Check out Bon Jovi in the 80s.
The 1990s saw a shift in the popular music scene. Most of the glam/pop metal bands broke up or faded away as grunge entered the mainstream through bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam.
Bon Jovi was one of the few 80s “hair bands” to successfully reinvent themselves and remain in the charts. They cut their hair, changed their clothes, and shifted towards more mature, socially conscious music.
Bassist Alec John Such left the band in 1994, and was “unofficially” replaced by Hugh McDonald who has played with Bon Jovi ever since but is left out of photo shoots and award ceremonies.
Keep the Faith (1992)
Keep the Faith is, from the outset, musically and lyrically more complex than previous albums. It opens with “I Believe” and “Keep the Faith”, both of which signal Bon Jovi’s “serious rock” intentions for the decade.
The album also features the epic fan favourite “Dry County”. However, fans of Bon Jovi’s power ballads and party rockers are not left out, with songs like “Bed of Roses”, “In These Arms” and “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead”. While not as successful as its predecessors, Keep the Faith reached number one in Australia, the UK and Canada.
Cross Road (1994)
Cross Road was a greatest hits compilation of Bon Jovi’s first 10 years, with all of its previous five albums represented. It also featured two new songs: “Someday I’ll Be Saturday Night” and “Always”, which became Bon Jovi’s biggest hit worldwide.
The US version of Cross Road also includes a sombre acoustic re-recording of “Livin’ on a Prayer” entitled “Prayer ’94”. (The international release included “In These Arms” in its place and the Japanese release has “Tokyo Road” instead).
These Days (1995)
These Days continues the exploration of social issues that began in Keep the Faith. It kicks off with the explosive “Hey God”, setting the tone for the anger, disillusionment and desperation that flows through the album.
These Days features socially conscious rock songs including the title track and “Something for the Pain”, and experiments with soul and RnB through songs like “This Ain’t a Love Song”, while still retaining the catchy hooks that are synonymous with Bon Jovi. Like Keep the Faith, These Days was more popular internationally than in the US. It reached number one in the UK, Australia, and Japan, and also spent several weeks at number one in the European Top 100 Albums.
Solo Careers
The 90s also saw the band members begin to explore solo projects:
- Jon Bon Jovi released two solo albums: Blaze of Glory (1990) and Destination Anywhere (1997). He also took acting lessons and had a number of film roles.
- Richie Sambora released two blues-rock solo albums: Stranger in this Town (1991) and Undiscovered Soul (1998).
- David Bryan wrote the film score for The Netherworld and released two instrumental albums: On a Full Moon (1995) and Lunar Eclipse (2000).
- Tico Torres launched a secondary career as a painter and sculptor, holding art exhibitions of his own work.
- Hugh McDonald continued to work as a session musician, recording with artists as diverse as Alice Cooper, Ricky Martin and Cher. He also played on Destination Anywhere and toured with Jon Bon Jovi’s “solo” band before Bon Jovi regrouped in the late 90s with a new musical direction.
