Gibbo

They're a one-trick pony as far as I'm concerned ... a few really good songs, but nothing that gets me excited about a new album ...

I had 'Love After Death', but I foolishly let a mate borrow it ... I saw them in a small club (The Esplanade) when they toured the UK with that album ... they were FANTASTIC!

St. Prostitute - Here Come The Prostitutes ... it's like the 90s never happened

Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son (on a bit of a 70s kick at the moment) ...

Whitesnake - Live in the Heart of The City

 

Presumably that one includes a drum solo; in which case, I would end up smashing the CD into as many pieces as I could...

 

Plus I always thought Dave's voice was really poor live.

 

well it is from about 1980 so his voice sounds a million bucks imo. Is there a drum solo, you know I honestly cant remember??

 

There is a skip button you know......dont have to listen to it lol.

Ah, Dave's voice on that album is sublime ... les gonads du chien, as our French friends would say ...

my favorite part of DL is their almost ethereal endlessly sustained guitar tones (like Stand Up).

it just wouldnt feel right unplugged,, like slayer doing a polka album...

I'd pay good money to hear that!

Whitesnake - Live in the Heart of The City

 

Presumably that one includes a drum solo; in which case, I would end up smashing the CD into as many pieces as I could...

 

Plus I always thought Dave's voice was really poor live.

Taxiiiiiiii!

In fact here are a few live albums from over the years which I really rate - in no order

 

Whitesnake - Live in the Heart of The City

MSG - One Night In Budokan

Thin Lizzy - Live & Dangerous

Marillion - The Thieving Magpie

Black Sabbath - Live Evil

Iron Maiden - Live After Death

Love all of these ...The RJD-fronted Sabbath also put out a limited CD under the title 'Live At Hammersmith' which is rather fantastic ... it's from '81/'82 and includes Country Girl and Slipping Away in addition to the titles that made it onto Live Evil ...

While we're talking about live albums, can I hold Priest's 'Unleashed In the East' up as being a fine example of a hugely over-rated live album?

 

I like it. A great best of the 70's era. But not a classic for sure.

Yeah, I like it ... but it's not the saviour of live albums that some critics seem to think it is ... I bought it expecting to be utterly blown away ... I wasn't (give me 'Live And Dangerous' or 'Strangers In The Night' any day!)

I dont like anything but 7800 Farrenheit, oh and the one song they publicly insulted, Edge of A Broken Heart, outside of that, it's pretty balless wimpy shit, maybe if Slippery hadnt been rammed down our throats it would be ok, as the song Without Love is pretty good, but I really have never thought that highly of BJ, there were far better bands comming out of that era that fucking obliviate bon jovi in that genre! sorry just not a fan and dont understand the massive hype they recieved?

 

To each their own but I bought that debut on the day of release & it was fantastic.

 

Remember hearing Runaway on Tommy Vances Friday Night Rockshow & all my mates were like - who they fuck is that? It was just awesome.

 

Jeez you really are old.

 

When I was a rebellious kid I always said how I listened to so many bands that were better than Bon Jovi and that others should have been huge instead of Bon Jovi. But in hindsight, that type of thought it pretty pointless. Not every great band is ever going to be massive and there's always going to be the select few in every genre that get "lucky." And it is luck, whether anyone admits it or not, with regard to who makes it and who doesn't. And Bon Jovi did get lucky.

 

But unlike so many bands that were HUGE and that just plain sucked (*cough Aerosmith, cough Van Halen*) at least Bon Jovi did have a huge selection of great melodic rock songs to back it up. If you're a fan of melodic rock and you deny that there aren't a heap of KILLER songs on the three albums that shot them into and kept them in a state of super stardom ('Slippery,' 'New Jersey' and 'Keep The Faith') you're on some wikked drugs.

 

Love them or hate them, they had the songs to back up their status as the poster boys for melodic / commercial hard rock. And good luck to them for it. If it wasn't them it'd be some other band that people would criticize just for being popular.

