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Article paru dans le "Classic Rock" de décembre 2003 - une critique de "This Left Feels Right"
"Wanted: Retreads And Alives"
If the thought of another ghost-of-Bon Jovi-past "greatest hits" Christmas hamper sounds unapprtising, take a bite of these inspired, Yuletide New Jersey reinventions. Mmm, tasty.
"It's the season to be jolly, fa fa la la la la la..." When record companies make lots of lolly, fa la la la la la la la....." And at this time of year their most lucrative and popular schemes involve compliation albums, "greatest hits" and "best ofs" from rock and pop's most recognisable names. Face it: if a relative knows the name of at least one band you're fond of, chances are that you may well receive some sort of compiliation in your Christmas stocking.
So it was with some trepidation that Classic Rock learned that Bon Jovi were to release another "greatest hits" package just in time for Christmas. Hadn't they done that already with Cross Road? Granted that was nearly a decade ago and there have been a fair few hit singles since then. But not enough to warrant a second volume surely? Then word reached us that, actually, it wasn't an ordinary best of, oh no, this was actually Bon Jovi's greatest hits live and acoustic.
 
Now, it's well documented that JBJ and main sparring partner Richie Sambora are prone to breaking out the battered old six-strings to deliver acoustic versions of their songs. In fact many credit their performance at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards, when Sambora and Bon Jovi delievered stripped-down versions of "Livin' On A Prayer" and "Wanted Dead Or Alive" with just two guitars, as the moment when the MTV suits saw the valididy of acoustic performance and comissioned their "Unplugged" series.
OK, so that could have been fun, and at least added some value for the fanswho already have everything the Jove have ever committed to tape. But then the story got a little stranger.........
No, the new Bon Jovi album wasn't going to be an acoustic live album - despite the fact that the band had recorded an almost four-hour-long acoustic show in Japan at the end of the Bounce tour - it was going to be a selection of their best-known songs. But - and get this - Bon Jovi were going to re-record them.
The first question that springs to mind is:why?? I wouldn't want to hear re-recorded versions of the Stones' "Brown Sugar", Bowie's "The Jean Genie" or Zep's "Black Dog" for example. The reason I love these songs is for their inconsistencies, the familiarity, the sense of how they belong to you. To coin an old phrase:if it ain't broke, dont fix it. Consequently I approached "This Left Feels Right" with some apprehension. The track list looked comprehensive, but what on earth were the band going to do with these modern rock classi! cs?
Well, the unexpected it turns out. While the guitar motif of "Wanted Dead Or Alive" is recognisable, Jon's voice is initially put through a Vocoder of sorts, and the almost inperceptibly altered melody has a syncopated drum pattern that lends a "Kashmir"-like ambience, especially towards the cresendo when orchestral stabs replace the big Sambora solo.
 
"Livin' On A Prayer", instead of making it's presence felt by way of the talkbox signifier, has instead been transformed into a hypnotic acoustic guitar refrain, with a keyboard backing that has an almost unnerving "Tubular Bells" quality to it. But the biggest surprise is the chorus, where Jon trades lines with a female vocalist (Olivia D'Abo, wife of TLFR producer Pat Leonard) making it almost a conversation whispered between confidants. It's surprising, but it works. One characteristic Jove element conspicious by its absence is the use of massive backing vocals;those gang's-all-here "woah, woahs" are notica! bly absent initially in the overhaul of "Bad Medicine". Gone too are t he traditional David Bryan keyboard stabs, replaced by a rolling, country slide guitar motif that lends the song a sultry, southern groove.
Of the 13 songs, its the rockier, uptempo ones that work best in their makeovers (the raucous "It's My Life" as a mournful soulful lament,anyone??) The ballads are not startlingly different and, sensibly, the band have only included three. "Bed Of Roses" with the addition of a string section; "I'll Be There For You" with harmony vocal from Sambora throughout;and "Always" rendered slightly faster and with a trippy beat.
The most startling reworking comes with "You Give Love A Bad Name" which is barely recognisable from the original. With recent albums by Lea DeLaria, Curtis Stigers and Jamie Cullum looking beyond the great American songbook to the rock world for inspiration for their jazz records, it seems Bon Jovi have taken note and given their "new"..."Bad Name" a swing beat and a walking double-bass line. And it's astonishing.
During "Wanted Dead Or Alive" the lyric has been changed slightly, with Jon now singing "Still playing for keeps, same old me, same old band..." Well, yes it is the same old band. But you've never heard them like this before. A revalation.
In A Nutshell :
Not content to rest on their laurels during the holly season, Bon Jovi tinsel up their hits - with quite astonishing results.
Review by Sian LLewellyn
4 stars out of a possible 5
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