A treasure trove for the die-hards

100,000,000 BON JOVI FANS CAN'T BE WRONG... (2004)


Bon Jovi are a band that have sold a lot of records. So many, that in the early 21st century the band were approaching a milestone of having sold respectable 100,000,000 records. The band wanted to celebrate that milestone by putting out something special: a box set. Bon Jovi were also always a very prolific band when they were writing songs for their albums; ever since the 1980s Jon and Richie (+ Desmond Child etc.) would write so many songs for the albums that many songs would end up - besides some turning up as B-sides - on a shelf, never seeing the light of day. Hence their prolific writing they didn't use old leftover songs for later albums but the songs were left to gather dust in the band's archives. In 2004, suitably with the band's 20 year anniversary and the milestone of plenty of records sold, it was time to open those vaults. 38 songs that no-one had ever heard were collected from the archives, and with 12 other songs the box consisted of altogether 50 songs. Unfortunately, the band apparently never labeled their archives properly so the details on when different songs were recorded were hazy - with most of the songs the recording years are now certain (the box's producer tried to pull up some kind of list, and die-hard fans can time the songs pretty well anyway), but there are a few songs whose recording year still isn't 100% clear. 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong... was released in November 2004.



Disc 1


Why Aren't You Dead?

Written by: JBJ, RS, DC
Done for what album: Keep The Faith

The first track in the box is a song that was recorded for Keep The Faith but wasn't used for it. Why Aren't You Dead? is a fun rock'n'roll song with tongue in cheek lyrics and an okay guitar riff. It's lyrically a lot in the same vein as You Give Love A Bad Name and Bad Medicine; there's very non-serious but somewhat clichéd lyrics about love. The song is kind of a one trick song; there's one line of lyric in the song - no doubt funny and clever line - but then there's not really much else. The reason this didn't eventually make the record was because this song didn't fit with where the band were heading with Keep The Faith, it was more of something they had already done. And although they like to call Keep The Faith their socially conscious record without really good enough reasons to do so, their reason for not doing this one is for once watertight. So although with a bit more work this could have had ingredients to be a better song than for example Woman In Love on that album, I don't blame the band's decision to not use this one. But although Why Aren't You Dead? isn't really a great song, it's a good, simple and fun rock'n'roll song, and it's a very traditional Bon Jovi song in the sense that this band were practically born to do songs like this. And while it's not a great song and it would have fitted better on Slippery When Wet than the 1990s, I still find it to be much better than most of the stuff the band have put out in the 2000s.

Rating: ***


The Radio Saved My Life Tonight

Written by: JBJ, RS
Done for what album: Keep The Faith

The first true gem of the box. The Radio Saved My Life Tonight is a song that Jon wrote at the time after Young Guns but before Keep The Faith, sometime around 1991. It was the time of the band's burnout and Jon was questioning his motivation to make any more music. And he wrote this song that is about how music can touch you and affect you, make you feel better and lift you up from your worries. Richie added his flavours to the lyrics and the song was recorded in the Keep The Faith sessions. The Radio Saved My Life Tonight is a very uplifting song. It's a great song to listen to when you're feeling down - there's high odds the song can make you feel better. Jon had a flu when he sang the song, but oddly enough, singing this song with a head cold seems to really suit the song, and the same goes for the sort of raw and unfinished sound that the track has. Radio is a sweetly rocking song and it's in a way very classic Bon Jovi - if the song had been released as a single somewhere around 1993-1994, it could have perhaps become a Bon Jovi classic. It's an uplifting, powerful, deliciously rocking and superb song, and The Radio Saved My Life Tonight is one of the best things in the box.

Rating: *****


Taking It Back

Written by: JBJ, RS
Done for what album: Keep The Faith

Taking It Back is a song that ties in with the B-side Starting All Over Again. They are Keep The Faith songs that were done perhaps more to the band themselves rather than with the general public and album release in mind. The songs are about the band coming back at the start of the 1990s after the "almost break-up" and burnout, and the band were in a way infusing confidence to themselves with these songs. Taking It Back is a very modest rock song. It's lyrically unimportant, the song doesn't really have a great chorus, which is notable (and kind of refreshing too) since so many Bon Jovi songs are so heavily chorus-driven, but the song has a good drive and it's still a nice rock song. And there are actually so few real rock songs in this box that this song perhaps even stands up as one of the best rocking tunes of the set.

Rating: ***


Someday I'll Be Saturday Night (Original demo)

Written by: JBJ, RS, DC
Done for what album: These Days/Crossroad

Saturday Night was originally written for the These Days album but the band opted to put it with Always on the Crossroad compilation in 1994. Lyrically the song was always very These Days as the slightly dark and melancholy lyrics fitted perfectly with the lyrics of the These Days album, but musically it didn't quite fit with it, the acoustically driven Sat Night differed a bit in that way. But here is a demo version of Sat Night that is just 100% These Days. This is a very interesting demo because it is so different from the final version of the song. The arrangement is completely different as there are no acoustic guitars but instead slightly sad-sounding organs and the lyrics are also different (bleaker) in places. It's unnecessary to try to decide which version of the song is better as both are equally brilliant, but this is a very interesting demo and a great inclusion to the box set.

Rating: *****


Miss Fourth Of July

Written by: JBJ
Done for what album: Keep The Faith

Miss Fourth Of July is a song that Jon wrote in 1991 at about the same time when he also wrote Bed Of Roses. He calls that time "the grey period" of his life, but in fact it was probably the most creative and musically best period of his life. Like Bed Of Roses, this is a very personal song, and apparently exactly that was the reason why the song wasn't initially released. It's a bit vexatious that Jon felt so personal about the song because it's a real shame that the song wasn't released until this late - the song should have probably made Keep The Faith. Miss Fourth Of July is about dreams dying and the disappointment end emptiness towards life that Jon felt at the time of writing the song. Jon's lyrics are good. The song has a wonderful sound, it reminds a bit of Sandy by Bruce Springsteen and is very different to New Jersey and other 1980s stuff the band did. There's an accordion in the song - something quite rare in a Bon Jovi song - which fits to the song perfectly and sounds utterly beautiful. Miss Fourth Of July is a wonderful, beautiful and thoroughly excellent song. It is much better than for example In These Arms and it's a song that should have probably made the Keep The Faith album. This is one of the best songs they had for Keep The Faith and easily one of the best songs of this entire box. Miss Fourth Of July is a genuine gem that ranks high among some of the best songs the band ever made.

