It’s been a long 16 years since Bon Jovi was last compiled, when Cross Road arrived for the holiday season of 1994, two years after Keep the Faith capped off a near-decade long run of dominance for the Jersey rockers. As it turned out, it was the first act of Bon Jovi’s career. A subdued second act followed in the ‘90s, with Jon Bon Jovi flirting with a solo career once again before returning to the fold late in the decade, with the band setting out for a decade of professionalism, sometimes cresting into the charts – usually with the assist of a canny country crossover – sometimes not. Greatest Hits condenses the highlights of this journey in a mere 16 songs, just two longer than Cross Road – its simultaneously released cousin, Ultimate Greatest Hits, adds a disc with 12 additional songs – and two of those are new tunes that are unlikely to show up on any subsequent best of.
From the opening track, "Runaway," which rode to glory on E Street Band-mate Roy Bittan's distinctive keyboard riff, to the sweaty arena rock of "Get Ready," which closed the album, Bon Jovi's debut is an often-overlooked minor gem from the early days of hair metal…
While Bon Jovi managed to stick a couple of killer album tracks onto all of their records, their main strength had always been writing singles. Released in 1994, Cross Road collects all of their biggest hits, adding a couple of new songs (including the international smash "Always," which helped the album go platinum in multiple countries) and Jon Bon Jovi's solo hit, "Blaze of Glory," for good measure…
Die-hard Bon Jovi fans will swear on their sacred Slippery When Wet albums that Bon Jovi is by far one of the best rock bands to sing (or scream) along to, no matter where you are – in the car, on the road, or in your room, crooning into your hairbrush or anything you can get your hands on. One Wild Night: Live 1985-2001 is the perfect album for fans and newcomers alike, as it features a plentiful bounty of the band's biggest hits and most-screamable tunes…
Have a Nice Day, Bon Jovi's ninth studio album of original material, picks up where 2002's Bounce left off, showcasing a harder, heavier band than either 2000's Crush or Jon Bon Jovi's 1997 solo effort, Destination Anywhere. Not only that, but this 2005 album finds Jon Bon Jovi picking up on the serious undercurrent of Bounce, writing a series of angry, somber neo-protest songs that form the heart of this record…
Slippery When Wet wasn't just a breakthrough album for Bon Jovi; it was a breakthrough for hair metal in general, marking the point where the genre officially entered the mainstream. Released in 1986, it presented a streamlined combination of pop, hard rock, and metal that appealed to everyone – especially girls, whom traditional heavy metal often ignored…
Bounce is the eighth studio album by American rock band Bon Jovi, released on October 8, 2002 through Island Records. Produced by Luke Ebbin, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, the album was recorded at Sanctuary II Studio in New Jersey…
Keep the Faith reintroduced Bon Jovi after almost four years of side projects and hiatuses. The musical climate had shifted considerably in that time, a fact that wasn't lost on the band. Faith blatantly brought to the surface the Bruce Springsteen influence that was always lurking in Bon Jovi's sound, and used it to frame Faith's more serious interpretation of the band's pop-metal groove…
Jon Bon Jovi's first official solo album, Destination Anywhere (apparently Blaze of Glory doesn't count because it was a soundtrack) finds the hard rocker attempting to simultaneously make his signature sound more mature and more contemporary…
One thing buried amidst all Bon Jovi's detours of the new millennium – there wasn't just 2007's contemporary country Lost Highway, there was the acoustic reworking of hits This Left Feels Right in 2003 – is that the group has been sober-minded throughout the decade, reacting to 9/11 on 2002's Bounce, exploring the morass of W's America on 2005's Have a Nice Day, and now creating a soundtrack for the Great Recession on 2009's The Circle…