So they had their fling with country edged songs and now are back to rocking your eardrums with The Circle. I’d like anything that Jon, Tico, Ritchie & David care to put out. Ofcourse they ar never going to top their best efforts Slippery When Wet & New Jersey or even These Days or Keep The Faith. I thought that the band peaked with those for albums and everything else that has followed has failed to live up to those lofty standards. Ofcourse you have the odd single here or there but not an entire album. Still Bon Jovi are way more listenable than most stuff that seems to be popular these days (and Bon Jovi are very popular even now) even as the members hit their 50s (Jon & David are just 2 years away from the half century mark, Tico is 56 & Richie is 51). The album was released in Germany and Ireland on October 30, 2009. The album debuted at number 1 in several countries, including the U.S., where it sold 163,000 copies in its first week debuting at number 1 on the Billboard charts. This gives them their fourth number 1 album after their 2007 effort, Lost Highway.

So what can you expect from a new Jovi record? More crowd pleasing, arena rocking songs like the lead single and opening track We Weren’t Born To Follow; a song about standing up against all odds, a song of defiance and defining the human spirit. The single was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. Originally written by Jon, Sambora and Billy Falcon for a Bon Jovi greatest hits collection that got shelved, When We Were Beautiful was released as an iTunes only promo single from The Circle in the US. It became available as a digital download from the US iTunes store on October 26, 2009. The song was released for download to coincide with Bon Jovi documentary When We Were Beautiful on Showtime. The song talks about a bleak world that used to be more than what it has become, and the narrator wishes to find what made that better world work, so he may then try to make his world a better place. The song has since been released as the third official single from the album with the music video being released on May 24, 2010.

Work For The Working Man is a song in praise of the working class masses from which the band has sprung up. It’s all about the people who go through a lot just to get by in life and put food on the table for their families and a roof over their heads. On Superman Tonight Jon explains its about a boy watching a girl going through ups & down in life, from a distance and wondering if she needs a hero to save her and wishes that he could be that for her. The Bullet starts off with a harder sounding guitar riff and is a social commentary about the way the gun, bullets and weapons in general create havoc for humans. When a relationship goes down south, goes sour, then the other person becomes the Thorn In My Side. Although finally acknowledging this fact, this song is also about the positiveness of the inevitable moving on. Live Before You Die is about to appreciate what you have and your youth and to living life to the fullest while you can.

Broken Promiseland doesn’t sound like a Bon Jovi track; it’s just different. This is a good thing as it sounds fresher. Love’s The Only Rule & Fast Cars are ok songs, mostly there to make the numbers but pleasant all the same. Happy Now is a bit cheesy and we end the album with the ballad Learn To Love is about accepting the world that you are living in and loving it is the first step. Overall a good album, not groundbreaking but good enough for many a spin on your cd player. Here’s the video for When We Were Beautiful.