Maps of Music

These Days (1995)

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

Jon Bon Jovi erased the first Nashville recordings in October 1994, so the album was finished across Woodstock and Los Angeles instead.

Key places

One On One Studios, Los Angeles (1995)

Recording site One on One Recording Studios — After recording moved away from Woodstock, One On One Studios was one of three Los Angeles studios used for the album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Ocean Way Recording, Los Angeles (1995)

Recording site Ocean Way Recording — Ocean Way Recording was one of three Los Angeles studios where the album was recorded, alongside One On One and A&M Studios. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

A&M Studios, Los Angeles (1995)

Recording site A&M Recording Studios — A&M Studios was one of three Los Angeles studios used in the album's recording after the sessions left Woodstock. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

First sessions in Nashville (1995)

Recording site Nashville — Recording of the album started in Nashville in the fall of 1994, and the first week to ten days of material was erased in October. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Woodstock, NY basic tracks (1995)

Recording site Bearsville Studios — Most basic tracks for the album were recorded in Woodstock, NY, where a neighboring Fear Factory session bled into the drum mics. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• These Days: sixth studio album by American rock band Bon Jovi
• Released June 27, 1995 by Mercury Records; Japan on June 12, Europe on June 19
• First album released after original bassist Alec John Such was dismissed
• First album officially recorded as a quartet, with Hugh McDonald as a session and touring bassist
• Produced by Peter Collins, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora
• Darker in mood than the band's usual feel-good rock songs and love ballads

Background

• The Keep the Faith Tour ended in December 1993
• In January 1994 Jon Bon Jovi wrote 'Something to Believe In', the first song written for the album
• Over the next nine months Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora wrote and demoed forty songs
• The album was first slated for release in the fourth quarter of 1994
• The band asked for more time to write additional material
• Instead they released Cross Road, their first greatest hits album, with two new songs in October 1994

Recording

• Recording began in Nashville in the fall of 1994
• After a week to ten days, Jon Bon Jovi erased everything in October 1994
• Recording continued for four months, moving between Jon Bon Jovi's home studio Sanctuary I in Woodstock, NY and three Los Angeles studios
• Most basic tracks were recorded in Woodstock, NY
• 'Diamond Ring' and '(It's Hard) Letting You Go' were recut in Los Angeles
• Rhythm guitar parts were recorded in Los Angeles and keyboards in New Jersey
• Most vocals were recorded in New Jersey
• The album was mixed by Bob Clearmountain in Los Angeles
• Peter Collins was hired based on his earlier work with Rush, Queensryche and Alice Cooper
• A neighboring studio session by the metal band Fear Factory caused bleed into the drum mics in Woodstock

Cover

• Mark Selliger shot the album cover in Mexico

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

• Q magazine gave the album a perfect score
• Q said Cross Road and Always confirmed Bon Jovi would survive grunge
• Q said These Days consolidated the band's status by keeping Michael Jackson's HIStory off the UK number one slot
• Q singled out 'Hey God', 'Lie to Me' and 'Something to Believe In' as the album's highlights
• Q said the album was arguably the band's finest musical hour to date
• Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote that Bon Jovi grew musically stronger over the years
• AllMusic noted their playing had become more accomplished and that the group was one of the few pop-metal bands to sustain a career in the mid-1990s
• Daina Darzin of Rolling Stone wrote that the band kept its cheesy but irresistible 1980s pop qualities, now in the form of mostly sad music for grown-ups

Reappraisal

• Many critics and fans praise the album as the band's best
• Ranked number two on Q magazine's Top 50 albums of 1995, beaten by Blur's The Great Escape
• Some critics mention it as the second best album of 1995, after Oasis's (What's the Story) Morning Glory?
• Voted album of the year in Kerrang! readers poll in 1995
• Featured in Classic Rock and Metal Hammer's '200 Greatest Albums of the 90s' in 2006

Records

• UK: debuted at number one, replacing HIStory, and spent four weeks at number one
• UK: four Top 10 singles, the band's highest number of Top 10 singles from one album in the UK
• Australia: debuted at number one and spent two weeks at number one on the ARIA Charts
• Japan: debuted at number one on the Oricon chart, selling over 379,000 copies
• Japan: fastest selling album by a non-Japanese act in the history of the country's chart
• Europe: certified triple platinum by IFPI for 3 million copies
• Topped the charts in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Ireland, Finland and Portugal
• US: peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200 despite selling 1 million copies and RIAA platinum certification

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Jon Bon Jovi stated that even though the album was their darkest, the band was in a very happy place at the time.
• Fear Factory were recording their album Demanufacture in a neighboring studio in Woodstock, and Bon Jovi's engineers repeatedly complained that the volume was bleeding into their drum mics.
• Two titles considered for the album were 'Open All Night' and 'Strip'.
• Richie Sambora married Heather Locklear on December 17, 1994, during the period when the band was promoting Cross Road.
• Richie Sambora's 'Hey, hey, hey' chant on 'Something To Believe In' was lifted from the demo and kept for the album.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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