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These Days (Bon Jovi album)

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These Days
A photo of all of the band's members posing for the camera
Studio album by
Bon Jovi
ReleasedJune 27, 1995
Recorded1994–1995
Length63:55
LabelMercury
Producer
Bon Jovi chronology
Cross Road
(1994) 		These Days
(1995) 		Crush
(2000)
Singles from These Days
  1. "This Ain't a Love Song"
    Released: May 23, 1995
  2. "Something for the Pain"
    Released: September 5, 1995
  3. "Lie to Me"
    Released: November 13, 1995[1]
  4. "These Days"
    Released: February 26, 1996[2]
  5. "Hey God"
    Released: June 24, 1996[3]

These Days (stylized as (these Days)) is the sixth studio album by American rock band Bon Jovi, released on June 27, 1995, by Mercury Records. This was the first album Bon Jovi released after the dismissal of original bass guitarist Alec John Such, and their first album to be recorded officially as four-piece band (without an official bassist, but featured Hugh McDonald as a session/touring member on bass guitar). The album, produced by Peter Collins, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, is praised by many critics and fans as their best album. These Days is overall a darker album in contrast to the band's usual brand of feel-good, inspiring rock songs and love ballads.

At the time of release, the album was a huge commercial success, especially in the European and Asian markets. It became the band's fifth and fourth consecutive number one album in Australia and the United Kingdom. In the United Kingdom, These Days replaced Michael Jackson's album HIStory at number one on the UK Albums Chart and spent four consecutive weeks at No. 1.[4] The album spawned four Top 10 singles on the UK Singles Chart, the band's highest number of Top 10 singles from one album in the UK. The high sales of the album in Europe warranted a re-issue of the album under the name of These Days Special Edition a year after its original release. The album was ranked number two on Q magazine's list of the "Top 50 albums of 1995".[5] The album was also voted the album of the year in British magazine Kerrang!'s readers poll in 1995. In 2006, the album featured in the Classic Rock and Metal Hammer 's The "200 Greatest Albums of the 90s".[6] In the U.S., despite selling 1 million copies and being certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the album was not as successful as it was overseas and the album peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200.[7]

Background

[edit]

When the Keep the Faith Tour ended in December 1993, Jon Bon Jovi went on a vacation in January 1994 where he wrote "Something to Believe In", the first song written for the album. Over the next nine months, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora wrote and demoed forty songs. The album was originally slated to be released in the fourth quarter of 1994, but they asked for more time to write additional material. Because of that, they released Cross Road, their first greatest hits album, with two new songs in October 1994.

Recording and production

[edit]

Jon Bon Jovi hired Peter Collins to produce the album, based on his prior work with several acts such as Rush, Queensrÿche and Alice Cooper. Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora were co-producers of the album. They made a start recording the album in Nashville in the fall of 1994. After a week to ten days of recording, during October 1994, Jon Bon Jovi erased it all. Recording continued over the next four months and it shifted between Jon Bon Jovi's home studio Sanctuary I in Woodstock, NY, and three separate studios in Los Angeles: One On One Studios, Ocean Way Recording, and A&M Studios. There were various reasons why so many different studios were used.

One reason for studio changes, while recording in Woodstock, NY, was industrial metal band Fear Factory were recording their album Demanufacture in a neighboring studio.[8] Bon Jovi's engineers repeatedly complained about the volume Fear Factory were recording at as it was bleeding into their drum mics.[9]

Regardless, all the basic tracks except for "Diamond Ring" and "(It's Hard) Letting You Go" were recorded in Woodstock, NY. All the rhythm guitar parts were recorded in Los Angeles and all the keyboards were recorded in New Jersey. Most vocals were done in New Jersey. Very little was done in Nashville: one vocal and one or two keyboard parts. "Diamond Ring" and "(It's Hard) Letting You Go" were recut in Los Angeles. The album was mixed by Bob Clearmountain in Los Angeles.

Then the band embarked on a mini Christmas tour of clubs in December 1994 and they continued to promote Cross Road. On December 17, 1994, Richie Sambora married Heather Locklear.

