The popular quote says “a change is as good as a rest”, but both were necessary in the case of Bon Jovi.

Overworked from almost four years of non-stop touring, the New Jersey rockers took a well-earned break following their underwhelming second album and also decided to fire producer Lance Quinn and replace him with Bruce Fairbairn.

The result is Slippery When Wet; a landmark achievement which sees the band finally realize the huge potential they’d which they’d shown in brief flashes on their earlier LPs.

Like lightning in a bottle, the album manages to capture the energy and hope of the 1980s hard rock scene, transporting the listener back to an era when the only thing bigger than the riffs was the hair, and frontman Jon Bon Jovi could deliver high 5’s with an enthusiasm that made us feel like everything was gonna be alright.

This will be remembered as one of the best hard rock albums of all time.

Considering how challenging it is to write one truly great rock song, these New Jersey rockers deserve a lot of credit for delivering no less than three on the same album.

Eternal singalong Livin’ On A Prayer showcases Bon Jovi at their absolute best, and it’s quickly followed-up by the equally strong You Give Love A Bad Name (their first #1 hit), and cowboy-themed classic Wanted Dead Or Alive, which features a face-melting guitar solo from axeman Richie Sambora.

There are plenty of highlights elsewhere, too.

The shred-tastic guitar riff of Raise Your Hands, which is sandwiched between the bombastic duo of Social Disease and I’d Die For You, demonstrate not only how great Bon Jovi are at writing anthems of hope, but also how much those four years of non-stop touring had helped them to hone their craft.

Indeed, while they were unfairly being labelled “too girly” by the rock media, the fact is Bon Jovi were a lot closer to “the real thing” than most of their drug-fuelled rivals, having put in the hard hours by completing well over 1000 gigs prior to this album’s development.

It really shows here, such is their craftmanship it’s hard to believe they averaged just 24 years old.

Producer Bruce Fairbairn also deserves his flowers.

Fairbairn was brought in to help Bon Jovi cement themselves as a headline act, and he massively over-delivers.

You see, Bon Jovi’s well-oiled high-energy performances meant that the band would often exit tours having outshined the headline act, but for rhyme nor reason they couldn’t seem to convince record label bosses to promote them to the headline slot.

In hiring Fairbairn, they set out to capture the electricity of their live show on record, and it’s a job he relished. Each of the 12- tracks tracks which features on Slippery When Wet feels well-polished, chart-ready and, dare we say it, stadium-sized!

Unlike their future work, this album keeps ballads down to a bare minimum.

These come in the form of prom singalong Never Say Goodbye and soppy pop number Without Love.

Neither of these are poor, but it’s clear that this is a skill which Jon Bon Jovi and co. had not yet fully mastered.

With that in mind, the real “meat” of this LP lies within it’s crunching rock songs. Of the ten featured here, only album opener Let It Rock fails to hit the mark (that being said, any band with the confidence to start a “make or break album” with a 1-minute organ solo has our respect!).

Slippery When Wet is a seminal rock album.

From it’s trio of world-beating hit singles, to it’s replacement cover art (which most people mistakenly think is written on a steamy shower window but it’s really a garbage bag which Jon Bon Jovi sprayed with water!), everything about this disc is iconic.

In the decades which have passed since it was released it has become the benchmark for mainstream rock, and it means “The Jovi” are the first ever recipients of a coveted 11/11 score from These Go To Eleven!

In summary:

Slippery When Wet is one of the best rock albums of all time. Everything which was so great about the 1980s rock scene is expertly captured on this record, by a band who had honed their skills through years of non-stop touring.

Slippery When Wet receives 11/11.
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