Yeo Qianhua
Bon Jovi’s latest album may be titled Lost Highway, but with yet another hit album to call their own, they’ve not only kept their magical musical touch, they’re zipping up the highway.
For their 10th studio album, the band has deviated from their usual rock sound by infusing it with a touch of country. That may have seen like quite an unnecessary risk – after all, why fix something that ain’t broke, right?
However, it’s a gamble that’s paid off handsomely as Lost Highway managed to debut at number 1 on the Billboard charts. It’s also the band’s first number 1 album since 1988’s New Jersey!
Lost Highway has also achieved similar success in other countries such as Japan, Europe and Australia, making it one of Bon Jovi’s most successful albums in the band’s history, which has spanned more than 20 years.
The albums first released single, “(You Want To) Make a Memory” takes after previous memorable rock ballads of Bon Jovi’s such as “Bed of Roses” and “Always”. With typically melodious tunes and heart-wrenching lyrics to boot such as “If you go now, I’ll understand. If you stay, hey, I’ve got a plan” (those that you’d secretly pen on a scrap piece of paper to recite to someone tearfully if the time ever calls for it), this single is hardly anything surprising for the average Bon Jovi fan, but still enjoyable nonetheless. This song has etched itself into my memory – that’s for sure.
Another track from the album, “Til We Ain’t Strangers Anymore”, features LeAnn Rimes who sang the theme song of Coyote Ugly. Sadly, this song is mediocre at best. Bon Jovi usually produces superb rock hits. Butunder the disguise of acoustic and electric guitars and simple percussion this trackhas certain qualities of a cheesy but enjoyable pop song. And while I’d really love to give the track more credit, that’s all it deserves.
Bon Jovi has always been, to me at least, a wonderful rock band that has managed to produce sappy rock ballads without ever sounding cheesy. And once again I quote the examples “Bed of Roses” and “Always”. Those were the sappiest songs ever, and yet so melancholic and beautiful that they will never make you cringe. If not a tad exaggerated, those are the songs that could have made you relish the days of heartbreak.
Sad to say, the band’s attempt at a hit rock ballad has failed miserably with “Til We Ain’t Strangers Anymore”. I cringed and cringed and cringed non-stop. Buy the CD, listen to this track once just so that you can talk about how bad it is, then cringe some more and skip to the next song in future.
“Lost Highway”, the title track of the album, is one of those feel-good songs reminiscent of the hit “It’s My Life”. Its celebration of independence and spontaneity is a welcoming daydream for the many of us stuck in the dreary regime of a struggling student with too many Ds and not nearly enough As.
One thing that sets Bon Jovi apart from the many other homogenous rock bands today is the fact that Bon Jovi has never seen the need to deliver the angst and swearing that seems to come by default. Perhaps with maturity, especially given Bon Jovi’s startling staying power, they’ve developed their own unique flavour which acknowledges that screaming doesn’t make people listen, and that at the end of the day, encouragement despite a broken spirit is worth much more than the glorification of death – something prevalent among so many ‘cooler’ bands out there. Simple Plan’s“To be on the edge of breaking down/And no one’s there to save you/No you don’t know what it’s like/Welcome to my life”. “Welcome to my life” is one good example:
So now you know. Lost Highway isn’t exactly for the lost soul stranded and crying in the middle of the highway. On the contrary, it’s for those who chose to lose themselves so as to be able to cruise down the highway indefinitely – that’s some sort of freedom. It’s the celebration of a life that so many forget to live.
UrbanWire gives Lost Highway 4 out of 5 stars.
Lost Highway is available at all record stores now