Smiths, The Cure, Bob Marley...you get the idea.

Anyways, so we'd drive from client to client in this big old Ford van that carried all our floor buffers and supplies and whatnot, and the only radio station that the damn van picked up was CHAY FM (Ontario residents will remember what CHAY was back then ) . There were four main cassettes that got major rotation in the van, therefore (in no particular order, it usually depended on who got done their task first and got out to warm up the van):

1. Guns and Roses Appetite For Destruction, 2. Bon Jovi Slippery When Wet, 3. U2 The Joshua Tree and 4. Def Leppard Hysteria.

After graduating high school and leaving that job behind, the only album that I continued to listen to with any regularity was, of course, The Joshua Tree. However, I still sing along to some of the singles from those albums such as Slippery When Wet when I randomly hear them and I still appreciate those other three albums for what they were, a piece of my youth that brings back great memories. I don't run from the dancefloor when I hear "SHOT THRU THE HEART", but I do smile at the kids who rock out to it. You can't miss playing that song as a DJ at a party, trust me it's a win everytime.

It's easy for kids who feel they possess a certain level of what I like to call 'false indie sophistication/superiority' to look back on those records and diss them, but they were great in their day.

Thank you. Oh, and I have no idea what else Bon Jovi has done since, honestly. I don't even think I know a single song outside of the Slippery When Wet years . So I likely would have held him while you administered the boot to his spine, NSW

 

[Zoots]

I don't run from the dancefloor when I hear "SHOT THRU THE HEART", but I do smile at the kids who rock out to it. You can't miss playing that song as a DJ at a party, trust me it's a win everytime.

It's easy for kids who feel they possess a certain level of what I like to call 'false indie sophistication/superiority' to look back on those records and diss them, but they were great in their day.

Nice story!

 

[lazarus]

They weren't great in their day, either.

From Rolling Stone, in 1986:

Slippery When Wet : Bon Jovi : Review : Rolling Stone

"Jon Bon Jovi and his band serve up condescending sentiment, reducing every emotional statement to a barefaced cliché – either because they think that's all their audience can comprehend or because that's all they can comprehend. On Slippery When Wet, Bon Jovi sounds like bad fourth-generation metal, a smudgy Xerox of Quiet Riot."

OUCH.

For comparison's sake, just look at Kurt Loder's review of Def Leppard's Hysteria, released around the same time, which is mixed but still recognizes quality in the genre:

http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/defleppard/albums/album/207338/review/6067482/hysteria

 

[VintagePunk]

Poison:

Poison: Open Up And Say Ahh! : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

One star.

When it comes to lyrics, Ahh! is a guided tour of rock-catch-phrase hell, and Poison's bus doesn't miss a single stop. As if we'd never been there before, the band dutifully points out the Horizontal Bop ("Love on the Rocks"), the Scar That Never Heals ("Every Rose Has Its Thorn"), the Burnin' Desire ("Tearin' Down the Walls") and Life in the Fast Lane ("Fallen Angel").

Ultimately, Open Up and Say . . . Ahh! is little more than a paean to the power of clever marketing, a nasty reminder of what can happen when swagger takes precedence over substance, and nothing sums it up more succinctly than a look at the album's inner sleeve. There, among the credits, we find the name of the snarling, befanged witchy woman who adorns the cover: Bambi.

Poison: Flesh & Blood : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Two stars.

Ouch.

 

[Zoots]

VP!!!

 

[VintagePunk]

You know what? If you like Poison, that's totally fine. But keep in mind that if you do, you hardly have room to criticize the taste of others. At least a lot of people in this and the Phil Collins thread are willing to admit that a lot of it is cheese - albeit fun cheese - rather than rationalizing it as great music while slamming others.

 

[Zoots]

At least a lot of people in this and the Phil Collins thread are willing to admit that a lot of it is cheese - albeit fun cheese - rather than rationalizing it as great music while slamming others.

 

[phanan]

Ugh. Bon Jovi.

As others have stated, bring on the Def Leppard thread. Hysteria is a great album.

 

[lazarus]

You know what? If you like Poison, that's totally fine. But keep in mind that if you do, you hardly have room to criticize the taste of others. At least a lot of people in this and the Phil Collins thread are willing to admit that a lot of it is cheese - albeit fun cheese - rather than rationalizing it as great music while slamming others.

The difference is that I'm not creating Poison or Def Leppard appreciation threads. All I said before (in the Nuno Bettencourt thread, which Zoots also started) was that in this genre, I thought they were far more talented than the other bands mentioned. I don't listen the music regularly; in fact, I probably haven't voluntarily put Poison on in 15 years.

 

[VintagePunk]

Not to speak for Zoots, but I doubt he's active on the Bon Jovi fan scene or anything. I think these threads are more of a nostalgia kind of thing.

You think that Poison is more talented, and that Bon Jovi sucks. Fair enough. It's just that within the music industry and the various fandoms of the two bands, for every one person who thinks Poison was a credible band, you could probably find five or ten who think that Bon Jovi are. I mean, c'mon, even back in the day, Poison were though of as fluff. Just because you think they're more talented than Bon Jovi doesn't make it so.

I don't even know why I'm discussing this, because like you said about Poison, I haven't actively listened to Bon Jovi in 15 years, give or take. When I said they're okay in small doses, I meant that if I happen to catch a song of theirs on radio that's not among the many that were played to death, fine, I'll leave it on, but that's about as far as it goes for me. I actually do listen to Phil Collins-era Genesis, though, and I enjoy it.

I guess the point is, I don't see why there's the need to go and piss on other people's threads when you have your own musical skeletons, whether you create threads about them or not.

And for the record, I was a much bigger Def Leppard fan, too. I'm looking forward to that one.

 

[phillyfan26]

I'm not a fan of the genre, but "Nothin' But a Good Time" >>>> anything Bon Jovi has done. And I don't hate everything by Bon Jovi.

However, if Springsteen is President of Jersey, Bon Jovi is the waste commissioner in Collingswood. For comparison's sake.

 

[Zoots]

Not to speak for Zoots, but I doubt he's active on the Bon Jovi fan scene or anything. I think these threads are more of a nostalgia kind of thing.

No problem. You said it perfectly! I'm a nut for nostalgia, be it 80s or 90s music... stuff that many of us grew up with!

I guess the point is, I don't see why there's the need to go and piss on other people's threads when you have your own musical skeletons, whether you create threads about them or not.

Well said!

And for the record, I was a much bigger Def Leppard fan

Oh yes. Me too!

 

[lazarus]

I'll happily participate in the Def Leppard thread, as I had 10th row seats on the Hysteria tour, and my friend's cousin was married to the drummer (post-amputation!).

 

[gvox]

I liked VPs comments. I would never turn to Bon Jovi for 'quality music' or even hint that they were "great" in that sense.

I also concur that Def Leppard are far far "better". I actually still willingly choose to listen to them, so there's that

 

[VintagePunk]

I'll happily participate in the Def Leppard thread, as I had 10th row seats on the Hysteria tour, and my friend's cousin was married to the drummer (post-amputation!).

I couldn't make that tour, but I had front rows for the next one.

Wasn't he later arrested for spousal abuse, or something? And is it wrong that I find it sort of amusing that...you know...a one armed man...