Bon Jovi – 2020 (2020) Review

Bon Jovi have always favoured directness.

When they wanted to tell you that you give love a bad name, they wrote You Give Love A Bad Name, and when they decided that you should keep the faith, they wrote Keep The Faith.

So perhaps the bluntly titled 2020 should come as no surprise.

Released in the year of its name, the band’s fifteenth studio album attempts to capture the uncertainty and isolation of the coronavirus pandemic, as millions found themselves confined to their homes, living with a quiet sense of unease that rarely seemed to lift.

In order to do this, Bon Jovi strip away the bombast and optimism that once defined their sound, turning instead toward a largely acoustic, socially conscious record designed to document a uniquely difficult moment in time – an audible snapshot intended to serve as a time capsule for future listeners.

Tell Me What The Hell Is Going On

It’s easy to forget just how much momentum Bon Jovi carried into the making of 2020.

The previous album, This House Is Not For Sale, had successfully re-established the band following Richie Sambora’s departure, and plans were already in motion for a full-scale follow-up supported by an extensive world tour.

Then the pandemic arrived, and everything changed.

With lockdowns sweeping across the world, the band made the last-minute decision to pull the album on the eve of its scheduled release, choosing instead to wait until life returned to something resembling normality. As weeks turned into months, that delay began to take its toll. Jon Bon Jovi eventually found himself disconnected from material written in a very different moment, and when further restrictions were announced, the decision was made to scrap the project entirely and start again from scratch.

The setbacks didn’t end there, either. Renewed tensions with former guitarist Richie Sambora resurfaced publicly, and ongoing vocal issues which had plagued the previous tour were confirmed to be more serious than first thought, ultimately requiring surgery.

By the time recording resumed, 2020 had taken on a whole new meaning.

Call It Social Commentary Or Just What My Eyes See

The lyrical tone of 2020 bears little resemblance to anything else in Bon Jovi’s extensive back catalogue.

All of the fist-pumping choruses, syrup-soaked declarations of devotion, and crunching guitars that once defined the band are absent, and in their place is a far more subdued and reflective collection of songs, each one shaped by the uncertainty and unease of an era which none of us are likely to forget anytime soon.

Because, like everyone else, Jon Bon Jovi found himself watching events unfold from isolation. He gasped at the silence of shuttered theatres, sat in shock after the George Floyd tragedy in Minneapolis, and witnessed the global conversations that followed. Each of these moments seep into the very fabric of 2020, giving the album a weight and seriousness far beyond anything they’ve ever released before.

"When did a judge and a jury,
Become a badge and a knee?"

AMERICAN RECKONING

“I was moved to write American Reckoning as a witness to history. I believe an artist’s greatest gift is his or her ability to use their voice to speak to issues that move us.”

– Jon Bon Jovi

Something For The Pain

Unfortunately, the story behind 2020 proves far more compelling than the music itself.

Much of the record struggles under the weight of its own intentions, with songs often meandering where earlier Bon Jovi albums would have surged forward with purpose.

Mid-album highlight Blood In The Water comes closest to breaking free, but its similarities to past successes such as Always and Dry County prevent it from fully establishing an identity of its own.

Elsewhere, the thumping Beautiful Drug injects some much-needed energy into proceedings, recalling the Crush-era sound fans have long hoped the band might revisit. Yet even here, an unimaginative guitar solo from Phil X feels like a missed opportunity – particularly at a moment when he had the chance to win over listeners still measuring him against Richie Sambora.

The album’s lone real outlier is lead single Limitless, which follows a similar sonic path to the stronger material on This House Is Not For Sale and boasts an exceptionally strong pre-chorus. However, John Shanks’ glossy production once again blunts the impact, diluting the guitars and smoothing Tico Torres’ drums into a contemporary pop sheen that ultimately drains the song of momentum.

Doing What They Can

The undoubted highlight of 2020 is the country-tinged anthem Do What You Can.

Its uptempo arrangement gives Bon Jovi a rare opportunity to rediscover their trademark optimism, drawing on the chart-friendly country rock approach that served them so well during the latter half of the 2000s.

What makes the song particularly striking, however, is its directness. Jon Bon Jovi has long been adept at framing life’s struggles in broad, metaphorical terms – countless anthems about perseverance without ever anchoring them to specific events – but here he addresses real-world issues unfolding in real time.

That immediacy gives Do What You Can an emotional weight that feels unusual for the band.

Indeed, if there is a song which will one day act as an audible record of this clusterfuck of a time, we’re more than satisfied for Do What You Can to take the honour. It’s refreshing and undeniably uplifting – and while Jon Bon Jovi can’t resist the occasional lyrical moment that has more cheese than a pepperoni pizza (see below), his sincerity makes it land.

"Although I'll keep my social distance,
What this world needs is a hug."

DO WHAT YOU CAN

“The song Do What You Can was the result of me being stuck in a creative funk. How can I give people hope when they can’t even go outside? So my wife Instagrammed a picture of me washing dishes at one of our JBJ Soul Kitchens and her caption was “When you can’t do what you do… Do what you can!”, and I was like, “That’s it! That’s how I can help people deal with the loneliness and existential pressure of this fucking experience!” The song just poured out me, and was finished in less than half an hour.”

– Jon Bon Jovi

“The song Do What You Can was the result of me being stuck in a creative funk.

How can I give people hope when they can’t even go outside?

So my wife Instagrammed a picture of me washing dishes at one of our JBJ Soul Kitchens and her caption was “When you can’t do what you do… Do what you can!”, and I was like, “That’s it! That’s how I can help people deal with the loneliness and existential pressure of this fucking experience!”

The song just poured out me, and was finished in less than half an hour.”

– Jon Bon Jovi

Bon Jovi: 2020

There’s a certain comfort in hearing Bon Jovi do what they do.

It may be cheesy at times, and familiar to a fault, but the band have always possessed an uncanny ability to lift even the darkest of moods.

2020 pulls that safety net away.

For all the strength of its social commentary, the album deliberately strips the punch and optimism we’ve come to expect, leaving the lyrics exposed in a way that feels unusually raw for this band. The end result is a record whose themes land with far greater emotional weight than many listeners might expect, confronting rather than comforting.

This unique aspect makes 2020 feel unlike any Bon Jovi album that came before it – for better or worse.

>> 2020 is part of our Bon Jovi album review series.

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