7,5 sur 10 sur ce site !

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

When Bon Jovi released their previous album, Lost Highway,
I was more than a little harsh on the band. I was not fond of band’s
country direction in the least bit. I swore off Bon Jovi until they
returned to playing rock music. Lucky for me,and their long time fans
they have. It took a couple of years, but the band is back with a new
rock album, The Circle. This album treads a fine line
between pop and rock. Bon Jovi is no stranger to crafting tunes in
this fashion, and they are quite good at it. Their pop metal days are
long over, and if you are looking for another dose of tunes in the vein
of their early material. You won’t find it here.

La critique, chanson par chanson :

The opening cut, “We Weren’t Born To Follow” is more of a pop/rock
tune, but it reminds me of the music that was on the 2005 CD, Have A Nice Day.

“When We Were Beautiful” has this jangly guitar tone that has an
almost U2 feel to it. This song has a sing along chorus that will
translate well in Bon Jovi’s live show. I must admit that this song is
kind of a grower. I didn’t care for it at first, but a few repeat
plays I have changed my mind.

The bass line on “Work for the Working Man” took me all the way back to Slippery When Wet.
It literally sounds as if it was ripped off of the Bon Jovi classic
“Livin’ On a Prayer”. With that being said, “Work for the Working Man”
isn’t a bad tune, but it isn’t great either. The background vocals
don’t really work for me. It just seems kind of silly.

“Superman Tonight” is another song that has some serious hit
potential. The chorus is catchy and memorable. This is one of my
favorites on The Circle.

The voice coder intro in the beginning of “Bullet” give the song a
familiar Bon Jovi feel. Finally some heavier riffs show up in the song
“Bullet”. Richie Sambora finally cuts loose a little on this tune, and
I am thankful. This album needed a heavier tune, and this is it.

“Thorn in My Side” keeps the pace going well, and is one of the more rockin’ songs on this disc.

“Live Before You Die” is a story teller type of song. Bon Jovi has
done a few of these songs in the past, and I have never really cared
for these. This is an ok tune, and I am sure it will appeal to some
folks.

Just when I was starting to get a little bored, “Brokenpromieland”
comes along and makes me hit replay a couple of times. I love Sambora’s
guitar tone on this song.

“Love is The Only Rule” almost sounds like a Neil Diamond tune with
some heavier riffs. Every time I hear this tune, Jon Bon Jovi’s vocal
delivery reminds me of that for some reason. The funny thing is, it
works for the most part.

Is it just me, or does “Fast Cars” sound like a Coldplay tune? The
keyboards and guitar tone sound more like that band than a Bon Jovi
tune. I didn’t really care for this tune very much.

The Circle will be in stores tomorrow. Is it worth picking up?
While I don’t think this is the best Bon Jovi album, it is far from
their worst. The production from John Shanks is top notch, but the
album could have used a few heavier moments. If you are looking for
the big monster pop metal rockers like the band used to put out in the
eighties and early nineties, you aren’t going to find them on The Circle. This is a solid pop rock album with a few hard edges here and there.

Autre article :
[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

Une critique plus sévère (2 étoiles sur 4) :

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

Critique peu flateuse sur [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

7/10 sur [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] !

79% attribué par Billboard.com


The New Jersey group gets back to the business of rocking on its 11th studio album, The Circle.