Rating: *****


Open All Night

Written by: JBJ, Desmond Child, Eric Bazilian(?)
Done for what album: These Days

This song was going to be the title track of the These Days album until the song was dropped off that album. Of course, all These Days fans like myself were drooling over this song for years. It took a long time, but finally the day arrived when this song reached us. And Open All Night doesn't disappoint much. This is an absolutely superb song - as could have been easily expected from the song that was going to be the title track of that marvellous album. It's lyrically about this man handling the fact that his woman is leaving him. He's not grieving and crying - like the characters usually are in Bon Jovi love songs - but instead wishing her all the best and saying that she's warmly welcome back anytime she wants. The song is beautiful both lyrically and musically. It's not any aching, weeping ballad but an upbeat, light rock song.
The only real problem I have with this song (apart from the probably-a-little-too-short lyrics and too many "babys" mentioned in the song) is that there are two names where they just shouldn't be: Desmond Child, and more importantly, Eric Bazilian. I'm having hard time to believe it. Eric Bazilian didn't work on even one song with the band until he worked with Jon on Destination Anywhere two years later, and I could have sworn that this is a pure Jon & Richie composition. That is what I obviously wished this song to be. So as the writing credits give me a headache I just try not to think about them. Open All Night is a cheerful, upbeat and positive song. It is wonderful musically and it is just full of that indefinable, magical These Days quality. This is one of my favourite Bon Jovi songs of all time (it was that actually before I had even heard the song), and I can't help but love this song. It was worth all the drooling and waiting.

Rating: *****


These Arms Are Open All Night

Written by: JBJ, Billy Falcon
Done for what album: Crush

Jon apparently loved the title Open All Night so much that he wanted to write songs from it many times - and he did, too, as there is now available three songs written from that title; two featured here in this box and then the song on Bounce. These Arms Are Open All Night is a ballad that he wrote with Billy Falcon. It was one of the many so-called Sex Sells demos in '98 and one in the big collection of songs the band had available to work with for the album that eventually became Crush. This is a very good ballad. Lyrically it's not the greatest ballad ever - about a guy trying to pretty desperately pick up a woman from a bar - but the lyrics are original enough and the song has a very nice relaxed feel to it. There's a very annoying and completely out-of-place synthesizer pattern in the song, but the production values at this time just weren't the greatest so that kind of thing isn't surprising. But this song is clearly the most original and best ballad the band had for Crush. It's not just another big, bombastic and boring power ballad (like for example Thank You For Loving Me), but it's a nice, charming, original song with a great laid-back feel, and if they really had to put one ballad on that album that could have and should have been so very different, it should have been this one.
It's interesting to see how the Open All Night songs developed. There are three songs built around that title, all three very different songs. The These Days song is a superb song that I love, this track is a very good song that should have made the album, but then the Bounce song is a whiny, crappy and unlistenable song. And that was the one they finally put onto an album! From where I stand, the songs developed completely in the wrong direction...

Rating: ***


I Get A Rush

Written by: JBJ, DC, Eric Bazilian
Done for what album: Crush

I Get A Rush is a short and simple tune. It's a small-scale rock'n'roll song that reminds a bit of Rocking All Over The World. The lyrics are rather dumb, and this song was evidently done with so little effort that it very clearly was never a contender for any album release. It's good to have it here, of course, but this is like an exercise song, a song to do in a short time just to warm yourself up. One thing I don't really get though: the lyrics are so plain and simple that I don't understand what did Jon need Desmond Child and Eric Bazilian for. He wrote Dry County by himself but needed two people to help to write these dumb lyrics? Well anyway, this is not an awful song, it's an okay little tune but clearly a song that could have never made an album release.

Rating: **


Someday Just Might Be Tonight

Written by: JBJ, RS, Mark Hudson
Done for what album: Crush

This is a nice, light midtempo rock song. It reminds a bit of some of the These Days B-sides as Jon almost speaks the lyrics instead of singing them, as he does in When She Comes and in the half-These Days song Ordinary People. But there's Mark Hudson in the credits and the song was done for Crush. The lyrics seem peculiarly Bon Jovi style with this growing up thing and optimistic "don't give up" theme. This is a nice albeit very mediocre song and it feels like this would have needed a little more work to be included on an album. It's perhaps more of a B-side type song, and definitely something they had already done before Crush.

Rating: ***


Thief Of Hearts

Written by: JBJ, Patrick Leonard
Done for what album: This Left Feels Right

Co-written with Patrick Leonard, Thief Of Hearts was recorded in 2003 in the This Left Feels Right sessions but wasn't used for that album (although it perhaps should have been). Thief Of Hearts begins with some very nice guitars, but then the song falls a bit flat. This is a song with little lyrical content, and you can't help but think that the first fifteen seconds are the best part of the song. Featuring a poor and very nasal (although nowadays perfectly normal) vocal performance from Jon and lyrics that obviously aren't great, this isn't a great song. It's still better than most songs on Bounce, but it's more of a B-side type song and hardly anything if compared to the things this band did some ten years prior to this song.

Rating: **


Last Man Standing

Written by: JBJ, Billy Falcon
Done for what album: This Left Feels Right

Last Man Standing is a song that was inspired by Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and other great, "original" singer-songwriters. In this song Jon expresses worry over their unavoidable extinction and how radio stations and music channels on TV limit our music supply to a scanty amount of disposable pop-junk. Jon's worry is well-founded, but at the same time somewhat hypocritical since this band have contributed their fair share to the playlists of the radios too with some of their more pointless and shallow pop-rock songs (á la You Give Love A Bad Name and such) and with Bounce the band were exactly that what songs like this are supposedly aimed to criticize. But Last Man Standing is a good song. Jon's idea of a carnival huckster outside a circus tent inviting and luring people in is really good, and the lyrics are very good - it's refreshing to see good lyrics from this band after a while (albeit those still half-written by people outside the band). The song has this almost hypnotic feel to it and the subject matter is somewhat important as most of the music these days is undoubtedly garbage. But even though this slightly hypnotic arrangement is good, I do kind of feel that it isn't completely right for this song because this could have made a good rock song. Though, that is something they fixed when they re-recorded the song for their next album.

Rating: ***


I Just Want To Be Your Man

Written by: JBJ
Done for what album: These Days

This is another very "box set-type" song, meaning, a song that could have never made it into a proper album release. This is a rather short little song that seems to have been made in no more than a few minutes. And sure, when you have a title like that, the song is hardly going to be a masterpiece and the lyrics are something that obviously didn't take a lot of effort from Jon. So it's not a great song, but then again it was never intended to be a great song anyway - it could have perhaps been a B-side. The timing of this song was a bit tricky, but in the end I got convinced that this is indeed a These Days outtake. If this is compared to other These Days outtakes this is clearly one of the weakest songs of those, but it's still not a terrible song and they obviously didn't spend a lot of time with this one. And even if this isn't really a great song and they didn't develop this little composition very far, it's still a These Days song, so... that's great.

