The Circle - Bon Jovi

...I have been counting down the days to the release of their latest studio album 'The Circle'.

At the end of their world tour last year, the idea had been for the band to take a well earned rest, and there was talk of them releasing a greatest hits album this year.
However, feeling inspired by the economic crisis amongst other things, Jon Bon Jovi got together with guitarist and co-writer Richie Sambora and came up with around 28 ...
...they began to work on the album which was definitely going to be a return to 'rock', following their Nashville inspired album 'Lost Highway' in 2007, which had seen the band exploring a country sound to their music.

The band :-

Jon BonJovi - lead vocals
Richie Sambora - guitars, backing vocals
Tico Torres - drums and percussion
David Bryan - keyboards
Hugh McDonald - bass

To record The ... more

For those of you who don't already know I am a huge Bon Jovi fan, so I have been counting down the days to the release of their latest studio album 'The Circle'.

At the end of their world tour last year, the idea had been for the band to take a well earned rest, and there was talk of them releasing a greatest hits album this year.
However, feeling inspired by the economic crisis amongst other things, Jon Bon Jovi got together with guitarist and co-writer Richie Sambora and came up with around 28 new songs. They decided on a new studio album, the greatest hits album was shelved, and they began to work on the album which was definitely going to be a return to 'rock', following their Nashville inspired album 'Lost Highway' in 2007, which had seen the band exploring a country sound to their music.

The band :-

Jon BonJovi - lead vocals
Richie Sambora - guitars, backing vocals
Tico Torres - drums and percussion
David Bryan - keyboards
Hugh McDonald - bass

To record The Circle, Bon Jovi reunited with producer-songwriter John Shanks, who the band worked with on Have A Nice Day and half of Lost Highway. Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora co-produced the album. The result, in my opinion, is probably the best album they have produced since 'Keep The Faith', in that I love every track and am currently listening to it over and over!

The tracks :

1. We Weren't Born To Follow
2. When We Were Beautiful
3. Work For The Working Man
4. Superman Tonight
5. Bullet
6. Thorn In My Side
7. Live Before You Die
8. Brokenpromiseland
9. Love's The Only Rule
10. Fast Cars
11. Happy Now
12. Learn To Love

Richie Sambora admits he can't remember all the guitars he used on the new album, but a few come to mind, as he said in a recent interview : "I got a '58 Explorer which sounds excellent. Then I also used a Duesenberg, a Les Paul Jr with P-90s, a '59 and a '68 Les Paul. Plus, there were a couple of my old Teles and some of John Shanks's Strats. All good stuff."
The guitars are definitely more prominent on this album and it's great to hear Richie on this album back to doing what he does best - playing some amazing guitar riffs, as anyone who has seen the band live can surely testify he is a brilliant guitarist!
Apparently the guitar solo on the band's first single release 'We Weren't Born To Follow' was originally a melodic 'Beatles-esque' guitar break, but as the track was leaked out some fans were emailing saying although they loved the song they would have preferred a 'rippin, burnin, Sambora solo' and so Richie duly changed it to give the fans what they wanted.
"Ask and you shall receive" he stated.

'We Weren't Born To Follow' kicks off the album and is a typical Bon Jovi classic, written about working people picking themselves up in hard times and no doubt will be up there with 'It's My Life'. It is guaranteed to be a great crowd pleaser on the forthcoming tour. It does remind me a little of an early Bon Jovi song 'Born To Be My Baby', a strong track with a catchy chorus.

The anthemic 'When We Were Beautiful' is one of the standout tracks for me. A tale of how the world once was, and inspired by the world events and economic crisis, this track builds slowly from its quiet beginning, with Jon's vocal and a guitar, then comes the crashing drums, as the guitar becomes louder, and the song slowly builds to a great anthem with its pleasing guitar riffs and meaningful lyrics :- "Back when we were beautiful, before the world got small, before we knew it all..."

Work For The Working Man begins with an intro a little reminiscent of the band's early single 'Living On A Prayer', but after this the comparison ends, and this is another hard hitting strong track which I imagine will have the fans punching the air and shouting out the lyrics when performed on tour.

There are no slower 'Bed of Roses' or 'Always'- type tracks on this album, with the brilliant 'Superman Tonight' and 'Live Before You Die' the closest thing you are going to get to a 'quieter moment' on the album, but with 'Superman Tonight' especially there is still plenty of loud guitar and drums.

The hard-hitting 'Bullet' features some great guitar breaks from Richie as Jon asks "What is the distance between a bullet and a gun, God are you listening or have you just given up?"

Brokenpromiseland has a unique sound, and I have found it has quickly became one of my favourites, although I have to say there are absolutely no weak tracks on this album for me. I love them all. It features some slightly different sounds which I heard someone describe as reminiscent of U2 or Coldplay. I can see why this would be said, but it is only a slight similarity in places I feel, and I really love the track. It has a haunting intro that leads into the harder sounding verses, with a catchy riff playing throughout.

Thorn In My Side features another great guitar break, and along with another of my favourites, 'Love's The Only Rule' provides two fast-paced strong tracks.
The album slows down a little for the start of 'Fast Cars' which picks up again by the time it reaches the chorus. 'Happy Now' features more great sounding guitar as Jon sings "Can I be happy now, can I let my breath out, let me believe I'm building a dream, don't try to drag me down".
The final track 'Learn To Love' is another track which builds throughout from its softer start, and is a great ending to the album.

The Deluxe edition of the album also comes with a documentary DVD, which features live footage and a personal insight into the life of the band over the last 25 years, the pressures and the highs and lows.

The Circle is the album which sees Bon Jovi firing on all cylinders again following personal upsets for some of the band in recent years, as divorce and family bereavement took its toll on Richie Sambora in particular. As one of the world's greatest guitarists it is great to see him back to his best again, and this album showcases his talent.
The superb tracks are matched with excellent production. Overall, it is a brilliant 'rock' album with plenty of loud guitar and drums that the fans have been hoping for.
We asked, and we have received!

*Review also appears on Dooyoo under same username 

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