Bon Jovi – These Days (1995) Review

US rockers Bon Jovi had every reason to play it safe back in 1995.

The release of a greatest hits collection (Cross Road) had further cemented their status as one of the planet’s biggest rock acts, but the wider rock landscape had become hostile towards anything resembling late-80’s “party rock”, and several artists who had once shared stages with the New Jerseyans now found themselves being laughed off radio, mocked by the music press, or both.

However, Bon Jovi’s ability to adapt has always been their biggest asset.

Sixth studio album These Days is the darkest, most reflective work of their career; those trademark feel-good lyrics now calcified into tales of bruised pride, disillusion, and hard-earned perspective — not from a band who believe they’re above the chaos, but from one painfully aware of how quickly the world can move on without you if you stand still for too long.

A New Perspective

The musical turbulence of the era appears to have lit a fire under Bon Jovi.

Having realised that they couldn’t stop the grunge wave, they learned how to surf — first navigating the initial crash via 1992’s powerful Keep The Faith, and then by continuing to strip away any unnecessary bombast to ensure the unit stayed afloat.

They write like a band with serious miles on the clock — less chest thump, more lived-in observation — and the album really benefits from it.

That tone is established immediately by Hey God, one of the strongest openers they have ever written. Richie Sambora’s jangling riff seems to sprint out of the gates, setting the stage for his frontman to deliver a vocal performance that sounds genuinely unsettled; not performative anguish, but rather the sound of somebody who is genuinely frustrated at the state of the world.

It’s an outstanding piece of work which manages to capture them at their rawest.

A Worthy Title Track

You wouldn’t believe it from his lyrics, but Jon Bon Jovi is still just 32 years old.

He appears thoroughly disillusioned, and the frequency with which he reminisces about how “things aren’t what they used to be” led many critics to sarcastically scoff that the record should’ve been called Those Days.

Of course, this is indicative of a group who have seen a crazy amount of upheaval — let’s not forget that in the nine years since You Give Love A Bad Name climbed to No. 1 on the coveted Billboard Hot 100 chart, Bon Jovi had fought their way through the 70s rock revival, the thrash uprising, the demise of hair metal, and the arrival of grunge.

That’s enough to make anyone feel old before their time.

The good news is that it’s helped to unlock an aged, reflective songwriting style that suits Jon Bon Jovi remarkably well. You’ll hear it throughout the instantly hummable title track, as he injects a mature new lyrical tone into the band’s tried-and-tested anthemic formula to create something that feels altogether more grounded and more cynical than their peak-era fireworks.

Indeed, These Days’ underlying message is made all the more powerful with the realisation that Bon Jovi are essentially living it in real time, having stayed true to their core values while most of their peers were either losing their minds, selling their souls, or being deleted by a scene that no longer needed them.

"No one wants to be themselves these days, there ain't nobody left but us these days."
These Days

Is “Dated” A Bad Thing?

Peter Collins’ minimalistic production is one of These Days’ defining traits.

Less gloss, fewer studio tricks, more “just a band in a room”; it’s easy to understand why Bon Jovi wanted this approach in the mid-90s.

And in some ways it’s a win — the record has aged well precisely because it keeps things as basic as it can.

However, this same restraint occasionally robs the material of that final lift. The likes of Lie To Me and This Ain’t A Love Song (spoiler; it is) certainly have the bones of massive power ballad hits, but Collins’ skeletal mix keeps them somewhat boxed in. Had each track been given a little more weight, and perhaps an extra helping of Richie Sambora’s trademark guitar punch, the trade-off for running the risk of sounding “dated” is that they might’ve just become unstoppable.

"I lost all trust in my friends, I watched my heart turn to stone."
Something To Believe In

Times Of Change

The album marks a quiet shift in the band’s history: the first without Alec John Such’s, and the point where Hugh McDonald finally becomes the “official” bassist in everything but the publicity photos.

If you’re looking for the panic you’d expect from a first line-up change, you won’t find it here.

McDonald had been an active member of the group since the beginning, with the charistmatic John Such being the “face of bass” during live performances. By this point, he had already penned the iconic basslines for hits including Runaway and Keep The Faith, so These Days doesn’t feel so much like a band scrambling, but one tightening its grip on its core sound.

A Game Of Two Halves

The key frustration with These Days is that it front-loads most of its best ideas.

The opening stretch is a strong run of mood, hooks, and real perspective. But once you hit the deeper waters, the momentum softens. Aside from the vocal performance on Something To Believe In, the back half of the record leans harder into mid-tempo and ballad territory without always delivering the same emotional payoff.

And the maddening part here is that the fix was obvious.

Bon Jovi were already in possession of two era-defining tracks — Someday I’ll Be Saturday Night and Always — but had unwittingly chosen to attach them to the previous year’s Greatest Hits collection as bonus offerings rather than folding them into this LP.

Including them here would’ve considerably strengthened These Days’ pacing and overall ceiling, but in their place are a handful of sub-par ballads that don’t quite hit the mark. The solemn (It’s Hard) Letting You Go, the New Jersey outtake Diamond Ring, and the Aerosmith-like Heart’s Breaking Even aren’t unlistenable by any means — they’re just not at the level you’d expect from an album that began so well.

"I seen a dying man, too proud to beg, spit on his own grave."
Hey God

Bon Jovi – These Days

Despite its uneven second half, These Days rightfully earns its place in Bon Jovi’s story.

It landed with considerable commercial force, swiftly dispatching Michael Jackson’s problematic HIStory from No. 1 on the UK Album Chart and then clocking an impressive 42-week run in total.

This album is widely considered the final chapter in Bon Jovi’s fabled “golden run.” It joined a legendary cascade of hits — including Slippery When Wet, New Jersey, and Keep the Faith — marking the end of an era where everything the band touched seemed to catch fire.