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]
had great crossover success after putting a little bit of country into
its rock'n'roll with the 2007 "Lost Highway." But the New Jersey group
gets back to the business of rocking on its 11th studio album, "The
Circle." The band hits a classic Bon Jovi stride out of the gate with
the first single, "We Weren't Born to Follow." The song is a common-man
anthem that announces, "This ain't about giving up or giving in,"
drawing its buoyant chorus straight out of its 1988 song "Born to Be My
Baby." Also in that mold are tracks like "Work for the Working Man,"
"Thorn in My Pride" and "Broken Promiseland." Meanwhile, [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]'s
trademark ambient dynamics can be found on "Love's the Only Rule,"
"Happy Now" and "Learn to Love." Bon Jovi gets political on "Bullet,"
while "When We Were Beautiful" is wistfully nostalgic, right down to
the sha-la-la backing vocals, with its own brief social commentary
about living on a continuing prayer. The country-friendly elements are
still there-the fiddle and steel on "Live Before You Die," for
example-but "The Circle" rides closer to the New Jersey turnpike than
the band's "Highway" run.-Gary Graff

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

The New York Times

But even while Mr. Bon Jovi is sympathizing with the common man, the scrape
in his voice is never wrenching. And while the arrangements are mildly
darker than on the group’s previous albums, this group is still drawn
magnetically to swelling choruses, its ambition of scale still grander
than its ambition of import.


[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

The repurposed “Livin’ on a Prayer” bass line on “Work for the
Working Man,” from Bon Jovi’s 11th studio album, “The Circle,” is no
casual rehash. In 1986 “Livin’ on a Prayer” marked Bon Jovi as a band
that grappled with meaning, or at least pretended to, in between
hairspray sessions and breaking hearts.Twenty-three years later
Bon Jovi has become that band in full, having long ago cleansed its
system of vice and CFCs. But while the group’s recent albums preached
hope, “The Circle” is determinedly dark: the band’s typical uplift is
deeply buried here, in songs that are more blatantly angry than any in
Bon Jovi’s career.This is a perfectly reasonable response to
aging: cynicism hardens with time. But really it’s another step in the
slow, sure transformation of [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] into [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien],
another artist who wears regional authenticity with pride and who
started out making the sort of agitated, accessible rock music Bon Jovi
is only just now getting around to.Accordingly, the proletariat
is all over “The Circle,” indignant but dignified. “I’m here trying to
make a living,” Mr. Bon Jovi sings on “Work for the Working Man.” “I
ain’t living just to die.” “Live Before You Die” doesn’t transmit
urgency so much as pessimism about life’s obstacles; there’s an implied
“if you can” after the title.“Take a look at these tired
eyes/They’re coming back to life,” Mr. Bon Jovi pleads on “Happy Now,”
which is addressed to a naysayer: “Let me believe I’m building a
dream/Don’t try to drag me down.”But even while Mr. Bon Jovi is
sympathizing with the common man, the scrape in his voice is never
wrenching. And while the arrangements are mildly darker than on the
group’s previous albums, this group is still drawn magnetically to
swelling choruses, its ambition of scale still grander than its
ambition of import.On “We Weren’t Born to Follow” and “Thorn in
My Side,” the flamboyant guitarist Richie Sambora manages to show off a
bit. But while invigorating, these feel like moments of indulgence —
rare flashes of id in a band now moving with common purpose. JON CARAMANICA

Spin

Predictable and immaculately produced, these arena-shakers offer a familiar brand
of Jersey cheese, but where Jon Bon Jovi once was kind of quixotic
('Livin' on a Prayer'), he's more contemplative than ever, turning out
meditations like 'Live Before You Die' ("There'll come a day when you
have to say hello to goodbye").

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

Bon Jovi are billing their 11th album as a back-to-rock move, following on
the heels of 2007's country-tinged Lost Highway, which featured duets with
Music City stars. It does rock — if your idea of rock is Aerosmith
doing Diane Warren songs. Predictable and immaculately produced, these
arena-shakers offer a familiar brand of Jersey cheese, but where Jon Bon
Jovi once was kind of quixotic ("Livin' on a Prayer"), he's more
contemplative than ever, turning out meditations like "Live Before You Die"
("There'll come a day when you have to say hello to goodbye"). Ah, well, at
least blue-collar anthems like "Work for the Working Man" mean
well

Entertainment Weekly

Between cliches and Jon's strained voice, The Circle just feels tired.


