It's a tough act to follow, but exquisite heights in Keep The
thetwoyearsoffhavebroughtthe . Faith and the rest of the band
group a new perspective and a comes together as only a group
fresh lease on life. Produced by which has honed its chops over
Bob Rock in Vancouver, Keep close to a decade can;
the Faith captures the band at an "It was important for Richie to
important crossroads, a fact Jon get out there and tour on his own,
Bon Jovi is well aware of. just to see what it felt like," say
Jon. "Which is why I didn't want
to play on the album or even hear
the songs. He had to go to bed at
night knowing he did it hi�lf.·
Personally, our relationship is as
strong or tronger tban it ever
was, and that's because we both
understand each other so well.
And that goes for the rest of the
band, too."
Jon acknowledge that the
years of album-tour-album-tour
took their toll, and tbat the rela
tively leisure pace of recording
Keep The Faith allowed the
group to stretch out and the ex
plore new terrain, a they do on
the wide-screen epic "Dry
Country," a Texas-based narra
tive inspired by Jon' cro s
country motorcycle trip.
"In the last two years, I've just
become more comfortable with
who I am, where I am and where
I think I'm going. Quite imply,
I went out and lived' life," ac
knowledges Jon. "I did things
""I've never had the opportunity to
do. I've been everywhere and
seen nothing except airports, the
inside of renas and hotel rooms.
So getting out there and riding my
motorcycle across country w
one of the greatest experiences of
my life.
One afternoon I stopped off at
mall gas tation in Texas - bot
"It came down to throwing out
the b by with th b th w ter, but
we decided the b by w too im
portant to let it go, " y Jon Bon
Jovi bout the uncertainty which
urrounded him nd th other
four members of Bon Jovi -
guitari t Richie S mbora, key
board" t David Bryan, ba i t
Alec John Such nd drum
mer/perc ioni t Tico Torres -
fter almo t eight non-stop years
of recording and touring.
"It' about finishing the game.
Setting out to do something and
seeing it through. That's what
mattered to 11 of us. And the
growth, individually as players
and personalities, has been im
mense."
He' talking about Bon Jovi's
fifth album, Keep the Faith, and
its first since 1988's New Jersey,
which logged more than nine mil
lion in sales worldwide. In all,
the band's four albums-includ
ing the double platinum Bon Jovi
and 7800· Fahrenheit, along with
the 13-million-plus-selling Slip
pery When Wet-havelOld more
than 30 milllon l1y.
BON JOVI'S two-year hiatus
resulted in a spate of individual
activity. Jon Bon Jovi recorded
the soundtrack album for Young
Guns II with the likes of Jeff
Beck, Elton John, Little Richard,
Danny Kortchmar and Kenny
Aronoff, producing the number
one single "Blaze of Glory, " and
earning him a Golden Globe
award along with Oscar and
Orammy nominations.
He also started his own label,
Jambco Records, producing an
album for Aldo Nova and sharing
co-production on Billy Falcon, as
well as producing and co-writing
hits for Stevie Nicks ("Sometimes
It's a Bitch',) and Hall &., Oates
("So Close'').
Guitarist Richie Sambora
made his own solo debut with an
album entitled Stranger in this
Town, and followed it up with a
multi-city U.S. tour. Additional
ly, Bon Jovi keyboardist, David
Bryan, ventured into the
soundtrack arena, scoring and co
producing the music for Nether
world.
In fact, it may have looked like
the group Bon Jovi w history
until a New Year's Eve 1991 per
formance in Tokyo made even
the doubtful realize keeping the
band alive was still the most im-
po t thing to 11 of them.
"Even if Elton John w my
pi no pi yer, Jeff Beck my
guitari t nd Kenny Aronoff my
drummer, it wouldn't be the same
turning around and not seeing the
guy th t believed in me when I
told them we were oing to make
it b ck in 1982, " Y Jon. "Oreat
musici nsdon'tnecessarily make
a great nd. There are 50,000
better ingers nd t I that
many better songwriters tban me,
but when the five of us are
together, it' magic because it'
fun."
KEEP THE FAITH captures
that spirit from the very tart, with
a title track which could well be
about the band itself, through Jon
insis lyrics like "Do you tell me
all' forgivert/ And just bide be
hind your pride" and "It' hard to
be strongIWith the world in your
face" is more about "a guy com
ing to terms with his own po ition
in the world and its problems. "
It' more than ja t a lyrical
maturity at wor here. Richie
Sambora's guitar playm reacbel
BON JOVI- (I-r) David Bryan, Tlco Torre ,AI c Jon Such, �on Bon Jovl and Richie S mbora.
and thirsty - looking for some
refreshment. A weathered old
man walked out and told us this
was a dry county and in order to
quench our thirst, we needed to
cross the border. So we drove to
New Mexico and found a bar,
where we met the local and
joined them for hots of tequilla
and a, round of darts. The next
morning I wrote the song, -Dry
Country.'"
would live their dream: "All that
I want to be is a Rolling Stone.·
"They just didn't undelltand, •
laughs Jon. "But even back then,
I knew what I wanted to do with
my life, and six aibums'later, I'm
still doing it I wish everyone
with a dream could realize it."
Jon describes "11 I Was Your
Mother" as a "psychotic love
song." It is..about wanting to be
so close to somebody, you ctuaI·
III {II/Ihe hand's [our
til bunts - ;\'cu'.1 crscv,
Il 0 II .1 0 r i, 78 () ( l" /. 'all re 1111 e it,
lIlI I I l \'/ i I J I} e I)' "., I (' II '" c I
1I11,'e SO/l/II/Ore than 3(J
million copic» globall».
Not everything is serious on
the album. The Stonesy "/'11
Sleep When I'm Dead" makes fun
of the band' legendary
workaholism with lines uch
"Until I'm ix feet under/l don't
need abed," while the ummer
time blues-like "Blame it on the
Love of ROC &. Roll" witn
Jon and Richie telling 11 of their
high chool te chers that they
Iy wish you could have made that
per on - ("When love i
blood/You're never on tria1I It
don't get deepertrhan a mother
and child/I want to get that close
to you"); while "I Want You" is
about "like the Beatles said,
money can't buy you love. 'I
never wanted the 18rs/l never
hot for the moon/l liked them
right where they are/All I w�ted
wu you.'"
ago. Ten years of experience
went into making thi album,
which amoun to a declaration of
independence for Bon Jovi.
JON STATES "BedoIRosu"
is his most revealing song to date.
Creatively and personally, it
speaks of coming to terms with
life, love and celebrity ... "The
truth is baby you're all that I
need."
Keep The Faith doesn't quite
go b ck to the very beginning,
though it does touch on all the'
things which first got the band
together after a ong caUed
"Runaway" appeared on a radio
compilation album just ten years
"There' a lot more maturity in
the band," nods Jon. "We're on
our own now. It's five grown-up
guys who are supporting and
man ging ourselves. And have
no one to .congratulate or blame
but themselves. We've been
through the mill and we're till
here to talk about it. "
It all comea down to keepng
the faith.
•