Rating: ***



Disc 2


Garageland

Written by: JBJ, RS
Done for what album: Crush

Garageland is a Crush song. It's a light rock song with a cool name and a great theme in the lyrics. The lyrics are about garage bands, young musically still inexperienced guys playing their guitars for the joy of playing music and dreaming of playing in a big place one day, instead of the garage of their own house. The lyrics are rather good. Garageland is a good song. A good song that could have been really great if they had put more effort into it. The song should clearly be much longer and more rocking. This really could have been a great song and perhaps even a new small-sized Bon Jovi anthem, but partly due to Luke Ebbin, partly the band themselves, the potential of what this song could have been wasn't fulfilled. But even so, this is a very good song and even in this lighter form should have had a firm place on Crush. And actually, Jon's explanation as to why the song didn't make the album is very, very flimsy and you can only sigh when you think about some of the crap that did find a place from that album instead. Garageland is a good little rock song and this is one of the essential Crush songs that didn't end up on the album although they should have.

Rating: ***


Starting All Over Again

Written by: JBJ, RS
Done for what album: Keep The Faith & 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong

Starting All Over Again was originally done for Keep The Faith. It was a song that represented the band starting a new chapter in their career at the beginning of the 1990s. The song has been recorded again for this release, probably to send the same message: now the band are starting another chapter in their career after having reached the milestones of 100,000,000 records sold and 20 years that have passed by. Starting All Over Again was originally a very tightly and sharply performed song. It is very sad and unfortunate that the band chose to record the song again, because they have simply ruined the song completely. Simply none of the sharp performance is left in this new version that features an incredibly lazy and slipshod performance from the band and an awful, just awful vocal performance from Jon. Both his voice and vocal performances have gradually worsened as the 2000s have progressed to such extent, that he simply can't sing this song anymore. His nasal and pathetic singing sounds so awful that this new version of the song is just completely unlistenable, and Richie's lazy guitar playing doesn't do much help either. This is an awful new version of an originally good song.

Rating: *


Maybe Someday

Written by: JBJ, RS
Done for what album: Crush

Well, here's the worst song of the whole box. Maybe Someday is a Crush ballad, and a really awful song. It's a slow and whiny ballad, and what's most horrifying about the song is its lyrics. The lyrics are just incredibly cheesy and slushy, and these almost amusing lyrics are easily one of the worst lyrics Jon and Richie have ever put on paper. The lyrics are a huge load of cheese and treacle and the puzzling question is whether Jon and Richie tried to intentionally write so cheesy lyrics, or did it happen just accidentally. This is mockery of a love song and well on a par with the cheese of songs like Save The World and You Had Me From Hello. Although I probably should give the band some credit for being wise enough not to release this song before this box set, I can't really do that because this is just so terribly poor song. And besides, seeing what kind of stuff they did put on Crush, it's not really possible to commend their judgement in the matter of what to release and what not. (It is, by the way, pretty sad that although the band had a lot of songs for Crush, out of all those songs they still managed to put two of the three worst songs on the album.)

Rating: *


Last Chance Train

Written by: JBJ, Mark Hudson
Done for what album: Crush

Another fairly weak Crush ballad, Last Chance Train is better than the last song, but still not really a good song. Apparently Aerosmith's Joe Perry plays guitar in the song, which is interesting, but then there's not much else interesting in the song. The lyrics, written by Jon and Mark Hudson, are pretty ordinary (about a guy missing his woman like in a typical Bon Jovi ballad), and this is a rather boring ballad. They went perhaps with a bit too treacly-type execution when this could have been a more laid-back and mid-tempo song. And Jon's vocals are pretty terrible in this song - he sings like he would have a hot potato in his mouth. So, in the end this doesn't make a great song in my book.

Rating: **


The Fire Inside

Written by: JBJ
Done for what album: Keep The Faith

The Fire Inside is another song that Jon wrote during his so-called "grey period" in his life in 1990-91. This is an acoustic demo, and the very first and original recording made of the song. Apparently the band didn't save any further recordings of the song, but it goes without saying that the final version wasn't all-acoustic. It's a shame that they didn't keep the finished song because I have a feeling that it could have been really good - perhaps something powerful along the likes of The Radio Saved My Life Tonight and I Believe. But this is an interesting demo anyway, Jon's lyric is good (well, kind of - some of the lyrics are a little childish and clichéd) and there aren't many all-acoustic songs out there with just Jon's vocal and the acoustic guitar. This is a good and interesting demo, and I bet could have made a really great song.

Rating: ***


Every Beat Of My Heart

Written by: JBJ, RS
Done for what album: Keep The Faith

Every Beat Of My Heart is a Keep The Faith leftover ballad. It's a rather ordinary and average love song, and in a way belongs to the same series as I Want You. The lyrics are simple; a man who is in love babbles about how he loves some woman. The lyrics are certainly no-one's work of art, but they are nice, in a modest and lovelorn kind of way. And this song has a wonderful feel, it's very mellow and charming song, and not trying to be a corny over-the-top power ballad in the way of I Want You, it's an enjoyable tune to listen to. Every Beat Of My Heart is better than I Want You (and easily better than the lousy power ballads of the 2000s), but it's not a great song. A lot is demanded from this kind of ordinary love song to be a great song, and Every Beat Of My Heart can't make the cut for that. But I still like it a lot.

Rating: ***


Rich Man Living In A Poor Man's House

Written by: JBJ, Dave Stewart
Done for what album: Crush

This is a Crush era song that should have been so surely on that album that it can be considered just utter insanity that it didn't make it to the album. (But then, mad they indeed were with that album.) Rich Man... features Dave Stewart guesting as a co-writer because the song was written in 1997-98 during Jon's Destination Anywhere period, and the song was one of the Sex Sells demos in '98. The lyrics of the song promote cosy family values, and certainly, for such a family-friendly band as Bon Jovi this is a very fitting song to do. And the lyrics are rather good - they are about something, and while they could be called in a way soft, they are perfect for a song with this kind of warm-hearted message. Rich Man is a light and pleasant rock song. The song has a great sound - it's exactly that positive and lightly rocking sound that Crush was supposed to have and should have had too. And this really is a song that should have been on that album that should have been called Sex Sells. It definitely would have been no second-class song in there, but along with songs like Just Older and One Wild Night this could and would have been one of the cornerstones of that album. This really is a great song (although it's not perfectly produced - it should be a little better and more rocking performance) and one of the best songs the band had for Crush, and also so good a song that this could have perhaps been a single release from that album too.

Rating: ****


The One That Got Away

Written by: JBJ, RS
Done for what album: Done for the movie "Message In A Bottle"

The One That Got Away is a song that was done for a movie called Message In A Bottle in 1999. It's a peaceful and slightly drowsy acoustic song and not a fine piece of songwriting from Jon and Richie. The lyrics are quite typical bunch of love clichés from the Crush era, but musically the song is a little better; the drums and acoustic guitars are nice to listen to, and because the song has a sort of charming and multi-layered sound and it's not as simple and clumsy as many songs on Crush, I think it's surprisingly well produced. The One That Got Away wasn't accepted by the producers of the movie the song was made for, which is not a big wonder to me, but this is still one of the better unreleased tracks from 1998-99. And, it's clearly a lot better song than the somewhat similar in style She's A Mystery.