[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]


The Jersey boys return with a series of near-identical fist-pumpers
whose choruses are perfectly calibrated for beer commercials and NFL
broadcasts. The bass line from ''Livin' on a Prayer'' anchors
obligatory recession ode ''Work for the Working Man,'' which doesn't
make its sentiment seem any more genuine. Elsewhere, there are concerns
about living until they die, not giving a damn, etc. Between those
clichés and Jon's strained voice, The Circle just feels tired. C

All Music Guide

A knack for oversized choruses remains hardwired in Bon Jovi, but in this
gloomy context, they act as reminders that they once sounded like they
were a working band for working men instead of rich men fretting about
a world they've long left behind.

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td class="title" align="left"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td class="title" align="left">Review</td><td class="author" align="right">by Stephen Thomas Erlewine</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2">One thing buried amidst all Bon Jovi's detours of the new millennium -- there wasn't just 2007's contemporary country [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], there was the acoustic reworking of hits [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in 2003 -- is that the group has been sober-minded throughout the decade, reacting to 9/11 on 2002's [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], exploring the morass of W's America on 2005's [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], and now creating a soundtrack for the Great Recession on 2009's The Circle. Subtlety has never been a concern for Bon Jovi, so the group makes it plain that they will be the ones to "Work for the Working Man," while they wonder "who's gonna bail out all our shattered dreams" on "Brokenpromiseland." Explicit references to the broken state of blue collar America pile up throughout The Circle, but instead of setting these wannabe working man anthems to the kind of [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]-esque rock that's their trademark, Bon Jovi, with the assistance of producer [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], have decided to make their own version of a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] album, apparently because no other sound sounds as serious as [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]. Everything on The Circle exists in a big wide open space conjured by echoed, delayed guitars, shimmering keyboards, and spacious rhythms, an atmosphere that's just as likely to recast the "Living on a Prayer" bassline as something as sadly ominous as it is to ease into chanted, African-inspired vocal hooks ("When We Were Beautiful"), both signifiers of the band's pensive pretension. A knack for oversized choruses remains hardwired in Bon Jovi, but in this gloomy context, they act as reminders that they once sounded like they were a working band for working men instead of rich men fretting about a world they've long left behind. </td></tr></table></td><td class="author" align="right"> </td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"> </td></tr></table>

Los Angeles Times

The Circle shows off Bon Jovi's still-sharp knack for wedding blandly
optimistic sentiments to predictably soaring choruses. Unfortunately,
it's getting pretty hard to tell one song from the next.

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]
November 9, 2009 | 5:36pm
[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]
"Who's gonna work for the working man?" wonders Jon Bon Jovi on the new
album by the long-running outfit that bears his name. Well, Bon Jovi is
up to the job: On "The Circle" this band of Jersey boys makes a
recession-appropriate return (after appealing forays into pop and
country) to its old blue-collar arena-rock style; "Work for the Working
Man" even recycles the pumping talk-box groove from the band's 1986
smash "Livin' on a Prayer," and lifts the factory-floor sound effects
from Billy Joel's "Allentown" for good measure.

These guys obviously mean business when it comes to the victims of big business.

Produced as were the band's previous two discs by Top 40 staple John Shanks,
"The Circle" shows off Bon Jovi's still-sharp knack for wedding blandly
optimistic sentiments to predictably soaring choruses. Unfortunately,
it's getting pretty hard to tell one song from the next: First the
singer's telling us "We Weren't Born to Follow," then he's remembering
"When We Were Beautiful"; later, he reveals that "Love Is the Only
Rule" before demanding that we "Learn to Love."

After all that sloganeering, "Fast Cars," near the end of the album, appears to
promise something simple, refreshing, maybe even Ramones-like. Alas, no
dice: "We are fast cars on the inside," Bon Jovi proclaims over a
cascade of surging power chords. "There's no turning back on the
highway of life."

-- Mikael Wood