The year Bon Jovi completed 10 years of life they were still releasing singles in Europe of their 1992 come back effort 'Keep the Faith'. In the aftermath of a successful worldwide tour that absorbed all the band's energy for the whole year of 1993, they spent the first 9 months of 1994 catching their breaths, making some occasional promotional appearances on the media and composing a brand new album. By Christmas time the new material wasn't ready to be released, so the idea of a greatest hits collection celebrating their 10th anniversary seemed not only reasonable, but a smart marketing move in a time the format was becoming more and more popular. Although the band had only released 5 studio records, they already had enough hits to fill an album worth of good material and it was the perfect excuse to introduce their 80s catalog to their new fans from the 90s.
Although initially planned as a 2 cd collection including some album tracks, it was eventually decided to release a single disk with 2 brand new songs, that would give old fans a good reason to buy it. The album was named "Crossroad - The Best of Bon Jovi" which in the words of its lead singer was mostly because it closed a chapter and initiated a brand new one. Along the 10 year celebration, the album marked the band's first change on its line up, with bassist Alec John Such leaving the group. No further reasons were detailed, but rumors had it that his leaving was a natural decision after some years of an increasing process of detachment from the band's focus. The fact that Alec was never formerly replaced increased the sense of Bon Jovi working as a family in which no member, although leaving, cannot be replaced.
The song selection for an album with these characteristics may seem logic and pretty straightforward, since it was merely an exercise of picking up the most successful hits on the charts. However, "Crossroad" would not only recap the band's hits, as it would become a staple of how a greatest hits collection should be assembled.
The first strength of the album was obviously the song selection. There is only one minor decision that may not be entirely obvious, which is the exclusion of "Born to be my baby" in favor of "Never say goodbye" or "In and Out of Love". However as we listen to the album, we eventually realize the latter ones are better choices, since although not peaking as high in charts, they provide a more complete picture of the band's musical diversity. All the other songs are obvious choices and are able to fit together surprisingly well.
Another of the album's strengths is the song sequence. As we listen to it from start to finish, there is a natural flow that is carried from track #1 to the very last one. The album is able to create a balanced atmosphere that despite the different productions and styles, is very cohesive, creating an overall bigger picture to it. From the beginning of "Livin' on a Prayer" that creates a fade in effect to the album, to the sequence "Lay your hands on me" "You give Love a bad Name", "Bed of Roses" followed by "Blaze of Glory" or "I'll be There for you" that makes the transition between post and pre Slippery songs, the whole sequence is able to capture the song's strengths and create bursts of energy brilliantly separated by mellower moments with transitions that are never disruptive. Either with "Runaway", in its US release, or "Never say goodbye", internationally, the album wraps up brilliantly, suggesting a new listen to the whole album as the next natural thing to do.
There were some minor differences in the album's track list, adapting it to the different markets. If in the US "In these Arms" had not been as huge as internationally, why not try a new arrangement on "Livin' on a Prayer", the band's biggest hit in the market? The Japanese version also didn't include the "Keep the Faith" 3rd single, getting "Tokyo Road" in stead. Finally "Never say goodbye" was not included in the US version, as it hadn't been released as a single there. So, all these small but effective differences were able to capitalize the band's reputation on each market.
Although the song selection, market adaptions and song sequence all contributed to the final result, the most important fact that would determine the album's market reaction was the brand new songs included in it. Probably this is mostly what sets "Crossroad" apart from so many other "Greatest Hits" collections, the inclusion of a brand new hit single. It's true most these collections have new songs, the rare thing is that these new songs become as big as the album's remainder tracks. "Always", released as the album's lead single rapidly climbed the charts world wide, becoming Bon Jovi's biggest hit ever. The song had been written for a movie, whose title was used in the song's first line, and it consisted of a power ballad that was able to capitalize on the success of the previous album's most successful single, "Bed of Roses", but which surprisingly was able to surpass it, becoming one of the decade's trademarks.Promoted with a video no teenager from the 90s will ever forget, the song became a phenomena, creating the awkward effect of carrying the greatest hits package further away. It was like people were buying the album because of this particular song and as a bonus they would get Bon Jovi's greatest hits as b-sides.
Although not as successful, "Someday I'll be Saturday Night", the album's other brand new song, was also released as a single in 1995. This one didn't aim the massive success but a more artistic recognition, creating a bridge with the content of the band's forthcoming album. The storytelling threads and "Springsteen" working class values guaranteed "Sat. Night" a rightful place among Bon Jovi's fan favorites and a spot on most of the band's shows ever since, becoming a highlight every time it was played not only because of its public recognition, but mostly due to the passion the performers put whenever they deliver it.
It is also worth to mention the massive promotion the band chose to do, appearing in virtually every talk show all round the globe. The band also released a Christmas single by 1994, consisting of the classic "Please come home for Christmas" originally released by Charles Brown and made popular in the 70s by the Eagles. The video in which singer Jon Bon Jovi appeared in more intimate scenes with top model Cindy Crawford was also motive of endless buzz in the media. The band had also released a brand new song for the soundtrack of the movie "The Cowboy Way", for which they had directed all their anger and heavier leaks on a charismatic B Side the band even dared to play live in 1995, "Good Guys Don't Always wear White".
With an excess of 10 million albums sold in a short period of time, Bon Jovi would spend the beginning of 1995 in the studio recording a brand new album. By April they started a world tour initially built on top of the band's greatest hits collection and only later, evolving to a new album promotion. The band took advantage of all the media attention around them and not only returned to most of the cities they had played 2 years before, as they performed sold out shows in countries they had never been to, such as India, Korea and South Africa.
Although initially planned as a filler marketing move to buy the band some time to finish their 6th record of originals, "Crossroad - The Best of Bon Jovi" represents the band's peak of popularity in the 90s. In a period all major artists put out similar albums, whether Nirvana's "MTV Unplugged", Aeromsmith's "Big Ones" or Bruce Springsteen's "Greatest Hits", Bon Jovi's release stood out and became one of the industry's most successful releases of the format. 10/10
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