Bon Jovi: 'Half Way There-The Greatest Hits' (A Discussion)

This is a sequel to a previously published blog from 3-years ago which can be found here.

Last week a survey was sent out to Bon Jovi fans as they attempted to dissect what people are interested in buying for their upcoming “Greatest Hits” collection to be released this fall. There seems to be a heavy background discussion as to whether or not this will be an all encompassing career retrospective or a single disc entity covering the 1995-2010 period of the band. They have recorded two songs at the same time as The Circle and now pictures via Facebook shows the band went in and recorded two further songs for inclusion before they left for their month long stand at the O2 arena in London bringing the total new songs to four. If four songs are to be included on a single disc collection, what does that say about their songbook from these years? Cross Road had two new songs and still managed to excise at least five Top-40 hits.

So what should it be; a single disc companion piece to Cross Road or a full encompassing career retrospective? To me the answer is obvious (as I mention in my 2007 piece); a two-disc career retrospective appears to me as the only viable answer. You may ask why, but if anything has changed in the 3+ years since I wrote that piece is that “Greatest Hits” collections have seen diminishing sales and are not what they once were. Keith Urban’s Greatest Hits: 18 Kids has yet to go platinum and Urban is the exact artist fifteen years back that would have benefited from a career collection. He has made a series of very good records but the “Greatest Hits” highlights one incredible tune after another. So why didn’t people buy it? Probably because they already have the songs they want. Christina Aguilera’s Hits collection tanked two years ago despite a major marketing campaign and a tie-in with Target stores. It still hasn’t shifted 400,000 copies. Any “Hits” compilation is a tough sell these days, but if Bon Jovi can seduce the masses into buying far more expensive concert tickets, they should be able to do the same, but only if it’s career encompassing.

The best thing they can do is release a double disc set (although single disc collections sold separately may be a smart idea for an exclusive retailer). Cross Road sold an estimated 20-million copies worldwide and it was the best selling album in the UK for all of 1994. It solidified the band’s impact on a global basis. Despite this and the band’s continual resurrection over the last decade, in America, Cross Road has only sold 4-million copies (it should be noted it’s just under 5-million at the moment), with over a 1/4th of them being through CD clubs, which mostly no longer exist. In the 1990’s these clubs accounted for a huge portion of CD sales and as they started to disappear earlier this decade, the sales did as well. Across the counter sales for Cross Road during the 1990’s were a little more than 2-million. Another million was picked up through CD clubs and since 2000 a little over a million copies of the album have shifted. So in essence, if the band chose to release a single-disc companion piece, they could expect it to sell (at the most) 1-million copies, and this would be in a perfect world where the lead single off the new collection makes an impact the same way “Always” did (which to this day stands as the biggest worldwide hit of their career).

Something few have looked at is the lack of pure bona fide hits the band has had in the last fifteen years. These Days was a huge success overseas, but in America, only “This Ain’t A Love Song” cracked the Top-20 with all other singles faltering. But since 2000, their ticket sales have seen a steady upstream, but this has more to do with the lack of new talent, an immense catalog (represented on Cross Road) and two hit singles from the last decade; “It’s My Life” and “Who Says You Can’t Go Home”. Ultimately these two songs are the linchpins of the new collection and without them there really wouldn’t be a collection to release. The other issue with the one disc release would be how the band would go about addressing the songs from 1984-1994 that didn’t make Cross Road. “Born To Be My Baby”, “Living In Sin”, “Edge of a Broken Heart” were all left off the collection while “Never Say Goodbye” and “In These Arms” were excised from the US release of Cross Road. This further blurs things. Do you throw on “Arms”, “Baby” and “Sin” on the new collection only in the US? And if you make a special package for overseas, wouldn’t “Born To Be My Baby” feel out of place with the 1995-2010 output? The only way to salvage these issues is by making a grand statement with an all-encompassing release.

The reality is that even the most casual fan won’t buy this release because chances are they already have “It’s My Life” and “Who Says” in mp3 form and will be reluctant to fork over money for something they already own, even if the lead single kills. So what should be included? Here’s my stab at a non-chronological track listing. For the record, what is below is an idea and it’s my idea. You don’t have to like it; it’s just some thoughts and will probably be nothing like the final product.