Rating: ***


You Can Sleep While I Dream

Written by: JBJ, Mark Hudson, Dean Grakal
Done for what album: Crush

There are several songs in this box that should have been included on Crush without the slightest hesitation - three actually on this second disc, and this is one of them. You Can Sleep While I Dream is a strong midtempo rock song. The song has good, almost impressive lyrics about optimism and pessimism. The speaker is a determined optimist, and being convinced that good things will come to happen despite any beliefs otherwise and all the surrounding pessimism, he sees life in a positive way and tries to assure the people around him to do so too. A bit sad then, that the otherwise fairly good performance of the song is shadowed by Jon's terrible vocals. He sings sloppily and very heavily with his nose, and it is sad to see that even though he still had a clear voice on Crush and its B-sides, the same doesn't apply to the album outtakes in this box as he has a very nasal and poor voice on practically all Crush era songs in this box. But then, he should have just done the vocals again with as clean and clear voice as possible, as Crush proves that at this point he was still able to do that if he really put himself to it. But anyhow, You Can Sleep While I Dream is a really good song. And regardless of the fact that Mark Hudson and Dean Grakal share the writing credits (which I don't really like that much), it is a song that should have belonged to the album of 2000.

Rating: ***


Outlaws Of Love

Written by: JBJ, RS
Done for what album: Most likely very early for Keep The Faith

Out of the many previously unreleased songs in this box only a couple are songs still at a demo stage and most are completely or nearly finished songs. This is one of the clear demos, and apparently the band let the song be so early that they forgot all about it. Although the slight cowboy connection in the lyrics might suggest that the song would have been made for Slippery When Wet, it was most likely recorded very early for Keep The Faith, after which the song was quickly forgotten. Outlaws Of Love is lyrically very Living In Sin-type; about a couple of which people think that they are too young to love each other. Richie has some nice moments with his guitar in the song and altogether Outlaws Of Love proves to be a fine outset of a song. Not of a great one though, because it's perhaps a little naive in its subject matter so this time it really isn't that bad that they didn't finish the song. It would have probably never become a really great song and it's lyrically something that certainly shouldn't have ended up on an album still in the 1990s, but, it can be a nice and enjoyable song anyway.

Rating: **


Good Guys Don't Always Wear White

Written by: JBJ, RS
Done for what album: Done for the movie "The Cowboy Way" - released previously

Good Guys was done for a small movie called The Cowboy Way in 1994, and the song was also released as a B-side (to Someday I'll Be Saturday Night). But it wasn't your regular B-side because the song was released as a radio single, a music video was made for it and it was played live in a couple of concerts in 1995 (in three, to be exact). Good Guys is a fast, loud and upbeat rock song. The song has very good lyrics about intolerance and lots of great, crunching guitars. There's lots of energy and many merits in the song, but for some reason it has never been one of my great favourites - perhaps I've considered it to be in a way a bit too loud and straightforward. But even if it hasn't been always one of my own great favourites, Good Guys is a damn fine rock song.

Rating: ***


We Rule The Night

Written by: JBJ, RS
Done for what album: 7800 Fahrenheit

And the time machine takes us back to the year 1985. We Rule The Night is the oldest song in the box, an ancient 7800 Fahrenheit outtake. It's easy to say that it's not a great song; with as candidly dumb lyrics as it has, the song is as cheesy and lame as King Of The Mountain. But it's an interesting song and you just can't be too harsh to these early things. And it's great - and somewhat surprising, too - that they put this into the box because although the first two albums aren't great music, the band do evade and belittle their first two albums more than a normal band should. It would be nice if they forgave making their first two albums to themselves. They may have looked like clowns and done music that was typical to that time, but that's how everybody else were like too and it is still their music - and not all of it is even bad music. The unfinished We Rule The Night may be an example of the cheesy things they did with their second album, but boy it'd be great to hear them play songs like this live - just for the sake of it. The quality-wise weakest disc in the box doesn't end with a great song, but it does with an interesting one.

Rating: **



Disc 3


Edge Of A Broken Heart

Written by: JBJ, RS, DC
Done for what album: Slippery When Wet - released previously

Edge Of A Broken Heart is the classic of all Bon Jovi non-album tracks. The song was done for Slippery When Wet, but did not end up on the album because of merely bad judgement. It was released several times as a B-side, and throughout the years it was known as the song that had escaped Slippery. The song is again shared here. And all the hubbub and the could-have-been-hit talks about it weren't futile, because Edge Of A Broken Heart really is a great song. As it's lyrically about broken hearts and has gripping choruses it's a very Bon Jovi-like song, and complete with the characteristically innocent Slippery sound, it's a truly wonderful rock song. It's nicely polished and smoothly rocking, features some nice guitars and memorable lines. It's a song that could have probably been a hit, a song that I find to be much better and more enjoyable than for example You Give Love A Bad Name and a song whose omission from Slippery prevented it from becoming one of the essential and great Bon Jovi songs but which on the other hand made it an instant B-side- and fan classic. Edge Of A Broken Heart is the most important Bon Jovi B-side, a truly wonderful rock song and perhaps one of my favourite Bon Jovi songs too.

Rating: ****


Sympathy

Written by: JBJ, RS
Done for what album: Keep The Faith

Sympathy is a great rocker from the Keep The Faith sessions. Inspired by The Rolling Stones, the lyrics are about a man who wants no sympathies for the miseries a poisonous woman caused him. There are a lot of guitars and a great drive in this finely dashing song, and Richie gets to shine with his talented guitar playing. This is definitely a small gem, a song that perhaps could have made Keep The Faith but as it didn't, it's great that songs like this finally got released in this box and got out of the archives since fine things like this shouldn't be kept in the dark. Sympathy is a great song, an impressively driving rocker packed with guitars and honest rock'n'roll.

Rating: ****


Only In My Dreams

Written by: JBJ
Done for what album: These Days

The famous song where Tico sings the lead vocals. This and Open All Night were the two songs that many people wanted to hear the most for a long time - at least me personally, I was drooling over these songs for years. With Only In My Dreams the biggest reason was obviously that Tico sings the lead vocals, and that it's a nicely named These Days outtake didn't make matters worse either. Jon has kept the singing duties of the band so strictly with himself that although everyone in the band can sing, this is (somewhat sadly) the only Bon Jovi song that is sung by someone else in the band than Jon. It shouldn't surprise anyone that the one-off occasion happened with These Days at the peak of the band's career. Tico has a deep and husky voice and he does remind a bit of Tom Waits, although I wouldn't go as far as comparing those two. But he has a beautiful voice and he does a great and admirable job singing the song - he may not be technically the best and most talented singer in the world, but man does he pour emotion into the song. Jon wrote the lyrics of the song. They are about a man who hasn't been able to let go of the woman he loves. He wishes badly to be together with her again but realises that those wishes are vain and hopeless - they're all just in his dreams. Jon's lyrics are simply amazing. The song has easily one of the best lyrics he ever wrote. Only In My Dreams is an outstanding song. It is astoundingly beautiful, featuring poignant and beautiful lyrics from Jon, impressive and wonderful instrumentals from all and truly heartfelt vocals from Tico. This is one of the These Days songs that approach a perfect song status (at least within the Bon Jovi world), a stunning performance that almost brings tears to your eyes in all its beauty. One of the five or six greatest Bon Jovi songs ever, Only In My Dreams is the highlight of the entire box and one of the best songs you could ever hope to hear.

