Rock legend Jon Bon Jovi stares down an uncertain future with celebratory but reflective return that offers both hope and closure…
Imagine for a moment that you are Jon Bon Jovi. It’s difficult, but quite fun. Imagine that you are that guy, the one who became so mind-blowingly famous that his band basically opened rock music up to millions of fans that would not have given it more than a sideways glance had it been left to Mötley Crüe. Having sustained barely conceivable levels of stardom for decades, at 62 you’d be feeling pretty relaxed about the future.
Forever is an album by an artist who has much to celebrate and nothing left to prove. In our recent interview Jon spoke with great candour about the trials he’s facing with his voice, having vocal cord surgery, still not knowing if it’d be enough, and feeling quite prepared to walk away if it isn’t. The music here, then, has a kind of open-road joy about it. The songs are reflective, certainly, and often chime with Bon Jovi classics of the past. Living Proof is pedigree Jovi, even bringing back the distinctive talk box effect that makes the ubiquitous Livin’ On A Prayer so instantly identifiable. The People’s House emotionally echoes Keep The Faith, while the superb Waves tips the cowboy hat to Jon’s solo hit Blaze Of Glory.
Amid softer, acoustic-led material are jubilant anthems like Walls Of Jericho, the biggest-hearted, most openly singable Bon Jovi track for many years. We Made It Look Easy and My First Guitar salute the past in different ways, but both are fond and emotive rather than chest-beating, and Living In Paradise is another big chorus showpiece that grows in both momentum and feels.
It says a lot, however, that Jon chooses to close this comeback with Hollow Man, a sparse and haunting track that echoes his hero Bruce Springsteen’s eerily stark Nebraska. 'What do you write when the book is done?' he asks, returning to the notion this might yet be the end. If it is, there can be no more apt and genteel final bow for one of the most popular figures in rock history. One more time then, with feeling.
Verdict: 4/5
For fans of: Aerosmith, Guns N’Roses, Bruce Springsteen
Forever is released on June 7 via Island
Read this: Jon Bon Jovi: “I didn’t want to perform half-assed. If it was the end, I was good with that”
