Bon Jovi, New Jersey

By Christian Lipski

I remember buying this CD in college, in a love/hate relationship with Bon Jovi. On the one hand, they were so commercial and inoffensive and harmless (and barely glam metal). On the other, the songs on New Jersey were freakin’ flawless. My friends and I did the “ironic” thing, where we’d like the songs because they were cheesy, but deep down inside (at least for me), there was a real love for them. They’re fun fun songs, and epitomize the arena rock style.

We took a road trip to a football game at Washington State and screamed along with “Lay Your Hands On Me” and “Bad Medicine” as we roared down the freeway. Oh, man, that is feel-good music. Sassy and brassy. Plus, I lived in New Jersey for a while, so I could claim that extra-special connection that only millions of people could claim.

Bon Jovi, unlike a lot of their cohorts in the metal business, added a special ingredient to their music that brought the girls to them like bees to honey. That special ingredient could be described as “heart” or “earnestness,”, or even “earnest heartiness,” and gave them the ability to really feel the emotions they were singing about. This comes out most in “Living In Sin”, where a boy and a girl are living together without being married, but it’s OK because they really really love each other. Jon Bon Jovi sings the hell out of this song, and you can hear that he really means it. This last paragraph illustrates the love/hate/ironic/serious relationship that I have with the Jovis. I love their goofy asses. This was a record that filled a decided need in 1988.