 

LUCK?? Wasnt his uncle or dad or something the head of Mercury Records? I don't believe BJ had any kind of luck, they had from what I understand access to every demo that came through the record label, in which they could easily sit and pick out their favorites to any of the thousands of un copyrighted songs sent in by thousands of unknown hacks, then after they had selected the best, learn them with his own band, have whoever it was he was related to in the business get him studio time and producers, then after he had cut all the songs, he had easy access to every radio station in the country, I have read reports on this since I was a kid and read Kerang, Hit Parader, Circus, etc. when you hear something like this once, it's easy to blow off as hearsay, when you've read similar stories hear and there for 25+ years, you have to assume some kind of truth drives it? and sorry Geoff, where you and I agree almost more then any other 2 members of this board on the kind of music we like,pretty much anytime I like something and post about it, either you already have posted on the same group\song, or you have not heard it and are the only one who posts something positive on it, you state, and I have a suspicion it's to get me going, but it may not be, you state that Van Halen suck?? Um! I guess you are 100% correct, I am wrong, it wasn't until you posted this I had to go back and reexamine my opinion, in no way does the guitar playing of Richie Ricardo Sambora match anything i have ever heard played by the mediocre Edward Van Halen, Eddie was clearly ripping somebody off when he came out of nowhere back in 78, when bands like Foreigner, Styx, cough Aerosmith, Scorpions, and AC\DC were the premier rock bands, and they all had songs like Eruption on them, everybody was doing that at the time, he ripped them all off, Van Halen S\T was the most predictable, unoriginal, and mediocre album in the history of hard rock albums, and your right, did suck, and nothing Van Halen put out could even hold a match to Bon Jovi, Van Halens best song wasn't even in league with Bon Jovi's worst, you are correct, and I am publicly posting, you are right, I am wrong, and why is it that what I consider to be Bon Jovi's best song, was on a little known soundtrack, and they personally degraded it, and called it a glitch in their catalog, and Jon and Tico openly said it was embarrassing, they wrote it in a day, and only released it under contractual obligation? I mean I don't know about any of you but I consider Edge Of A Broken Heart the best material they ever released?? sorry, I stand corrected, Bon Jovi is the greatest band to ever record an album.

 

Wow mate, that's a lot to digest.

 

Just to address what of it I can:

 

See, to me, Jon Bon Jovi knowing someone at Mercury is good luck... and maybe enough good luck to give them the boost they needed to get started. And that's what I mean by there being an element of luck in bands "making it."

 

Just out of curiosity, have I ever said Sambora is a better guitarist than Eddie Van Halen? Or that Van Halen ever ripped anyone off? Or than Van Halen's best song is not as good as Bon Jovi's worst?

 

Thanks for posting publicly that I'm right and you're wrong - I assumed it was common knowledge? But despite me saying a lot of awesome things, I am not sure where you got the idea I said any of those things. For the record:

 

Edward Van Halen is a very good guitarist. Technically better than Richie Sambora and a lot of guitarists. But he is a terrible song writer and I would prefer to listen to most other guitarists, including Richie Sambora. Even though... and I'll bold it for you... Edward Van Halen is a better guitarist than Richie Sambora.

 

Seriously, the Van Halen ripping people off - where'd you even get that from? Nice fiction, mate. If there was another band that bad, why the hell would anyone want to rip them off?! Nah, Van Halen are their own band with their own sound and style. It's just that they write bad songs.

 

And Van Halen have about 10 songs in their entire discography that are not only better than Bon Jovi's worst songs, but probably as good as a lot of their best. Van Halen do have a few good songs. Only problem is that there's a great song in approximately every 10 songs they record.

 

Anyway, I'm glad you realise that Van Halen suck, and that I was the one to help you see that. Always glad to assist.

 

And I agree that 'Edge of a broken heart' is definitely in the best 10 Bon Jovi songs. Killer tune.

 

Creep.

 

No Van Halen did start writing a lot of crap, especially on Diver Down, but I don't consider Bon Jovi especially great songwriters, lets take for example Slippery When Wet, now was it so great cause it was great, or was it great cause they brainwashed us all by playing it every 5 minutes? Keep The Faith was just standard by the book pop rock, I don't really consider any of it special, now listen to In And Out Of Love, Tokyo Road, Only Lonely, Hardest Part Is The Night, these are all in and of themselves actually good songs, and they were not shoved down our throats, Van Halen I destroys anything BJ ever did, and Van Halen II pretty great, not even the same type of music, but theres not 1 BJ album that was from start to finish great songs, so I guess that is why albums from start to finish full of great songs are so few and far between, like Blue Tears for instance, or So Far From Real, from track 1 to the end, killer songs, I also put High & Dry and Pyromania in this category, just my opinion.

