Bon Jovi – Slippery When Wet (1986)
Unbelievable USA logo by Sarca @ caughtmegaming
USA Artists: Aimee Mann, Marty Robbins, D’Angelo, The Modern Lovers, Bruce Springsteen, Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott, Steely Dan, Grant Lee Buffalo, 2Pac, Harry Nilsson, Linkin Park, Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Randy Newman, The Monkees, Liz Phair, The Byrds, Anita Baker, Circle Jerks, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Wilco, Bon Jovi
.
[Album 501A/1001]
Let’s go track-by-track, starting with side one.
1. Let it Rock
Ever wondered what you’d get by combining Van Halen’s 1984 & Joan Jett’s I Love Rock & Roll in a Bon Jovi mixing bowl? Wonder no more! Appropriate choice for the opener, somewhat of an amuse bouche for the anthems to follow.
2. You Give Love a Bad Name
Maybe the best fist-raised-in-the-air chorus in recent memory. Or at least, second best…
3. Livin’ on a Prayer
…behind this one. How Jon Bon somehow hits those notes after the key change will never cease to amaze me.
4. Social Disease
The horns scream “Bruce Fairbairn production” and I couldn’t be less offended by ’em. Apparently the album was recorded in Fairbairn’s hometown of Vancouver, bonus!
5. Wanted Dead or Alive
Listeners would be forgiven for thinking this was a Greatest Hits compilation, few studio albums contain so many massive tracks on one album, let alone the first side.
Speaking of having trouble distinguishing between things, in case anyone was having trouble telling 2016 me & 1986 JBJ apart…
.
And that’s all for an impressive Bon Jovi side one.
With this half of a review in the books, that brings my total to 500.5 albums so far.
Conveniently, tomorrow also happens to be the 5th Anniversary of this project, or 500.5 albums in 5 years. The exact midpoint of my 1001albumsin10years project.
So it is my absolute pleasure to finally be able to quote Bon Jovi:
Whoa, We’re Halfway There!
…..
Verbalize the Positive
An enormous thank you to everyone who has participated in this journey. I’m not sure how it happened, but I’m quite fortunate that I stumbled into a fantastic blogging community & I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this whole experience.
Here’s to another 500.5 albums in 5 years!
1001albumsin10years 
Love the comparison chart. Looking forward to the next five years of your blog.
Thanks Guitar Train!
Oh and in case you missed it – you were my initial ‘verbalize the positive’ when I reviewed Missy Elliott earlier this month – I appreciated your ‘niceness’ disclaimer, great idea!
Thanks for mentioning my blog in your post. Sorry I missed it; I’m behind on my reading. You’re just too prolific for me to keep up with!
Haha, only prolific this month to meet the 500.5 albums in 5 years deadline, I’m planning on slowing way down!
“Ever wondered what you’d get by combining Van Halen’s 1984 & Joan Jett’s I Love Rock & Roll in a Bon Jovi mixing bowl?”
Um, no. Never.
I’m guessing it’s a niche group things that ponders such things!
Totally.
And here was me wondering, rather, if a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?
Man, SWW was everywhere for so long. Craziness. And we all figured out that Dead Or Alive intro on guitar… This was the album all the cool kids had in public school (man, I am really dating myself here). Holy crap we werent even in high school yet. That it still stands up now says a helluva lot.
In Fubar parlance, this was back when they turned up the good and turned down the suck. Too bad they reversed that a few records later!
But for now at least, that Good dial was turned up nicely!
Shame it didn’t stay that way.
Half a review to match exactly half of your quest! Well done, Geoff! A milestone is a wonderful thing. I am even more impressed that you’ve heard exactly half in exactly half the time. You must be some sort of math guy or something…
No need to thank us for reading. Thanks for all of your hard work and for having us along for the ride!
Here’s to the next 5 years and 500.5 reviews!
I have to give credit to a fellow Math teacher named Jeff – when I said this was my 501st to mark the halfway mark, he jokingly said, you should only do the first half. And after laughing I thought, brilliant idea!
Cheers!
Yup, great idea.
And better use of “Half” with the JBJ, better than my Crowes idea!
But incorporating the Crowes in a review cannot be considered anything less than a good idea 🙂
Fair enough. Man, we saw them on that tour. If JBJ was riding high, Chris was riding HIGH.
ITEM: Friction characteristics
1986 BJ: SWW, obviously
2016 GS: ????
Congratulations. What discipline! What perseverance! What symmetry!
And what hand or eye dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
Geoff can!
Perhaps better to leave that cell of the table with question marks!
Thanks Bruce!
Congratulations, Geoff! You seem to be churning out hit blog posts like The Beatles were churning out hit singles in the early 60s! Let’s hope the coming studio-only 5 years are just as memorable too.
Haha, love the Beatles comparison Amrita!
Much appreciated!
Congrats Geoff. Love how you got the half way point with an appropriate Jovi quote. Well played!
Never say goodbye though. Please return for the next 500.5 reviews. Or there’ll be a riot. It’ll get wild in the streets.
Cheers HMO – I’ve known I wanted to do the White album for #1001 and Jon Bon for #501 for a while, definitely happy to get to the latter, still a ways to go before the former!
To prevent such rioting, I solemnly swear to return!
Congratulations, Geoff! What a milestone! Thanks for illustrating your twinsies-ness with JBJ. That’s something I’ve suspected for quite some time.
Haha, I was pleased we at least had something in common – thanks Danica!
Half A Review= Pure Genius!
Loved the chart and read….
Great Stuff Dude!
And by the look of things around the Social(Not Disease) Facecrack World!
HAVE A SUPER DUPER B-DAY BUDDY!
p.s- This review is the only positive thing I read on Bon Jovi in a while…the new release of his is getting hammered in print and no sales…..
Haha, Facecrack was accurate – thanks Deke!
Full credit to my friend Jeff for jokingly suggesting doing half a review to be exactly 1/2 way!
If I may be so bold…
Half a review, appropriate for this album, since it’s 1/2 filler!
Love the chart too. Bicycle over car? You will change your tune when the snow hits!
WELL DONE.
Many thanks LeBrain!
Oh we’re definitely fairweather cyclists, I don’t think my daughter would be too keen riding in the front seat on those great -30 mornings!
Put some snow tired on the bike, it’ll be fiiiiiiine.
fiiiiiiiiiiine, nice!
Hurrah! Congratulations on the milestone… and I pretty great way to mark it!
Really enjoyed this one, too. The comparison with Joviface is great… also, I know all of those tracks despite not being familiar with the album!
I’ve run into a few of those albums on this list where I think they’re new-to-me but then I end up being able to sing along on the first listen!
Much appreciated J, thanks for chiming in so often for the first 500.5!
Any time, Geoff! I hope to chime in some more over the next 500.5!
Glad to hear you are right on track! Looking forward to 500ish more posts!
Much appreciated sourgirl!
Livin’ on a Prayer is so uplifting, love it. The song took on a new lease of life when I saw the viral video from the Celtics game. The guy got the attention he wanted: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOHkRk00iI8
haha, good for him, a fine performance!
Wow, congratulations, that’s a huge deal!
Cheers Jay!