Crush (2000)

The year 2000 saw Bon Jovi come back to the music business after 5 years without a record together. The band had been in a hiatus during which each member persued personal goals: David Bryan, the keyboard player, started to write for Broadway plays; Tico Torres, the drummer, dwelved himself into anther art forms: painting and sculpting, doing exhibitions around the world; Richie Sambora, the band's lead guitarist, collaborated with several artists and ended up releasing his second solo album, which included a promotion tour around the globe; and finaly lead singer Jon Bon Jovi tried his luck on a carreer as an actor, with his second solo record released along the way.

During 1999 the band had reunited again and the writing duo of Jon and Richie started to add songs to the 30 Jon had already penned himself for a third solo record (which never saw the light of day). They managed to release the song "Real Life" for the soundtrack of the motion picture "ED TV" with a momentary success around the globe, but nothing that could be compared with the level they were used to from past releases. The band wanted to catch up their carreer exactly where they had left it in 1995/1996, when they had sold millions of records, toured stadiums all around the world and got a handful of awards either for records or their live performances, so they were counting on "Bruce Fairbairn", the producer who had guided them to success in 1986, to help them. However the producer died suddenly of unkown causes during that same year and so the band had to find a replacement. With their record company being merged to Universal, the record was posponed again and again, and it wasn't until May, 29th of 2000(European release date) that the album came out.

The album was originally named "Sex Sells", but eventually was called "Crush", mostly because of the different meanings the word can assume. They had more than 50 demos and for the first time in their history recoreded in Jon's own home studio in Middletown, New Jersey with an unknown producer, Luke Ebin. There were many colaborations in the writing process, including their fellows Desmond Child and Billy Falcon, just as well as Swedish Pop hitmaker Max Martin. The band wanted to try new things, which led to a very diversified album.


"It's my Life" was the album opener, first single and had been the last song to be recorded. It was writen by Jon, Richie and Max Martin, and was a Pop/Rock bold statement about taking the initiative of one's life with pride. The song was remindsent of "Livin'on a Prayer", both with a line mentioning the characthers Tommy and Gina, who "never backed down", as well as musically, since it used the very characteristic sound of the Talk Box. Lyrically this was a song about Jon trying to further his carreer as an actor, but the band managed to make it universal, making it appeal to literally anybody who wanted to be master of their own destiny. The song was not a number 1, but stood out and was used in countless commercials and events. A new anthem for the band who had a whole new generation of fans interested in their music.

Second single and one of Jon's personal favourites "Say it isn't so", has more of a Rock sound than "It's my Life", which was exactly in the grey area between Rock and Pop. It was very influenced by Oasis and the whole Beatles first albums sounds. The song did only succeed in the UK despite the band's effords to promote it with a video filled with Hollywood Actors. The song is driven by well defined chords and a question and answer dialog in the chorus that realy fits together, unfortunately this was not a debut album and the Rock legacy the band carried overshadowed this song, making old fans not to particularly like the song. Nevertheless it had a catchy mellody, allowing the band to explore new sounds.

"Thank you for Loving me" was the third and final single, and the power ballad the band thought that would replicate the success "Bed of Roses" and "Always" had in the 90s. Unfortunately the power ballad days were over and the single was only able to succeed in some very confined markets. The song is based on a very simple piano and guitar melody that drive the very poetic speech of a person who gets as humble as it is possible to thank his partner in life for all the moments they had been through. The final result is a fine ballad but lacking the strengh their previous effords had. For instance the guitar solo is probably their shortest in this kind of songs, it starts well but once it takes off it ends abrubtally. Once again the 5 year absence is noticed since the musicians are not at the top of their game and it is impossible to ignore much better ballads they had in the past.

"Two Story Town" is an album track based on rhythm guitar chords with lyrics and mellody kind of acting together in an interesting twist. Jon basically talks through the song, mentioning double sided stories that take place in a small town, while musically it is a 5 minute loop with some twits and interesting details. For many this is a vanilla song since it is sort of flat, although in my opinion it is a step further on the band's carrer since they show they are able to take something ordinary and add it subtle details that make the overall result an ejoyable listen. Definitely different from everything the band had done before and enjoyable, rather than memorable.

If "Two Story Town" was a regular track, "Next 100 years" is an epic. Written for a music venture of several Japanese artists who teamed up to sing a hopeful song (and eventually gave Bon Jovi their first nr 1 hit in the Japanese charts), the band liked the end result so much, they ended up releasing their own version with a brand new production. The song has the perfect marridge between acoustic and electric guitars, with an orchestration that raises the bar to the premiere league of Pop/Rock songs. As it gets to the end the choirs echoing "na na na nas" in a loop resemble the Beatles' "Hey jude", while the final guitar solo kicks off right when the mellody comes to an end. And what a solo I must say, Richie Sambora is at loose and deliveres a full blast dose of testosterone in a 2 minute long guitar solo that shows the Hard Rock roots of the band. In a word: "Epic", shame it was not released as a single.

