Bon Jovi’s Bounce goes to the top of the charts

It has only been a year since Bon Jovi once more hit it big with the multi-platinum selling Crush but these guys from New Jersey are back with another set of tunes in an album titled Bounce. That is some kind of record considering how some rock bands take ages to put out an album of new materials. Looks like they do have the writing, arranging and recording chores down pat.

This new collection is once more made up of crowd-pleasers. The songs are just what fans would expect to get from the group. Rousing rockers, power ballads, Jon Bon Jovi’s distinctive raspy vocals and Richie Samborra’s impressive riffs.

Bon Jovi though refuses to allow listeners to keep thinking of them as a formula band and they have injected a lot of innovative touches to this production. Foremost among this is that Bounce is a concept album. I do not recall any of the group’s earlier releases as having a definite concept. They all sound like one potential hit single after another. There are lots of chart materials in Bounce but the entire package is also an exhortation for Americans to stay united in the fight against the effects of Sept. 11, 2001.

This is what Bounce says – as in, bounce back – and there is really no way you can stay in the doldrums with this song of triumph. This is also the message of Undivided and Love Me Back to Life. Hook Me Up, which I see as the album’s top crowd-pleaser because I can just imagine the group’s rousing performance of the song in a packed arena, is about a young man reaching out to the world from the occupied part of Palestine.

The whole package can be too commercial-sounding at times and I am not sure if it will please the critics. But accept it, that is Bon Jovi music and I do not see any reason to fault these guys for their ability to make records that sell. Bounce is the eighth Bon Jovi album since the group first gained prominence. The other cuts in the album are Everyday, which is about winning against great odds everyday is the first single; The Distance, Joey, Misunderstood, All About Lovin’ You, Right Side of Wrong, You Had Me from Hello, a well-crafted ballad; and Open All Night.

Bon Jovi is made up of Samborra on guitars, Dave Bryan on keyboards, Tico Torres on drums and percussion and Jon Bon Jovi who sometimes moonlights as a solo act. The group’s breakthrough hit happened in 1986 with You Give Love a Bad Name. Since then Bon Jovi has become an excellent example of a consistent hitmaker who early on discovered a solid fan base and never strayed from its demands.

Hits in the US

According to Billboard’s top 200 albums list, Bon Jovi’s Bounce is the second top-selling album in North America, second only to the must album of the moment Elvis: 30 #1 Hits, the compilation of number one sellers by the legendary Elvis Presley. Take note that the top three albums are by established acts from the ’50s, Elvis, the ’60s, the Rolling Stones and the ’80s, Bon Jovi. Not only that – it looks like rock music is on top once more. The situation makes you wonder what the new guys are doing with the music.

The top 10 list is as follows: Elvis: 30 #1 Hits by Elvis Presley; Bounce by Bon Jovi; Forty Licks by the Rolling Stones; Let Go by Avril Lavigne; Nellyville by Nelly; Home by the Dixie Chicks; The Eminem Show by Eminem; Man vs Machine by Xzibit; The Last DJ by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers; American Idol: Greatest Moments by various artists. The latter is a compilation of star turns in the widely popular American Idol talent show, which is the US counterpart of UK’s Star for a Night.

The top singles are Dilemma by Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland of Destiny’s Child; Gangsta’ Lovin’ by Eve featuring Alicia Keys; A Moment Like This by Kelly Clarkson, the debut recording of the major winner of the American Idol talent show; Hey Ma by Cam’ron featuring Juelz Santana, Freekey Zekey & Toya; Work It by Missy Misdemeanor Elliott; Lose Yourself by Eminem; Underneath It All by No Doubt featuring Lady Saw; Luv U Better by LL Cool J; One Last Breath by Creed; and Complicated by Avril Lavigne.