Composition

[edit]

Music

[edit]

Jon Bon Jovi is credited with composing the music for all of the album's tracks. Richie Sambora is also credited with composing the music for all of the album's tracks, except "(It's Hard) Letting You Go" and "Something To Believe In"; both were written and composed by Jon Bon Jovi. He is also not credited on "Hearts Breaking Even", which was written and composed by Jon Bon Jovi and Desmond Child. Desmond is also credited with composing "Something For The Pain", "This Ain't A Love Song" and "Diamond Ring". All of the other tracks were written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora. According to Jon Bon Jovi, the album was influenced by alternative rock and metal bands such as Pearl Jam, Tool, and Nine Inch Nails.[10]

Lyrics

[edit]

Jon Bon Jovi stated that even though the album was their darkest, the band was in a very happy place at the time. "Hey God" was written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora in Jon Bon Jovi's basement. Jon Bon Jovi was inspired by the view out of the window from 57th St. and Broadway in New York, a guy with an Armani suit on next to a guys that's sleeping on the street. "Something For The Pain" was the most difficult to write, says Jon Bon Jovi. They kept rewriting until the chorus made sense. "My Guitar Lies Bleeding In My Arms" was written from a writing session where they were hit with writer's block. Taking a cue from the opening line of "Bed of Roses" ("Sitting here wasted and wounded at this old piano, Trying hard to capture the moment"), Jon Bon Jovi instead of putting the pen down, wrote about his experience. "Damned" is about a guy who is involved with a married woman. "(It's Hard) Letting You Go" was written by Jon Bon Jovi for the movie called Moonlight and Valentino in which he appeared. "Something To Believe In" is an introspective song about a man questioning everything around him. Richie Sambora's "Hey, hey, hey" chant on the song is lifted from the demo. It worked so well, they kept it and used it on the album. "Diamond Ring" was originally written for the album New Jersey in 1988 and was played live six times during the New Jersey Syndicate Tour,[11] but never made it onto any previous Bon Jovi album.[citation needed]

Release and reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
Entertainment WeeklyD[13]
NME4/10[14]
Q[12]
Rolling Stone[15]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[16]

Two titles that were considered were "Open All Night" and "Strip" but ultimately, the band wanted to make a statement about the themes of the record. Mark Selliger shot the album cover in Mexico.

The two extra songs "All I Want Is Everything" and "Bitter Wine" appear as bonus tracks on the international versions. Released June 12 in Japan, June 19 in Europe and June 27 in the rest of the world, the album was an immediate success. It even replaced Michael Jackson's HIStory in the UK, debuting at number one, spending four weeks at number one. These Days also topped the charts in several other European countries, including Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Ireland, Finland, and Portugal and spending seven weeks on Billboard European Albums Chart. It was certified triple platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry for selling 3 million copies across Europe.

In Australia, it debuted at number one and spent two weeks at number one on the ARIA Charts. The album became Bon Jovi's second number one album in Japan, where it debuted at number one on the Oricon chart, selling over 379,000, becoming the fastest selling album by a non-Japanese act in history of the country's chart. The album has sold more than 1 million copies and certified five times platinum and became the band's best selling studio album in Japan.

These Days received favorable reviews from critics. Q magazine, in a perfect score, said that Cross Road and Always confirmed that Bon Jovi would survive grunge and These Days consolidated their status by keeping Michael Jackson's HIStory album off the UK number 1 album slot. The review said that "Hey God", "Lie to Me" and "Something to Believe In" were singled out as the album's highlights and the album was arguably the band's finest musical hour to date. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic concluded that "as the years go by, Bon Jovi gets musically stronger. Not only are their best songs stronger now, their playing is more accomplished. Keeping these improvements in mind, it's no surprise that the group was one of the few pop-metal bands to sustain a career in the mid-'90s". The album was ranked number two on Q magazine's list of the "Top 50 albums of 1995", beat out by The Great Escape of the British band Blur. The album was mentioned as the second best album of 1995, after (What's The Story) Morning Glory? by Oasis according to some critics.[clarification needed]

In the United Kingdom, the album was particularly notable for producing four Top 10 hit singles, and the UK Rock & Metal had 4 singles in the #1 top singles with "This Ain't A Love Song," "Something For The Pain," "These Days," and "Hey God," but failed to impress the audience and the critics in the United States. The album peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200.