Disc #1:
1. New Song #1
2. “It’s My Life” (3:44)
3. “You Give Love A Bad Name” (3:42)
4. “This Ain’t A Love Song” (5:06)
5. “Lost Highway” (4)
6. “Runaway” (3:50)
7. “Everyday” (3)
8. “Living In Sin” (4:39)
9. “In These Arms” (5:19)
10. “Someday I’ll Be Saturday Night” (4:39)
11. New Song #2
12. “These Days” (6:27)*
13. “Born To Be My Baby” (4:40)
14. “Bed of Roses” (6:35)*
15. “Superman Tonight” (5)* / “When We Were Beautiful” (5:18)
16. “Blaze of Glory” (5:40)
17. “Wanted Dead or Alive” (5:08)
(71:29 without new songs)
• * These songs could have 30-seconds to 1-minute edited from them
Disc #2:
1. “Lay Your Hands On Me” (5:59)
2. “This Is Our House” (New Song #3-approximately 3 minutes)
3. “We Weren't Born to Follow” (4:03)
4. “Edge of a Broken Heart” (4:35)
5. “Misunderstood” (single mix-3:48)
6. “I’ll Be There For You” (5:46)
7. “Miracle” (5:19)
8. “Something For The Pain” (4:48)
9. “Never Say Goodbye” (4:48)
10. “Bad Medicine” (4:00-video edit)*
11. New Song #4
12. “Always” (5:52)*
13. “Have A Nice Day” (4:04)
14. “Keep the Faith” (5:46)
15. “(You Want To) Make a Memory” (4:30)*
16. “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” (4:40)
17. “Livin’ On A Prayer” (4:09)
(72:07 without 2 new songs)
• *These songs could have 30-seconds to 1-minute edited from them


Notes on the above:
• 27 Top-40 Singles between the UK and US charts.
• Only “Lost Highway” and “Superman Tonight”/”When We Were Beautiful” didn’t chart on either.
• “Edge of a Broken Heart” hit number 38 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart
• 6 Number-ones
• 21 Top-Ten singles between the two charts
• Every album with the exception of 7800° Fahrenheit is represented.
• Two solo tracks from Jon Bon Jovi included
• 4 new songs
• 11 songs from the 1980’s
• 10 songs from the 1990’s
• 9 songs from the 2000’s

Top-40 UK Charting Songs Not Included
• “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead” (UK: 17)
• “I Believe” (UK: 11)
• “Dry County” (UK: 9)
• “Lie To Me” (UK: 10)
• “Hey God” (UK: 13)
• “Real Life” (UK: 21)
• “Say It Isn’t So” (UK: 10)
• “Thank You For Loving Me” (UK: 12)
• “One Wild Night 2001” (UK: 10)
• “All About Lovin’ You” (UK: 9)
• “Welcome To Wherever You Are” (UK: 19)

A Bonus EP/Disc could be added for digital purchases or a single retailer exclusive with alternate versions of some of the alternate tracks:
• “I Believe” (Clearmountain mix)
• “Dry County” (Clearmountain mix) or live cut from Wembley 6/25/95
• “Hey God” (demo)
• “Sleep When I’m Dead” (demo)
• “Diamond Ring” (1992 version)
• “Lie To Me” (live 1995)
• “Thank You For Loving Me” (acoustic)
• “All About Loving You” (acoustic)
• “Stranger In This Town” (live)
• “I’ll Be There For You” (live-Sambora vocals)

Now, I know there are a few notable omissions. There’s nothing from the 7800° Fahrenheit record but in truth, there were no huge hits aside from “Runaway” from either of the first two records. It’s one thing to want to see them live and fill up precious space on a 2CD set with songs from these records. As much as I’d love to see these songs get some much needed love and attention, they’re better left off in this case. There’s no Richie Sambora solo songs (although I’d love to see a live version of “Stranger In This Town” make a bonus digital EP. Some of the songs that charted over in Europe on the strength of album sales or a big lead single (i.e. “It’s My Life”) notably “Thank You For Loving Me”, “Say It Isn’t So”, “All About Loving You” and “Welcome To Wherever You Are”, aren’t here because their moments in the sun were fleeting and many years down the road, those songs have no traction and are rarely discussed among Bon Jovi fans. Heck, from the 1990’s there are a number of missing singles including “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead”, “I Believe”, “Dry County”, “Lie To Me” and “Hey God”. If it were a personal compilation, most of the above would make the cut (except for the dreaded and overplayed “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead”). Then there’s album cuts which have resonated over time or are staples in concert; “Blood On Blood”, “Raise Your Hands”, “Diamond Ring”, “Just Older”, “The Distance”, “Last Man Standing” and “Whole Lotta Leavin” (maybe the best tune of the last decade), but once again with such limited space, the focus should be on hits. It’s a tough scenario to confront, but one can hope and in my opinion, the best commercial prospects are tied directly to a full-on retrospective.

Let me leave you with one question; If Bon Jovi were going to perform two shows, one with all material from 1984-1994 and another from 1995-2010, which show do you think would sell more tickets?

Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network. His daily writings can be read at The Screen Door. He can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com and can be followed on Twitter