"Just Older" is one of the original songs Jon was supposed to release in his 1998 solo record that got to Crush. The song is sort of the heart of the album and it makes perfect sense to be placed right in the middle of it, acting as the glue that unifies so many distinct sounds. Its lyrics are about aging gracefully and it instantly became a modern age fan classic and one of Jon's personal favourites. The upbeaten drums and quitessential guitar riff show a Rock band in their fortees standing as proud of their current work as their legacy. It is essencial in any special concert the band plays and was another missed oportunity as a single, as it represents the band just fine: hopeful lyrics, a catchy mellody and a soulful optimist that contages anyone who listenes. In my opinion, a modern day "Blood on Blood".

"Mistery Train" is another favourite of the lead singer. The acoustic ballad about the misteries of women in the line of songs like "Diamond Ring", shows the band did not lost its touch when it comes to simple and yet effective mellodies.

Second and final Power ballad of the record, "Save the World" was the song Jon had written for the soundtrack of the motion picture "Armagedom". It has all the elements a power ballad should have, even featuring a decent orchestration. However, and much like many other tracks on the record, it falls short when compared to the bands previous Power ballads. Good, but not good enough.

"Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars" is perhaps the band's longest song title and it brings fun back to the subject. It is a tale of a young couple of dreamers who dare to challange Life and become superstars on their own way, eventhough they actually have nothing at all. The catchy rhythm was very successfull during live shows when full packed stadiums adopted a corehography the band does not get tired of. Musically it is fun fun fun, and its lyrics go as far as to have references to David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust", or to several celebraty couples - even if they don't mention Richie Sambora and Heather Locklear directly it is very present since the couple was living happily those days. Not an outstanding track, but entertaining enough to keep the album's vibe.

"She's a mistery" is probably the oddest song in a Bon Jovi album as it is very dark and flat. Composed during a writers retreat Jon went to, the song is another piece of the puzzle giving the album another complete different tone.

"I Got the Girl" starts off smothly as taking off just as the previous track had left, and then, all of a sudden, it speeds up making you want to jump around and around. Another personal song of Jon's, it is actually a tease, since during the whole song it is described a messed up girl, only to be revelaed by the end that the author is actually refering to his own daughter. Another album track that doesn't aspire to nothing more than to fill 4 minutes with a funny story and one of the fastest beats and rhythms of the album.

A very humurous tune is the perfect introduction to the album's official final track. "One Wild Night" is the typical tongue in the cheek Bon Jovi song used their fans during the 80s and it is no wonder it was composed by the dream team of Jon, Richie and Desmond Child. The song emulates a nightout for partying and if during the chorus, bridge and solo the song is able to capture the spirit and makes the listener feel exactly in that situation, during the verses it lacks energy, being based only upon a bass line that is not enough to emanticipate the tune. A good way to end the album, but that (yet again) falls short when compared to what the band had previously delivered in past records.

"If I could make a living out of Loving you" is the Europe/Japan bonus track and it brings nothing new as it is a B section song with fun lyrics but that is unable to take off. Very ACDC like tune, but with no killer riff. "Neurotica" is the Japanese exclusive bonus track and this one shows the band having fun with a rocker. The song simply fits together and feels right, and probably only didn't make it into the 12 tracks on the record because it hasn't such a distinct sound as the ones that were chosen.

This was a brand new start for the Jersey band that wasn't able to hide the 5 year absence and subsequent lack of chemestry. While previous albums were cohesive and coherent, "Crush" is in fact a collection of very different sounds, standing out as the band's most diverse record. Each song is completely different from any other on the record which could be explained 1) since the band had so many songs to pick from, and 2) because they were willing to explore new paths to further their carrer and not only adapt their sound to the current trends, but to fresh things up and deliver something completely different from what they had done so far. "Crush" is also Bon Jovi's most Pop record, being the one that Rocks the least. Usually all songs from previous records were founded on Rock, even if soft. On the contrary, this record is based on Pop sounds and every now and then some Rock moments show up.

The record, and specially "It's my Life", allowed the band to start to tour again and little by little restore some of their reputation as the World Class Live Band, they are. They were honoured to play London's Wembley Stadium final two shows and return in 2001 with a much antecipated live album and stadium tour not only in Europe, but also in North America, where they teamed up with original bassist "Alec John Such" in the final of 2 sold out shows in their "backyard", Giants Stadium in New jersey, just around the corner of NYC.

This was the beginning of the third chapter of the band's carrer, and they were well aware of its importance hence the endless promotion shows they did when the album was coming out. Just as "Slippery When Wet" and "Keep the Faith" it was another "do or die" moment, and they fought hard not to be forgotten. In the end, they managed to succeed, being able to get attention from people from yet another whole new generation (the 3rd) and maintain their relevance in the Mucic Business. 7/10