Rating: *****


Shut Up And Kiss Me

Written by: JBJ, RS, DC
Done for what album: Crush

Shut Up And Kiss Me is probably the weirdest song in the box. It's a short and shapeless song that doesn't seem to have much of a real purpose. Nonexistent lyrics and lack of any decent melody or effort make it a rather pointless and aimless song, but, the band probably didn't use more than five minutes with this little oddity; wrote it in two minutes, recorded in three and then never touched it again. Perhaps they did this only because they were bored or something. In any case, it's a song that could have never made it to an album or even to be a B-side, but oddly enough, it's still hell of a lot better song than certain things that did make it to albums in the 2000s. And it's a natural inclusion to this kind of release.

Rating: **


Crazy Love

Written by: JBJ, Mark Hudson, Dave Stewart
Done for what album: Crush

This is a nice little Crush era song that succeeds in the very easy task of being better than many songs on Crush without even being a very good song. Crazy Love is a light and modest little B-side type tune with some very "Crush-like" happy and carefree sound. It's oddly familiar-sounding song in a way, because when you hear it for the first time, you can't believe that you actually did just hear it for the first time - you feel like you've known the song for ages. Crazy Love is a rather routine song, there's routine lyrics, routine execution, routine entity. The song is nice albeit it's nothing really special, and it could have been a very good B-side. Far from a classic but still better than half of the songs on Crush.

Rating: ***


Lonely At The Top

Written by: JBJ, RS
Done for what album: These Days - released previously

The These Days B-sides are very different from the These Days album tracks. The B-sides are shorter, "smaller", lighter and have somewhat less serious lyrics, and the B-sides have a sound that's completely different from the album tracks. Nevertheless both are great; I love the B-sides as much as the actual album tracks. The B-sides couldn't have made the cut for the album but they are great, fun and beautiful songs. Lonely At The Top is a song that Jon and Richie wrote after Kurt Cobain died. The lyrics are written as a letter to his daughter, in a way consoling and explaining the loss of her father. The lyrics tell that success isn't always for the best and doesn't guarantee you happiness. As you could easily expect, Jon and Richie's lyrics are excellent. The delicate song features nicely gentle drums, acoustic guitar and organ - it's a very gentle and exquisite song. Lonely At The Top is an excellent song. It's a discreet and next to perfect performance, and you need to hear only this to see just how good the band were at this point. The original song has been changed a little to this box; in a typical 2000s fashion they have worsened it by cutting the song shorter and trying to mess with the beauty of the original by adding unnecessary cello and echo in there, succeeding in making it slightly worse than the original song.

Rating: ****


Ordinary People

Written by: JBJ, RS, David Bryan
Done for what album: These Days/Crush - released previously

Although it was released as a B-side from Crush, Ordinary People was originally a These Days era composition. David Bryan co-wrote the song, and apparently it was written at the same time when they also wrote The End, When She Comes and the newly discovered Flesh And Bone. And the lyrics, feel and melody of the song do remind a lot of the These Days B-sides - it would have fitted well alongside those songs written by the threesome, had the song been released in 1995. However, the song wasn't released then but much later in the Crush era. And the song that was released was recorded in the Crush sessions, not in the These Days sessions. Ordinary People is a very good song. The lyrics are very good as is the zestful feel and melody of the song as well. Though, that is no sort of a revelation as the song originates from the These Days era. However, I'm a bit sad that this isn't an actual These Days outtake. While it reminds of and is a lot like the B-sides from that time, the song was recorded in 1999 in the Crush sessions and thus doesn't have the peculiar These Days sound. It would have been great if they had had a demo version of the song from the These Days sessions to include in this box, I would have loved to hear that...

Rating: ***


Flesh And Bone

Written by: JBJ, RS, David Bryan
Done for what album: These Days

For me Flesh And Bone was probably the biggest surprise of the box. And a positive surprise, indeed - an unreleased, genuine These Days song of which no-one had known anything about. It was great to find a song like this from the box, and it's actually almost a wonder that they did include this or any These Days songs at all in the box, considering how heavily they nowadays neglect their best album and almost apologize for ever making it. Flesh And Bone was written by Jon, Richie and David. The lyrics are about prejudices, and they have a slightly cynical tone in them - hardly dark lyrics in any way, but somewhat cold and cynical in tone. The song doesn't sound like a very clear-cut Bon Jovi song. In a way it isn't much like a typical Bon Jovi song but there's certainly nothing bad in that, and this is a nicely stylized song. Like all These Days songs it's performed beautifully and it features some nice guitar licks from Richie. Flesh And Bone clearly isn't one of the best songs originated from the These Days sessions, but it's a fine, sharp and witty song. And as a "new" These Days song that appeared from nowhere and came as a surprise, it's a song to adore.

Rating: ***


Satellite

Written by: JBJ, RS, DC
Done for what album: Crush

A Crush song. Satellite is lyrically about... well, a satellite that is in the sky watching over us. The satellite in the lyrics seems to represent God. While it may look like a sort of interesting subject to write a song about, the lyrics are rather simple and hardly the best thing one could write about the big man up in the clouds. The song is a ballad, which probably doesn't come as a big surprise, but this is perhaps a slightly weird lyric to make into a big ballad. And this is a kind of pompous and empty song too. Jon sings the song very high - way, way too high - and probably the greatest thing about the song is that he actually could still sing it that high and managed to sing the song without a very nasal voice. But as he does sing it too high the fact that he could do it isn't that great then. Satellite isn't an awful song - there's some much worse stuff on Crush and Bounce - but it is a rather empty, boring and unnecessary ballad, and Jon sings it irritatingly high. Not exactly Hey God then.

Rating: **


If I Can't Have Your Love

Written by: RS, DC, Diane Warren
Done for what album: Stranger In This Town

This is a song that Richie did for his solo album Stranger In This Town in 1991 but which he didn't include on the final album. It's a ballad and somewhat an ordinary love song. Ballad machine Diane Warren has a co-writing credit and David plays piano. It's not really a great song. The lyrics aren't better than those of any average love song, and overall the song clearly can't make the cut for the "great ballads" category. But what does really shine in the song is Richie's emotional singing; he sings beautifully and passionately - and certainly, with more passion than Jon has sung any song in the 2000s. But the song clearly isn't on a par with most of the material on Stranger so it was good that Richie didn't include it on the album, and stylistically the song wouldn't have really fitted there anyway. But it is great that an unreleased Richie solo track was included to the box.

