By: Jesse Striewski
Growing up a kid in the ’80s and early ’90s, Bon Jovi had always seemed more like “my older sister’s band” to me at the time. Yet conversely, there was always a certain sense of pride that united us knowing they were one of only a handful of bands to emerge from our New Jersey home state to “make it” as big as they eventually did and put said state on the rock n’ roll map.
At first glance perhaps I was a bit closed-off to the idea of a sixteenth Bon Jovi studio album; after all, how could the band that once sang “You Give Love a Bad Name” and “In and Out of Love” so long ago possibly top that in the year 2024? But once I heard the first single “Legendary,” I kind of began to understand what Jon Bon Jovi and company were going for here.
From said first song to “We Made It Look Easy,” “Living Proof,” and “Waves,” to “The People’s House” and “My First Guitar,” Forever simply feels like a love letter to fans. And aside from a filler track or two (not really sure what happened with the overly-generic sounding “Seeds”), it’s a fairly solid record by a band that’s been around the block a time or two; a fitting end cap should this actually prove to become their swan song.
Rating: 3/5 Stars
