Tragedy struck in the form of 9/11 shortly after. People were noticing their longevity and ability to flourish by staying true to who they were. This amidst another shift in the music scene…this time known for boy bands and Brittany Spears. After another hiatus that saw Jon Bon Jovi explore acting, they roared back with “It’s My Life” from their “Crush” CD. The CD sold well, despite a changing music scene.įast forward to 2000 with their next “come back”. After a band break (and some band therapy), they returned with “chapter 2.” Now, with a more socially conscious approach to lyrics. Their brand transformation started with their “Keep the Faith” CD in 1992. Add their philanthropy to that and it’s easy to see why the evolution worked.Įven my cat, Echo, can’t keep her eyes off of Bon Jovi! But, their image in the hair band scene evolved with a multitude of new anthems and never-give-up messaging. Not the songs mind you, “Livin’ on a Prayer” and “Wanted Dead or Alive” still hold up all these years later. They’ve completely lost their association with that era. They’ve done more than grow up from the hair band days. When you think of Bon Jovi these days, a far different image comes to mind than in the ’80’s. Second, they’ve embraced digital marketing and the opportunities it has created for them. First, they managed to transform their brand image while also staying true to who they are. From a marketing standpoint, there are two things that Bon Jovi does better than any band besides the Beatles. They have enjoyed even larger success in the 2000’s than in their 80’s “heyday”. Celebrating their 30th anniversary this year, Bon Jovi went from the darlings of MTV to a global band. Album DescriptionAs I posted a couple of weeks ago, rock artists can teach us a lot about marketing. See More Your browser does not support the audio element. © Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo More info On the proper What About Now, the group is striving to sound big and important yet winds up sounding small. For that, you have to turn to the nice adult contemporary pop of "Into the Echo," a bonus track on deluxe editions of the album. Also, there aren't so many big hooks on What About Now - just the raise-your-fist anthem of "Because We Can," with most of the sweetest melodies coming from the softer, quieter moments, such as the acoustic "The Fighter," which may (or may not) contain elliptical references to Simon & Garfunkel's "The Boxer." What ties all these songs together is Bon Jovi's adamant refusal to rely on anything that comes easily to the band. He laments the passing of CBGB, but the sound is all dusky Auto-Tuned arena rock, powerful in its attack but colorless in its texture. As Jon Bon Jovi ponders the state of the union in 2013 (he raises the question "What About Now," then proceeds to answer it throughout the album), he repeats images - faith intermingles with the military, although rarely in a way that suggests his politics lean to the right rather, they're just underscoring the troubles within the American heartland - as he cites but never explores the big issues of a changing world. Aesthetically, this is a veritable reiteration of The Circle, where Bon Jovi spent much of their time playing big songs about big topics. What About Now, following a long four years after 2009's The Circle, continues down this sober path, as the group splices elements of U2, contemporary country, Coldplay, finger-plucked folk, and, yes, Bruce Springsteen into a monochromatic dirge. He wound up taking detours after 2002's Bounce, the album that inaugurated this phase - and, it has to be said, that 2007 country detour Lost Highway was both his best and biggest record of the decade - but as he crept closer to 50, the music of Bon Jovi got increasingly somber. One of the great unheralded midlife crises of rock & roll belongs to Jon Bon Jovi, who decided sometime around the turn of the millennium that he wasn't being taken seriously, so it was time to make music that mattered. Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
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