Rating: ***


Real Life

Written by: JBJ, DC
Done for what album: Done for the movie "EdTV" - released previously

Real Life was released as a single in March 1999 and it was an important song for two reasons. Firstly because the song marked the first new material from the band since These Days in 1995. It is also important because it was produced by Bruce Fairbairn, and it was the last thing he produced for Bon Jovi before he suddenly passed away. The man who took Bon Jovi to greatness by producing Slippery When Wet and New Jersey wasn't there to produce the next Bon Jovi album that eventually became Crush under the trembling hands of Luke Ebbin. Real Life was done for a Ron Howard movie called EdTV. The song was written by Jon and Desmond Child and the lyrics are about movies in general; how you would wish that life was like in the movies where the hero always saves the day and gets the girl. Lyrically it's the most perfect movie song. They are very good lyrics, clearly written before the "big slump". The song has a great sound. It's very light-hearted and has this nicely fresh and wonderful sound to it. Mr. Fairbairn produced the song brilliantly. Real Life is a song that I love. When it was released in spring 1999 the song raised high hopes for the next Bon Jovi album - one that couldn't ultimately reach those expectations this excellent song raised. And this song was just great to listen to in the sunny days of spring and summer 1999. For me personally, this was the song of summer 1999. A song from a time when everything was still great, for everyone.

Rating: ****


Memphis Lives In Me

Written by: David Bryan, Joe DiPietro
Done for what album: Musical "Memphis" & 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong

David co-wrote this song for a musical called Memphis in 2003 and the song was recorded specifically for inclusion to this box set. It's a piano ballad and David is naturally the only person performing in the song. David has a wonderful voice and he does a great job singing the song. It's actually quite amazing how great voices all band members have and how great singers they are - therefore it is actually a bit sad that no-one but Jon has sung on the band's albums. Memphis Lives In Me is a good song, a nice piano ballad that doesn't turn into any spectacle but is a solid song nevertheless. David did a nice job with it and it was a nice addition to the box; David has released some instrumental solo music but no actual solo albums (as he isn't really a songwriter and singer) and nothing the general public would know about, so it's a nice thing to have this here.

Rating: ***


Too Much Of A Good Thing

Written by: JBJ, RS, Richie Supa
Done for what album: Crush

The third disc ends with a Crush song. Richie Supa has a co-writing credit which leads to think that this was originally a leftover song from Richie's Undiscovered Soul sessions, a song that Richie brought to the band when they started to work on Crush, and Jon added some lines in there to have his name in the credits. It is about how love is like an addiction, kind of Bad Medicine-type lyrics. It's a good, calmly rolling rock song. It could be also considered to be rather poorly produced song because you can just imagine how much more could have got out of the song, how much "bigger" it could have been. But it is one of the better Crush outtakes in the box and while it's not a song that should have been included on Crush, it's still better than half of the songs on it.

Rating: ***



Disc 4


Love Ain't Nothing But A Four Letter Word

Written by: JBJ, RS, DB
Done for what album: Crush

Love Ain't Nothing But A Four Letter Word is a song about spousal abuse. It's a very good song, and it's a bit sad that although the band did the song on two different occasions they didn't end up using it for any album. There are two versions of the song in the box, and the first one is chronologically the second version recorded of the song. This alleged "final" version tells much about the band's mental state in the late 1990s. They had a great song that they purposely ruined for no reason - except for fun, maybe. But, this was the time when they went crazy, got lost or whatever expression one would like to use, and that stumbling then ultimately embodied in the fragmentary and deformed Crush - so it shouldn't be that surprising. They tried to shove the song into mud by simplifying and destroying Jon's lyrics, adding completely unnecessary and out-of-place horns and women to sing backing vocals in there - this is not a R&B song, this is not a R&B band, they don't fit the song at all and it seems that they were put there only to kill the song - and performing the song sloppily. However, although this is only a wreckage of the so-called demo version in the box, it still qualifies as a good song.

Rating: ***


Love Ain't Nothing But A Four Letter Word ("Original demo")

Written by: JBJ
Done for what album: These Days

This version of the song was done much earlier, for These Days. While this track is clearly still a demo version, it isn't any less complete than the clumsy version recorded years later for Crush, so to give the impression that this would be a demo version of that track done only a short while before is a bit misleading. But this is a great song and it's a bit sad that they didn't finish it (Jon should have done the vocals again, Richie's guitar is hardly audible in the song and there's no solo, and the song fades away very fast) so that it could have become a B-side from These Days or something like that. Four Letter Word is important in its subject matter and Jon's lyrics are just excellent. This was the time when he was a really, really good songwriter and these lyrics about domestic violence are just one of the many proofs of it. There is a slightly melancholy sound in the song - which obviously suits the song very well - and this really is a very strong song, even if the band never finished it properly. It's interesting to think that perhaps the song should have actually been put on These Days - it would have fitted very well in the place of Hearts Breaking Even. But anyway, it's an admirably socially conscious song with an excellent lyric from Jon - a very strong song altogether.

Rating: ****


River Runs Dry

Written by: JBJ, DC
Done for what album: Crush

A power ballad. River Runs Dry seems more like an early sketch of a song and it's hard to imagine that it could have ever ended up on any album. It isn't memorable or original enough, and while there are many songs in the box that perhaps should have been released a long time ago on different things, this is appropriate for this kind of box because this wouldn't have really belonged anywhere. This is a short and fairly boring song that reminds quite a lot of the B-side Stay. There is an awkward acoustic guitar in the song that seems to have been just glued on top of the song. The song is just one in a long line of average power ballads and it wouldn't have made much of a difference if they had skipped doing this one.

Rating: **


Always (Original demo)

Written by: JBJ
Done for what album: Crossroad

The demo version of Always isn't as different to the final version of the song as the demo of Someday I'll Be Saturday Night is, but it's still an interesting thing to hear. With this demo version it's easy to say that the song really developed, because this early version isn't nearly as good as the final song is. This just isn't as powerful - the drums and the guitars aren't there yet. So they definitely developed the song to the right way. Credit for that must go partly to Mr. Peter Collins, who brilliantly produced These Days and the two new tracks of Crossroad in the magical and creatively unmatched year of 1994.

Rating: ****


Kidnap An Angel

Written by: JBJ, Billy Falcon
Done for what album: Crush

Jon started writing songs with his friend and fellow musician Billy Falcon in 1997-98, and many of the songs they wrote at that time ended up on Crush. All those songs fitted well for the band, but this one, although a Bon Jovi song, doesn't as much. Kidnap An Angel is lyrically about a man whose girlfriend or wife is sick in a hospital. Billy Falcon's wife died for cancer so it would be quite natural to suspect that the lyrics would be about Billy Falcon's wife. If they indeed are, you may wonder why this is a Bon Jovi song - clearly that personal lyrics should make the song a Billy Falcon song, and not a Bon Jovi song. And also, the song is produced very poorly because I think that the arrangement should be completely different. Now the song is a happy ballad and you can barely distinguish it from any average love song. If I had been the producer I'd have made the song kind of slow and gloomy and put more positive and hopeful sound only during the choruses. I'd have made the song sound very different. But anyway, if the lyrics are really about Billy Falcon's sick wife, this doesn't really fit in as a real Bon Jovi song.

