Maps of Music

Forever (2024)

Where the lyrics of Forever take you, and where it was really made.

This is the first Bon Jovi album recorded and released as a seven-piece band, and it was made after Jon Bon Jovi's vocal cord surgery.

Key places

Recorded at Ocean Way Nashville (2024)

Recording site Ocean Way Nashville — Nashville studio listed as a recording location for this album. The point uses the building coordinates. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at Multiview, Los Angeles (2024)

Recording site Multiview — Los Angeles studio listed as a recording location for this album. The point uses the studio's building coordinates. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Forever: sixteenth studio album by American rock band Bon Jovi
• Released June 7, 2024 through Island Records
• Preceded by the singles "Legendary" and "Living Proof"
• First studio album recorded and released as a 7-piece band
• John Shanks and Everett Bradley join as official members

Background

• First Bon Jovi album since Jon Bon Jovi's 2022 vocal cord surgery
• The surgery was part of the 2024 Hulu docuseries Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, released alongside the band's 40th anniversary
• After recovery, Jon regained his joy and confidence and started writing music again
• Opening song "Legendary" reflects on the past while looking forward to the future
• "Living Proof" is the first Bon Jovi song in 14 years to use the talk box, last used on "This Is Love This Is Life" (2010)
• The talk box sound is known from "It's My Life" and "Livin' on a Prayer"
• "Kiss the Bride" is a wedding song written for daughter Stephanie Bongiovi
• "Living in Paradise" is a collaboration with British songwriter/singer Ed Sheeran

Recording

• Core members: Jon Bon Jovi (lead vocals), David Bryan (keyboards), Tico Torres (drums), Hugh McDonald (bass), Phil X (lead guitar, talk box)
• Additional musicians include Jason Isbell and Ryan Tedder
• Tracks produced by Jon Bon Jovi and John Shanks; "Living in Paradise" also produced by Joe Rubel
• Mastering by Ted Jensen; mixing by Chris Lord-Alge

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Bon Jovi is an American rock band formed in Sayreville, New Jersey in 1983.
• Jon Bon Jovi began performing live in 1975 at age 13 with his first band, Raze.
• The band was named Bon Jovi on the suggestion of Pamela Maher, following the model of two-word bands such as Van Halen.
• Its debut album Bon Jovi was released on January 21, 1984, with the single "Runaway" reaching the Billboard Hot 100 top forty.

Members

• The current lineup is Jon Bon Jovi, David Bryan, Tico Torres, John Shanks, Phil X, Everett Bradley, and Hugh McDonald.
• Original bassist Alec John Such left in 1994; he died in 2022.
• Guitarist and co-songwriter Richie Sambora left in 2013.

Career

• Slippery When Wet (1986) brought global success, with "You Give Love a Bad Name" and "Livin' on a Prayer" reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
• New Jersey (1988) produced five Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles, a record for a hard rock album.
• Keep the Faith (1992) marked a shift to a more mature sound.
• "Always" (1994) became the band's biggest-selling and longest-charting single.
• Crush (2000) and "It's My Life" introduced the band to a younger audience.
• "Who Says You Can't Go Home" (2006) won a Grammy and became the first rock band single to top the Billboard country chart.
• The band has sold more than 130 million records worldwide and was inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Metacritic score: 61 out of 100, based on five critics' reviews
• The aggregate indicates a "generally favorable" reception
• AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine: as the first record since the singer's surgery, it unveils a revived band
• AllMusic: the refinement suits a group that knows it is older and slower than 40 years ago
• Kerrang!'s Steve Beebee: an album by an artist with much to celebrate and nothing left to prove
• Kerrang!: the music has an open-road joy, and the songs are reflective and often chime with past classics
• Ultimate Classic Rock's Bryan Rolli: the guitars are sterile and the lyrics are treacly, yet the songs stick in the mind
• Classic Rock's Philip Wilding: unlike the largely solo 2020 record, it sounds like a Bon Jovi album
• Classic Rock: the record is built as a big-sounding album for big rooms, with rock songs and power ballads
• The Independent's Carla Feric: the album diverges from past material, but Jon Bon Jovi's vocals have not faltered
• The Independent: the instrumentals keep the tracks catchy and fresh

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• "Kiss the Bride" was written by Bon Jovi for his daughter, Stephanie Bongiovi, and is a wedding song.
• "My First Guitar" was composed using his very first guitar, which he bought back from the person he sold it to 45 years earlier.
• "Living in Paradise" was composed during a weekend when Ed Sheeran and his family were at Jon Bon Jovi's house, and began with Ed asking Jon for advice about his life experiences.
• "Living Proof" is the first Bon Jovi song in 14 years to use the talk box.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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