Slippery When Wet was a case of being in the right place at the right time, I think ... for my money, both New Jersey (ignoring the ballad) and Keep The Faith are stronger/more consistent albums ... but, then, couldn't the same be said for a number of bands from that era? Looking at Van Halen (and I do love those early albums), did they get as big as they did because 1984 was a stone-cold classic? Or was it because Jump was being played on the radio all the time? Again, I think they've done far better albums, but they came along with the right song at the right time. The same with Twisted Sister and Stay Hungry/We're Not Gonna Take It ... if you look back at 1983/1984, there are no end of bands who had massive success thanks to getting one or two songs on the radio/MTV, not because they produced classic albums ...

so according to the little thing I have Jon worked at The Power Station Studio for 3 years (80-83). His second cousin Tony Bongiovi was a producer there. Jon and his family asked Tony for help and Jon was hired as an Artist Under Development.

 

just pulled out my Power Station Years cd and John has writing credits on all the songs that are on the cd

 

two of the better songs off the disc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jseQXsg5lN0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvKqtGZtxnM

It's well known, and well documented, that JBJ got a serious leg up through his association with the Power Station and Tony Bongiovi (it's not even Bon Jovi the band who play on 'Runaway') ... would he have got so far without this initial push? Would Bon Jovi have ended up just another 80s hair-metal band? We'll never know. But you can't deny that the guy has put in some serious hours AND the leg-work to keep his band going ... I haven't really paid attention to anything that they've done since 'Keep The Faith', but it's still nice to see/hear that they're still going

I agree with 'Gangland' from 'The Number Of The Beast' ... and I'll add 'Quest For Fire' from 'Piece Of Mind' ... *shudder* ...

 

I happily skip 'Hina' when I play DLR's 'Skyscraper' ... and 'I'll Be There For You' ruins what I think is Bon Jovi's best album ...

 

...but you happily listen to 'Bottom Line'?

 

TBH, that album is the opposite for me - 'Just Like Paradise' is a great chooon, but I'll happily skip the rest (with the possible exception of 'Stand Up'; not a great song, but damn catchy).

Yup. I LOVE 'Skyscraper' (apart from 'Hina') ... in fact (and I realise that I'm very much in the minority here), I prefer it over 'Eat 'em And Smile' ... hang on, I'll just get me coat ...

 

I'd agree with 'Skyscraper' being better than 'Eat...', but I still think it's a comedy album.

You expected something different from Diamond Dave?

I'll chip in here & give a big shout out toThe Esplanade in Southend -had so many awesome nights in there and saw amongst others, Thunder, Love/Hate, Pearl Jam, Crown Of Thorns. Awesome times & the DJ was a major fan of our genre.

 

Also The Astoria - now criminally torn down - I saw just about every band you care to mention in that joint including D2 (debut tour), Dare, Magnum, enuff z nuff, Dan Reed, Bonfire (point blank tour), motor head, little angels, Dio, alterBridge, Nightwish, disturbed, Papa Roach, Slipknot (debut tour & carnage), FM the list is endless.

 

A very sad day when that was tore down :-(

Yeah, The Esplanade was a great place to go ... and now it's a 'family pub' ... *sob* ... Chinnery's doesn't even come close in terms of atmosphere and/or the bands they have there (although I did see Hardcore Superstar there a good few years back on their first UK tour, with a crowd of about 30 people!)

Inspired by the 'overrated' thread, I'm tempted to offer up 'Give Me All Your Love' from Whitesnake's 1987 album for this thread. Easily the worst song on the album for me, really weak.

And that's saying something!

I agree with 'Gangland' from 'The Number Of The Beast' ... and I'll add 'Quest For Fire' from 'Piece Of Mind' ... *shudder* ...

 

I happily skip 'Hina' when I play DLR's 'Skyscraper' ... and 'I'll Be There For You' ruins what I think is Bon Jovi's best album ...

 

...but you happily listen to 'Bottom Line'?

 

TBH, that album is the opposite for me - 'Just Like Paradise' is a great chooon, but I'll happily skip the rest (with the possible exception of 'Stand Up'; not a great song, but damn catchy).

Yup. I LOVE 'Skyscraper' (apart from 'Hina') ... in fact (and I realise that I'm very much in the minority here), I prefer it over 'Eat 'em And Smile' ... hang on, I'll just get me coat ...

and 'I'll Be There For You' ruins what I think is Bon Jovi's best album ...

Yowser! Worse than 'Love for sale' even?

It's a close one, but 'I'll Be There ...' just about edges it for me ...

Oh, shush! When have you EVER known me to pay attention?

No, no, NO! I will NOT be suckered into buying this bloody album again!

My brother (a man who loves all things Nirvana) recently coughed to liking Testament ... perhaps the world really IS going to end next week?

 

It seems likely.

 

BTW, have you heard the Testament album yet? You really should...