Rating: **


Breathe

Written by: JBJ, RS, Marti Frederiksen
Done for what album: Bounce - released previously

Breathe is a pop song. It's a soft song that fits along the style of Misunderstood. The lyrics are ok - good, in fact, if compared to some of the horrific songwriting on Bounce. It's hard to make up your mind about this song. You can either consider it a very fresh-sounding and succeeded pop song that is even good enough song to have been released as a single from Bounce, or you can consider it to be just a slimy, soft, ordinary and annoying pop song that is rightfully a B-side. Sometimes I have hard time choosing between the two, but the first option is probably more closer to the truth - this isn't actually that bad song at all. It's better than Misunderstood, and in any case, it definitely should have been on Bounce. 'Cos whatever you might think about the song, it's much much better than most of the songs on Bounce.

Rating: ***


Out Of Bounds

Written by: JBJ, RS
Done for what album: Slippery When Wet

Out Of Bounds is the only previously unreleased Slippery When Wet outtake in the box. It's a song still well at demo stage, far from a finished song. It's impossible to know what the finished product would have been like (though with Bruce Fairbairn helming, probably great), but this demo doesn't convince. And when there's a drum machine and the song is at this early stage, there isn't much you can really say about it. The lyrics of songs from the Slippery era don't matter that much but the energy and highly rocking surface does, and this is obviously lacking them. This is kind of a hollow and raw version of a song that perhaps could have been a great rocker but more likely some nicely rocking and yet average stuffing on an album. But now of course, it really isn't much. But as a song from the 1980s - something very rare in this box - it is a delightful addition to the box.

Rating: **


Letter To A Friend

Written by: JBJ
Done for what album: These Days

I suppose I was initially slightly let down by Letter To A Friend. It was another These Days song that I had been waiting to hear for a long time, and well, I guess I was expecting a little better song. Which isn't to say that it would be a bad song in any way, but I guess I was hoping that all unreleased These Days outtakes would be resplendent masterpieces. But, the band did put These Days together so perfectly that there weren't really any so-called forgotten masterpieces that should have been put into the album - it is actually the only time when they've chosen the songs for an album that well. Letter To A Friend is a sort of a love confession. It isn't a ballad but it's a soft and gentle ballady-type thing. Jon's lyrics are nice although in truth not very intelligent and clearly not comparable with the rest of the things he wrote for These Days. The song is very sweet and tender, and it possesses wonderfully that beautiful These Days "touch". It's not a great song but I love it for being the These Days song that it is. Interestingly enough, this might be the only Bon Jovi song whose name doesn't appear anywhere in the lyrics. They always start writing songs from the title so it's kind of natural that the title always ends up there.

Rating: ***


Temptation

Written by: JBJ
Done for what album: Crush - released previously

Temptation is surprising. It's a bit weird and definitely a different song. It's driven by peculiar organs and percussion, and there is this kind of grainy sound in the song. The slight "weirdness" in the song reminds a bit of Tom Waits, and considering that this is Bon Jovi, you could call this a very experimental song. The lyrics are about temptation and lust for a woman... and clearly, these are by far the best lyrics Jon wrote solely for Crush. And not only that, but these are probably better lyrics than those of any song on Crush, with the possible exception of Say It Isn't So. Temptation is a very original song, it's unlike anything this band have done before. It's a really good song and it's just one of the many songs that should have been included on Crush without a second of hesitation. But, instead of great songs like this they filled that album with commercial and brainless crap like Thank You For Loving Me and Save The World. Here in the box is a different mix of the song than the original B-side version. Both mixes of the song are fine (although the B-side version is more peculiar and unique and thus perhaps a little better) and either one of them should have been on the album.

Rating: ***


Gotta Have A Reason

Written by: JBJ, RS, Michael Kamen
Done for what album: Done for the movie "The Three Musketeers"

One of the movie soundtrack songs in the box, Gotta Have A Reason was done for a Disney film called The Three Musketeers in 1993. Michael Kamen, who does musical scores for films and is a skilful conductor, asked the band to write a song for the film and has a co-writing credit. It's an acoustic song, and a nice one too. Lyrically it would have fitted well for that kind of heroic Disney/family movie. Jon didn't like the way the song turned out without the band so they pulled the song back, but even so it would have been nice to hear the song with all instruments, though this acoustic demo version is nice too. The song has some good spirit and it would have probably made a fine soundtrack song.

Rating: **


All I Wanna Do Is You

Written by: JBJ, RS
Done for what album: Crush

This is another very box set-type song. It was probably never seriously intended for any album, but was perhaps done for fun and to kill some time. But although it's not an album calibre song, that doesn't mean that it would be a completely awful song. It's a fun and easygoing song and the organs sound nice. But then again it's not very memorable song and it doesn't have a very unique sound, and lyrically it isn't about anything. If they had put this on some album it would have clearly been an unnecessary filler song in there, but however, if they had wanted to release a double album or two albums in 2000 (hence the large amount of songs they had they could have easily done that if they had wanted, but instead of a great single album or a decent quality double album or two albums, they decided to put out one bad album instead), with some developing and work they could have maybe put this into it.

Rating: **


Billy

Written by: JBJ, RS
Done for what album: Keep The Faith

Billy was for Keep The Faith. It's a lightweight rocker and there are some nice guitars in the song. Lyrics are pretty meaningless - very typical lyrics about a woman who's dumped this guy. It's a good song but that's mainly because of the point of time it was made; it was done at a time when Richie still had a lot to say and do with his guitars, and if this same song had been done some seven-ten years later it would have been a hollow and lifeless performance and those guitars wouldn't be there. But Billy is a nice one. It's clearly as mediocre song as songs ever go, but it's still a good one and it's one of the best songs of the fourth disc. Didn't need to be buried in the archives.

Rating: ***


Nobody's Hero

Written by: JBJ, RS
Done for what album: These Days

The box ends with a These Days outtake. Nobody's Hero is the fourth These Days song in the box that many people were waiting to hear long before the box was yet an idea in anybody's mind in the Bon Jovi camp. It's an acoustic ballad as piano and acoustic guitar are the only instruments in the song, and to me the song reminds a bit of the Simon & Garfunkel classic Bridge Over Troubled Water. The lyrics may be somewhat typically ballad-ish by nature, but they are beautiful nevertheless. The performance is sophisticated and skilled, and Jon's and Richie's vocals work beautifully together. The pair sang harmonies together impressively in the 1990s and this is a perfect example of how well their voices played together at that time. Nobody's Hero is a beautiful song. David's piano and Richie's guitar are elegantly subtle and the delicate lyrics are sung with care by Jon and Richie. It's an unsurprisingly terrific These Days song and one of the best songs in the box.

