Bon Jovi – Lost Highway
BON JOVI
LOST HIGHWAY
Released 2007 (Island)
Billboard Chart Position #1
Track List:
01. Lost Highway
02. Summertime
03. (You Want To) Make A Memory
04. Whole Lot Of Leavin’
05. We Got It Going On
06. Any Other Day
07. Seat Next To You
08. Everybody’s Broken
09. Till We Ain’t Strangers Anymore
10. The Last Night
11. One Step Closer
12. I Love This Town
Band:
Jon Bon Jovi – vocals
Richie Sambora – guitars and backing vocals
Hugh McDonald – bass
Tico Torres – drums and percussion
David Bryan – keyboards
Additional Musicians:
Big & Rich – vocals (5)
Leann Rimes – vocals (9)
Greg Leisz – pedal steel
Dan Chase – keyboards and programming
Johathan Yudkin – accordion and fiddle
Dan Dugmore – pedal steel, mandolin and steel guitar
Steve Nathan – piano and B-3 organ
John Catchings – cello
Eric Darken – percussion
Paul Franklin – steel guitar
Carl Gorodetzky – violin
Kurt Johnston – steel/pedal guitar
Pam Sixfin – violin
Kris Wilkinson – viola
Carole Rabinowitz – cello
Charlie Judge – synthesizer and programming
Hillary Lindsey – background vocals
Production:
Produced by Dan Huff, and John Shanks. Executive producer Desmond Child.
Review:
Everybody has been talking about Bon Jovi ‘going country’ so I expected this CD to be a lot worse than it is. I wouldn’t call this country but it sure isn’t rock either – it’s more country-pop, if there is such a thing. It also doesn’t surprise me that Bon Jovi have gone down this soft rock/with a country flavor highway because they have always semi-flirted with that sound (think “Wanted Dead Or Alive” and you get a feel about what this disc is about).
The title track “Lost Highway” is catchy enough, as is “Summertime” – this is a feel good happy little number. “We Got It Going On” is just plain awful, as is “Till We Ain’t Strangers Anymore” – the duet featuring Leann Rimes, but country is her forte so you know what to expect and it’s as painful as I knew it would be. The other tracks sound pretty much the same as everything else, which doesn’t mean they are terrible, just nothing stands out.
Lost Highway is slightly boring, unadventurous stuff, but still rather pleasant easy listening and it won’t offend the neighbors or the mainstream radio stations. You could put this on at a family gathering of all generations and not have anyone complain or ask what that awful noise is. This doesn’t get me terribly excited, but it doesn’t make my ears bleed either.
Jon Bon Jovi has always had a great voice, even if you don’t like Bon Jovi you can’t deny that he can sing, and his voice is perfectly showcased on Lost Highway on the (way-too-many) ballads.
If you want a classic Bon Jovi Slippery When Wet sound you won’t find it here. Despite the critics, if the mainstream charts and the sales for their current world tour are anything to go by, Bon Jovi haven’t been shot down in a blaze of glory even with this mediocre but acceptable effort.
www.bonjovi.com – www.myspace.com/bonjovi
Reviewed by Tania for Sleaze Roxx, February 2008.
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