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Hey God"Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora6:03
2."Something for the Pain"Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, Desmond Child4:46
3."This Ain't a Love Song"Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, Desmond Child5:06
4."These Days"Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora6:26
5."Lie to Me"Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora5:34
6."Damned"Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora4:35
7."My Guitar Lies Bleeding in My Arms"Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora5:42
8."(It's Hard) Letting You Go"Jon Bon Jovi5:50
9."Hearts Breaking Even"Jon Bon Jovi, Desmond Child5:05
10."Something to Believe In"Jon Bon Jovi5:25
11."If That's What It Takes"Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora5:17
12."Diamond Ring"Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, Desmond Child3:46
Japanese and European edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."All I Want Is Everything"Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora5:18
14."Bitter Wine"Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora4:36
Alternate Track 14 for some Latin American releases
No.TitleLength
14."Como yo nadie te ha amado" (Spanish version of "This Ain't a Love Song") 
European 2 Disc Special Edition bonus disc
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Fields of Fire" (Demo)Jon Bon Jovi4:10
2."I Thank You"Isaac Hayes, David Potter3:14
3."Mrs. Robinson"Paul Simon3:21
4."Let's Make It Baby" (Demo)Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, Desmond Child6:19
5."I Don't Like Mondays" (Live at Wembley Stadium, featuring Bob Geldof)Bob Geldof5:59
6."Crazy" (Live, lead vocals by Tico Torres)Willie Nelson3:29
7."Tumblin' Dice" (Live, lead vocals by David Bryan)Mick Jagger, Keith Richards4:17
8."Heaven Help Us All" (Live, lead vocals by Richie Sambora)Ron Miller4:34
French bonus disc
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Always" (Live in Montreal)Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora5:52
2."Good Guys Don't Always Wear White"Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora4:27
3."Prostitute"Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora4:28
4."Lonely at the Top"Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora4:14
5."When She Comes"Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora3:29
6."The End"Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, David Bryan3:38
Australian Tour Edition bonus disc Mercury 528 874-2
No.TitleLength
1."This Ain't a Love Song (Live at Wembley Stadium, London)" 
2."I Don't Like Mondays (Live at Wembley Stadium, London)" 
3."Livin' on a Prayer (Live at Wembley Stadium, London)" 
4."You Give Love a Bad Name (Live at Wembley Stadium, London)" 
5."Wild in the Streets (Live at Wembley Stadium, London)" 
1996 Japan Hardback Cover 2CD – Karaoke Days (bonus CD)
No.TitleLength
1."Keep the Faith" 
2."Bed of Roses" 
3."Someday I'll Be Saturday Night" 
4."In These Arms" 
1998 Japan Special Edition bonus CD PHCR-90023/24
No.TitleLength
1."This Ain't a Love Song (Wembley 1995)" 
2."Hey God (Johannesburg 1995)" 
3."These Days (Johannesburg 1995)" 
4."Something for the Pain (Miami Arena 1995)" 
5."(It's Hard) Letting You Go (Johannesburg 1995)" 
6."Rockin' in the Free World (Johannesburg 1995)" 
7."634-5789 (Studio outtake)" 
8."All I Want Is Everything" 
9."Bitter Wine" 
2010 Special Edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
13."This Ain't a Love Song (Live)"7:13
14."Diamond Ring (Live)"4:42

Personnel

[edit]

Sourced from AllMusic.[17]

Bon Jovi
Additional musicians
Production staff
  • Peter Collins – producer
  • Nathaniel Kunkel, Jay Schwartz, David Thoener, Gabe Veltry – engineer
  • Mark Apringer, Ryan Freeland, Jim Labinski, Chris Laidlaw, Manny Lecouna, Pete Martinez, Mark Mason, Tal Miller, Mike Scotella, Mark Springer – assistant engineer
  • Margery Greenspan – art direction, artwork
  • Frank Harkins – design
  • Cynthia Levine – photography
  • George Marino – mastering, remastering
  • Mark Selinger – photography

Charts

[edit]

Certifications

[edit]
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[59] Platinum 70,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[60] Platinum 50,000*
Belgium (BEA)[61] Gold 25,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[62] 2× Platinum 200,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[63] Platinum 64,725[63]
France (SNEP)[64] 2× Gold 200,000*
Germany (BVMI)[65] Gold 250,000^
Japan (RIAJ)[67] Million 1,200,000[66]
Netherlands (NVPI)[68] Platinum 100,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[69] Gold 7,500^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[70] 2× Platinum 200,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[71] Platinum 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[72] 2× Platinum 600,000^
United States (RIAA)[73] Platinum 1,000,000^
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[74] 3× Platinum 3,000,000*
Worldwide — 10,000,000[75]

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

[edit]
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  2. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. February 24, 1996. p. 31.
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  4. ^ "Search the UK Top 40 Hit Database". Retrieved October 12, 2008.
  5. ^ [1]
  6. ^ "The Old Acclaimed Music Forum". Pub37.bravenet.com.
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  9. ^ "Dino Of Fear Factory Reconstructs Demanufacture". Metalunderground.com.
  10. ^ Giles, Jeff. "How Bon Jovi Fought the Alt-Rock Revolution With 'These Days' Read More: How Bon Jovi Fought the Alt-Rock Revolution With 'These Days'". ultimateclassicrock.com. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  11. ^ Bon Jovi Setlists; ‘Diamond Ring’
  12. ^ a b These Days at AllMusic
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