Rating: ****


After Nobody's Hero there is a hidden track, a demo version of Livin' On A Prayer. The demo is interesting and begs the question of why didn't they include more demo versions of some of their most famous songs to the box.


THE BEST SONG: The highlight of the entire box is Only In My Dreams. Featuring one of the finest lyrics Jon ever wrote in his life and Tico's impressive (maybe not so much skilled, but thoroughly heartfelt and touching) vocal performance, it's a stunningly beautiful and outstanding song. Open All Night is a superb These Days song that was pretty much worth all the expectations I had laid for it. The Radio Saved My Life Tonight is a superb, uplifting and rocking song that stands firmly next to all Bon Jovi classics - it could've been one too. Miss Fourth Of July is a thoroughly excellent and wonderful song, and a true gem in every sense of the word. Because of the large amount of previously unreleased songs in the box I may mention a few more of the best songs: Nobody's Hero is a beautiful and terrific acoustic ballad, Sympathy is a great rocker filled with guitars and the first version of Love Ain't Nothing But A Four Letter Word that was recorded for These Days is an excellent song with an important and socially involved subject matter and a great lyric from Jon. And Rich Man Living In A Poor Man's House is the best of the four previously unreleased Crush era songs in this box that should have been on the deformed album of 2000.


OVERALL: As it is widely known that the band have left large amounts of songs unreleased over the years, a Bon Jovi box set that would include all those songs was many fan's dream for a long time. Thankfully, 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong does answer to many prayers of fans, but then unfortunately, not all of them. This Bon Jovi box set is a terrific set that features tons of never-before-heard music and includes a few absolute gems, but at the same time it's still slightly incomplete collection, mainly because of the things that it is missing.

The overall look of the box is poor. The name is terrible and so is the cover - the band look really stupid and ridiculous in the golden suits they wear on the cover. And the name of the box is incredibly awful; it's bragging, completely tasteless, even too long, and it just begs you to answer "Yes, they can". But since terrible album names and covers have been a steady tradition for this band in the 2000s, they come as no surprise. It really wasn't a great idea to copy Elvis in this case. There is a DVD included with the box. The DVD has no content whatsoever, and although they could have easily filled it with lots of music videos, interviews and all kinds of interesting stuff, they decided to leave it almost empty and make it a pointless and useless addition to the set. The booklet is poor too. Instead of the things that there definitely should be - all lyrics and detailed information about every song - the booklet is filled with tons of pointless pictures and even more pointless fan messages.

But to the music then. The box contains 38 previously unreleased songs and 12 previously released non-album tracks. There is a very wide range of quality in the songs of the box. Some of the best Bon Jovi songs of all time are in this box, but then there are also some really bad songs too. And pretty much everything in between. There are some songs that could have never made the cut for any proper album release, and then there are some songs that quite simply should have been included on the particular album that they were made for. There are many completely finished songs in the box but also some songs that are still at demo-stage. And although the truly great songs of this box do fit to only one disc, it is a nicely wide collection of songs.

Some of the band's best songs ever are here in this box. The Radio Saved My Life Tonight, Miss Fourth Of July, Open All Night and Only In My Dreams are all so good that they rank easily among the band's best work ever. They are all so superb songs that in a way it's sad that they were released only this late. But then Maybe Someday is a song from the other end of the scale. It's an incredibly cheesy and whiny song with really awful lyrics - it's almost as bad as the stuff on Bounce. Some other fairly weak material include songs like I Get A Rush, Last Chance Train, Satellite and Kidnap An Angel. There are songs like I Just Want To Be Your Man, I Get A Rush, Shut Up And Kiss Me and River Runs Dry that could have never ended up on a proper album release. And then there are songs that should have been on their particular albums. Breathe is just one of the many Bounce B-sides that should have been on the low-life 2002 release to make that album better, and Miss Fourth Of July and Sympathy would have certainly been nice to have on Keep The Faith instead of some of the weaker tracks of that album. But this thing is really - unsurprisingly - most noticeable and significant with Crush. Garageland, Rich Man Living In A Poor Man's House, These Arms Are Open All Night and You Can Sleep While I Dream are all songs that should have been on the album that missed its mark so perfectly. None of those four songs is as good as they should be because they aren't very well produced, but with a few changes in them they could have all been great songs and they all should have been on the album.

The box is put together well, but still, not as well as it should be. There are about 40 previously unreleased tracks. That's great. Everything that is in the box should be there and is rightfully there. Even the bad songs because when you do a box set and open up your vaults you should give away everything: the good songs, the bad songs, the gems, the embarrassing things. But the problem of the box isn't anything it has, but what it doesn't have - because there are still plenty of songs that weren't released even now. The one thing that they neglected very heavily with this box is a little thing called the decade of 1980s. There are only two previously unreleased songs from the entire decade in this box: We Rule The Night and Out Of Bounds. And nothing else. No more outtakes from the first two albums and Slippery and plain zero from New Jersey. As all fans know, the band were very prolific when they were doing songs for New Jersey and New Jersey was at first intended to be a double album. But when the record company declined to release a double album, the band became unable to use many of the songs they had recorded for the album. And so approximately 15 songs were put on the shelf. Only two of them were released later. And not one song of them was put into this box. It's very sad that none of the New Jersey outtakes was put to this box because they should all be here, one entire disc could have been filled with them. There is really no excuses for this - it's true that a few of the shelved songs can be found from bootlegs as some demos were stolen from the studios while the album was in the making, but those few songs are really nothing but stolen demo versions and the songs have never been released properly and officially. A song like Now And Forever may be one of the band's best songs ever, and yet the song has never been released. And although New Jersey is the most important of the neglected things, there are more unreleased stuff from other albums too: more Slippery tracks, things like The Sole Truth and Cadillac Man, and at least about ten Crush era songs. Where is for example Life's Too Short For Days Like These, Good Ain't Good Enough and the original title track of the album, Sex Sells? Sex Sells is the one song that I would have just loved to hear.

This horribly named box set was a great thing. I am deliriously happy to have finally heard things like Letter To A Friend, Open All Night and Only In My Dreams, and songs like Miss Fourth Of July and The Radio Saved My Life Tonight are true gems. But still, this box could have been much larger. The box is just screaming to have all the about 15 unreleased New Jersey songs in it and in truth, this could be some six discs full of music, including Life's Too Short For Days Like These and The Sole Truth among others, the spoof parody of This Ain't A Love Song ("This Ain't A Drinking Song") the band recorded during the These Days sessions, some of their rarest B-sides and non-album tracks (Love Is War, Fields Of Fire etc.), more demo versions of some of their most famous songs... but now it's four discs, all of which have some 20 minutes of free room in them. I hope that we will still hear all those unreleased things one day. But, even though some of the most wanted stuff didn't see the light of day here and the wrappings could be better, this is without a doubt the best Bon Jovi release since the mid-1990s.


OVERALL SCORE: 16 OUT OF 20