Bon Jovi were said to be at a crossroads in their career as they neared the end of the Bounce world tour in 2003.

With the band approaching the 20th anniversary of their debut album, it seemed like their enigmatic frontman had lost his “mojo”, so in order to kill some time they decided to release This Left Feels Right.

It’s a Greatest Hits collection with a twist; each song has been completely re-worked!

From the subdued synths of a re-structured Livin’ On A Prayer, to the haunting piano-led ballad It’s My Life (no typo), this album takes everything you know and love about Bon Jovi and essentially turns it upside down.

It’s a project which provided the band with an opportunity to blow off some steam after after the disappointing sales of Bounce (2002) and a heavy touring schedule, whilst also giving frontman Jon Bon Jovi a chance to work through the “funk” he was experiencing as the New Jersey rockers attempted to thrash out a loose framework for an eventual successor to Bounce.

But as interesting a concept as this was, the band fail in their execution.

You see, the re-worked versions of their classic hits are mostly quite sombre, and this manages to drain the life out of the source material by erasing the thing which made it so infectious in the first place (the band’s raw energy). There’s not much to write home about here except for an interesting alternate take on Wanted: Dead Or Alive and a fantastic version of 80’s classic You Give Love A Bad Name (which has been re-worked into a barroom shuffle, believe it or not).

Interestingly, the song Last Man Standing was also originally intended to be used on this LP.

This song captured Jon Bon Jovi’s mood at the time, as he unleashed his anger at the direction in which the music industry was heading circa 2003 as drum loops, samples, and generic blurb dominated the airwaves. The short-tempered ballad was pulled at the last moment and re-built into a much more aggressive rock song, eventually being used on Have A Nice Day (2005).

Bon Jovi were in a position to release an expanded Greatest Hits collection at this point in their career, having enjoyed a string of hits from These Days, Crush, and Bounce in the decade which had passed since Crossroads: The Greatest Hits (1994) hit the shelves, and while we must admire their bravery in attempting to try something new, most fans of the band probably wish they did just that.

In summary:

Bon Jovi were brave in attempting to re-structure the musical arrangements of their biggest hits, but for the most part, this left feels incredibly unnecessary.

This Left Feels Right receives 4/11.
★ ★ ★ ★

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