Album Review: Bon Jovi - What About Now

15 May 2013 | 10:45 am | Daniel Cribb

Bon Jovi aren’t getting worse, but they don’t appear to be getting any better. Stick to their greatest hits and leave it at that.

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If you take nothing else from this review, please ensure you choose an appropriate time and place to listen to Bon Jovi's What About Now (or any Bon Jovi record for that matter). Like with anything the legendary rockers produce, it's full of adrenaline pumping stadium rock that dishes out the same effects as smashing a few rounds of vodka red bulls. If you choose to give the band's 12th studio record a spin right before you go to bed, you're going to have a bad time. It's the equivalent of chugging espresso and then trying to have a nap.

While What About Now packs the punch Bon Jovi are known for, for most of the record it's clear they've succumbed to the pressures of record labels and producers. They may have in the past, but it's more apparent now. Their classic sound is there, it just lies under a thick blanket of over-used guitar riffs, predictable song structures and recycled vocal melodies. And that's not to say the band is reusing their own melodies, rather mimicking what's in the charts at the moment.

It's not like they're the kind of band that needs to keep up to date with modern trends in order to maintain their status – fans of Bon Jovi are always going to be fans of Bon Jovi. And it's hard to imagine an 18-year-old Carly Rae Jepsen fan discovering the band because of album single What About Now and digging through the band's back catalogue. Bon Jovi aren't getting worse, but they don't appear to be getting any better. Stick to their greatest hits and leave it at that.