Bon Jovi: Bon Jovi (1984) Review

Bon Jovi’s self-titled debut album is a highly energetic affair from start to finish.

Unfortunately for them, they haven’t yet been able to write any songs which match their enthusiasm.

Breakout hit single Runaway stands tall as the best offering here, and it offers glimpses of the all-conquering band they would grow into over the years which followed.

A Man On A Mission

Interestingly, frontman Jon Bon Jovi is said to have written this track while pulling nightshifts at The Power Station recording studio, working unpaid as an engineer’s assistant in exchange for free access to the sound booth.

In a display of the blue collar work ethic which would eventually become synonymous with his band, he spent six weeks walking to every radio station within a 100 mile radius to ask each one if they’d play his new song (!).

Local station WAPP were highly impressed with his gumption, and handed the track some free airtime during the early hours.

It turns out that’s all the help he needed, because his one man viral marketing campaign then took off and propelled Runaway to #39 on the coveted Billboard Hot 100 – quite the achievement for an unsigned singer without a manager, especially in the pre-internet days!

Better still, his work rate caught the attention of Mercury Records, who decided to hand him a one album deal and subsequently helped bring together the group of musicians we now recognize as the classic Bon Jovi line-up.

Styles Clash

Mercury drafted in producer Lance Quinn to provide each track with “a level of sheen”.

However, despite sounding like a hair metal band, it’s clear that Bon Jovi aren’t one.

Their lyrics stay well clear of the genre’s usual subject matter (e.g. drugs, excess, debauchery), instead leaning towards the more grounded work of fellow New Jersey export Bruce Springsteen.

This clash of styles means that, at times, Quinn’s polished production feels somewhat unnecessary.

Bon Jovi: Self-Titled

It’ll never be your first choice Bon Jovi album, but that doesn’t mean there’s no good material here.

Looking beyond the outstanding Runaway, the likes of Roulette and Shot Through The Heart both hint that they are scratching the surface of something much bigger.

Meanwhile, the cheese overload of anthemic duo of Burning For Love and Get Ready could’ve been written specifically for the Tech Noir scene in The Terminator which, incidentally, was released the same year!

Bon Jovi would eventually learn how to frame their music with production asthetics which better suited their storytelling lyrical style (particularly in the 1990s), but circa 1984 they relied on pure energy to get the job done.