I will ... as soon as you buy it

I love 'New Jersey' and 'Keep The Faith' (apart from the ballads - I've never liked JBJ's ballads) ... but there are times when I get utterly sick of hearing the same damn songs ('Livin' On A Prayer' and 'You Give Love A Bad Name') being played on the radio whenever the DJ thinks that it's time to ROCK ... that said, you can't knock the bloke for getting lucky, and kudos to him for the stuff he does for charity. Personally, I lost interest in Bon Jovi the band after I saw them at Wembley in '95 ... that show was one of the most boring shows I've ever seen ... everything just felt laboured ... after that, they fell off my radar (with the exception of the odd song here and there.) Mind you, I still get tempted to buy their more recent stuff when I read the review ... *chuckle* ... perhaps they're best described as being a 'guilty pleasure'?

I agree with 'Gangland' from 'The Number Of The Beast' ... and I'll add 'Quest For Fire' from 'Piece Of Mind' ... *shudder* ...

I happily skip 'Hina' when I play DLR's 'Skyscraper' ... and 'I'll Be There For You' ruins what I think is Bon Jovi's best album ...

While we're talking about live albums, can I hold Priest's 'Unleashed In the East' up as being a fine example of a hugely over-rated live album?

Most everything from Motley Crue, AC/DC, KISS, Black Sabbath, Aerosmith and Iron Maiden. These big boys are all well over hyped in my opinion, they all have some good songs, but for the most part they did not deserve the superstar status they got with their music alone. KISS is about the only band I've listed that I could make a decent best of that included at least 12 really good songs, maybe 8 songs from Iron Maiden, as for the others I wouldn't even bother.

 

Bloody hell mate only 8 good Maiden songs lol. There's at least 5 killers on NOTB alone lol.

 

I always judge a bands quality on their live performance and I can honestly say that their gigs on the NOTB & Piece of Mind tours were absolutely phenomenal - so yeah I would say they completely deserve their success.

 

Some of their recent output has been hit & miss but back in the 80s they were a force, no doubt.

Agree Glen!

I don't think anyone could touch Maiden in the 80s - and, as much as I love the band, I have to agree with Glen ... their recent output has been patchy ...

Most everything from Motley Crue, AC/DC, KISS, Black Sabbath, Aerosmith and Iron Maiden. These big boys are all well over hyped in my opinion, they all have some good songs, but for the most part they did not deserve the superstar status they got with their music alone. KISS is about the only band I've listed that I could make a decent best of that included at least 12 really good songs, maybe 8 songs from Iron Maiden, as for the others I wouldn't even bother.

 

Bloody hell mate only 8 good Maiden songs lol. There's at least 5 killers on NOTB alone lol.

 

I always judge a bands quality on their live performance and I can honestly say that their gigs on the NOTB & Piece of Mind tours were absolutely phenomenal - so yeah I would say they completely deserve their success.

 

Some of their recent output has been hit & miss but back in the 80s they were a force, no doubt.

 

I like quite a few Maiden songs, but I do think Iron Maiden, Killers and Powerslave are all hugely overrated albums. Personally, I didn't rate any of them. And as for Live After Death... <shudder>

 

Oh no, Powerslave is my favourite Maiden album and Live After Death is brilliant imo.

 

Yeah sorry mate Live After Death is one of the best live albums ever IMO

 

There you go, order is restored! Back to disagreeing again.

 

I hate live albums (with the notable exception of 'Live and Dangerous')!

See?

Most everything from Motley Crue, AC/DC, KISS, Black Sabbath, Aerosmith and Iron Maiden. These big boys are all well over hyped in my opinion, they all have some good songs, but for the most part they did not deserve the superstar status they got with their music alone. KISS is about the only band I've listed that I could make a decent best of that included at least 12 really good songs, maybe 8 songs from Iron Maiden, as for the others I wouldn't even bother.

 

Bloody hell mate only 8 good Maiden songs lol. There's at least 5 killers on NOTB alone lol.

 

I always judge a bands quality on their live performance and I can honestly say that their gigs on the NOTB & Piece of Mind tours were absolutely phenomenal - so yeah I would say they completely deserve their success.

 

Some of their recent output has been hit & miss but back in the 80s they were a force, no doubt.

 

I like quite a few Maiden songs, but I do think Iron Maiden, Killers and Powerslave are all hugely overrated albums. Personally, I didn't rate any of them. And as for Live After Death... <shudder>

Yeah, but you don't like live albums. Live After Death is one of the best live albums I've ever heard (and, as you know, I've heard a few!)