The 10th album from the New Jersey Rock band Bon Jovi had its roots in its predecessor. In fact the band could never imagine they would release an album year a half after the previous one. All because the song "Who says you can't go home" was a hit single in the country radio across America, specially since the band recorded a version of it with one of Country's newest and freshest acts: Sugarland. It was the first time a Rock band had a nº 1 song in the Country charts and their popularity was high. So to catapult upon the success the band decided to record a Country album. And what was first described as a Jon a Richie effort with Country sound, turned out to be a Bon Jovi Rock album influenced by Country.
There are several differences between this album and any other Bon Jovi record: the steel guitar and violin are a constant and the smell of Nashville is all around it. But no doubt the band's trade mark sound is there, whether in the catchy riffs, soulful melodies or hopeful lyrics.
Musically this is a very cohesive record, all songs are strongly connected and like a book divided in chapters, you listen to every track like a piece of the puzzle, which only is complete when you reach the album's very end. Lyrically it is a trip full of soul search, parties and romance.
Right from the opener, "Lost Highway", the tune is set to the mood of a ride that will lead us through an unknown journey, where we are surprised all the time. It's like if you are leaving to a cross country in your car and your soul gets revealed in every sight. In some way this album is a mixture of Jon and Richie's 2nd solo albums, since it's a ride of experiences with uncertain destination and a lot of introspection.
"Make a Memory" has a strong concept with deep metaphors like "steal a piece of time". With "Any other day" everyday life is sung like they hadn't done since the album "These Days", not mentioning the fabulous guitar solo. "Whole lot of leaving", "The Last night" and "Everybody's broken" are cries from people in pain who long for better days. "One step closer" is a mid tempo of hope, trying to see the glass half full. The beautiful ballads "Seat next to you" and the Leann Rimes duet Strangers give the sweet taste of romance to the album, while the beach tune "Summertime", the party trashing "We gotta going on" and the country bar sing along "I love this town" turn up the volume and overwhelm us with the power of simple chords and joyful lines.
So above all this is an album about life with its ups and downs, its dreams and despairs, trips and come backs. Always with the cowboy hat on, the band adventured to work with two different producers, included two duets, and co-written with many different artists, proving they are still eager to try new things and taste life's freshness.
For the better or for the worse they dared, and even though you may not like it, and I love it, the album did push the band one step further. 24 years after they started, 20 years after their most acclaimed record: "Slippery When Wet" and 120 million records sold, they climbed the mountain all over again, and it paid, since they got a n.º 1 album in the USA, an achievement they hadn't done after 1988 and for the first time they topped both Japanese and USA's album charts with the same album.
At first the band did not plan to tour, hence playing a couple of one off gigs around the world, like the opening of London's O2 arena, and participating in several promo TV shows, like MTV's unplugged. However, due to the massive success the album obtained, they scheduled a 10 night marathon at the then brand new "Prudential Center" at their home state of New Jersey; which eventually led to a 12 date Canadian tour and eventually multiple nights in Japan, Australia and New Zealand, a 35+ indoor tour in North America, an open air concert in Abu-Dahbi, Stadiums all over Europe and a grand come back to North America, where after several stadiums they performed a free concert in New York's 'Central Park', just a couple of days before wrapping up the tour in the world's most famous arena 'Madison Square Garden' for 2 sold out shows. The busy touring schedule earned them the Award for the most profitable tour in 2008 for the very first time in their career.
Like it is written in Richie's tattoo "Who dares wins" and with 'Lost Highway' Bon Jovi did win, writing another successful page in their career. 8/10
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