Album Review: Burning Bridges by Bon Jovi

As the title of Bon Jovi’s thirteenth studio album suggests, it’s the end of an era for the New Jersey outfit. It’s the first album to not feature the guitar wizardry of founding member Richie Sambora, who left the band a few years’ back for reasons that haven’t really been made clear to those of us outside of the band’s inner circle.

Tying in to the end of an era theme, this collection marks the final release on Mercury Records, as the band have moved on and will allegedly release a new album on an as-yet-unknown label, followed by a world tour. Presumably, also, without Sambora, whose stage presence and insane guitar chops are missed by all and sundry. Perhaps, even, Jon Bon Jovi himself.

If you thought Jon Bon Jovi was happy enough to be moving on, you’d be wrong. The title track features some pointed lyrics – “After 30 years of loyalty, they let you dig the grave / Now maybe you can learn to sing or strum along / Well I’ll give you half the publishing / You’re why I wrote this song.” – that can only be aimed at Mercury. So, there’s some angst between the two parties, which leads me to think that the band was shunted out. It’s a pretty interesting move on the label’s part, given the insane amount of success Bon Jovi has brought Mercury over the years.

So, the premise of this album is to fulfil the band’s contract with Mercury, which they’ve done by releasing a collection consisting of a few new tracks and other songs that were left on the cutting room floor. And, when I listened to Burning Bridges for the first time, I had the immediate feeling that JBJ and co should’ve left those songs where they were.

This is the worst Bon Jovi album I’ve ever heard. The songs are bland, boring, formulaic, and devoid of some of the trademarks that have seen the New Jersey rock band catapult to worldwide stardom. It’s clear almost instantly that Sambora is sorely missed. Not just because there are few in the world who can rival him on guitar, but because of his song-writing ability, too. It just doesn’t feel right. You can’t replicate a guy like that. John Shanks is a good player, but he isn’t Richie Sambora. Few are.

I’ve never been a guy who latches onto an entire album of any band or singer, but I can usually find more than four or five tracks that impact me enough to make me want to put them on my iPod. Not so here. Burning Bridges, for the most part, is a forgettable selection of songs. I have three songs from this collection on my Bon Jovi playlist, one being ‘Saturday Night Gave Me Sunday Morning’, the only track where Sambora has a co-write. The rest…well, the less said about them, the better.

In a recent Rolling Stone interview, Jon Bon Jovi said it’s something “are going to be very proud of in the spring when we put it out,” so I can only hope that this is merely a bump in the road for the band. Time will tell.

For now, I’ll stick with my vintage Bon Jovi albums, and wait for some new solo material from Richie Sambora.