Product Description

Track listing 1. Runaway 2. Roulette 3. She Don't Know Me 4. Shot Through The Heart 5. Love Lies 6. Breakout 7. Burning For Love 8. Come Back 9. Get Ready

Track Listing

1. Runaway - Bon Jovi, Tony Bongiovi, Lance Quinn, Scott Litt, Jeff Hendrickson, Larry Alexander, Tim Pierce, Roy Bittan, Frankie La Rocka, Huey McDonald, David Grahmme, Mick Seeley
2. Roulette - Bon Jovi, Lance Quinn, Tony Bongiovi, Scott Litt, Jeff Hendrickson, Larry Alexander
3. She Don't Know Me
4. Shot Through The Heart
5. Love Lies
6. Breakout
7. Burning For Love
8. Come Back
9. Get Ready

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5864 in Music
• Released on: 1998-10-05
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Enhanced, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .24 pounds
• Running time: 38 minutes

CD Description
Bon Jovi's 1984 debut not only became a blueprint for the band's multi-platinum releases of later years, but a definitive work for an entire genre. Though scores of short-lived pop-metal bands rocketed to popularity on the success of this release, the time-weathered BON JOVI continues to stand out from the pack.
"Runaway", with its infectious hook and keyboard work from E-Streeter Roy Bittan, was discovered by a New York DJ and gave the band some early exposure. "She Don't Know Me" is a catchy mid-tempo rocker. "Shot Through the Heart" turns the hard-rocking pulse up a few notches, with Richie Sambora letting loose on the kind of solo that would becopied by a plethora of L.A. bands. David Bryan's keyboards, an integral part of the group's sound, work nicely on the melodic rocker "Breakout". At a time when synthesizers dominated the pop landscape, Bon Jovi used them to gloss a heavy-rock foundation. "Come Back" shows the enormity of the charisma and emotion that Jon poured into his singing. BON JOVI is a great debut by a band in its underground, formative stage; a street album from a band hungry to make it.

Customer Reviews

Bon Jovi's First Album
Bon Jovi's fist album, it is great it doesn't sound dated considering it was made in the early 80's which was good. It's all catchy rock songs that will have you singing along with in minutes. My favorite song is Shot Through The Heart (and no it's not like You Give Love A Bad name). Jon's voice also sound's really great. It also has their first hit Runaway which rock's. It's not my favorite of all their albums but it is a lot of fun. So if your looking for something fun and up beat or if your more into Bon Jovi's slower songs try These Day's which is full of great songs a lot are slow but there are some upbeat ones such as Something For The Pain.

Good, but by no means excellent.
The thing about this CD is that while it is good in it's own right, when you look at the big picture of all the Bon Jovi albums, this one isn't that special.

The album highlight for me is Shot Through The Heart, and it is the most diverse of the album. After that, all the songs are 80s hair-rock fodder (Love Lies tries to break this cycle with a slower mood, but it just ends up being uncatchy mush). Get Ready is a good upbeat and uplifting finish, but it does nothing to save this album from mediocrity.

Of you are looking for classic Bon Jovi, get Slippery When Wet or (my personal favourite) New Jersey. Steer clear of this album unless you already own the others.

Unexpectedly good!
Some bits of this sound dated, but on the whole this has an air of a secret classic about it - the sound of full accomplished early 80s rock, coming out of a band's debut album, not a bad acheivement! Newer fans of the band may discover a less pop, more rocky edge to Bon Jovi that they didn't realise ever existed.. Standout track is of course Runaway, but others such as Shot Through the Heart, Roulette, She Don't Know Me and Burning for Love also deliver with style.

One question / reccomendation though (its a biggie, bit of a rant) - does anyone know of a reliable source for the ORIGINAL, NON-REMASTERED disc? I really dislike how the reworked version utterly destroys the wide dynamics of the first studio recording and plays about with the instrumentation and stereo location. I'd reccomend anyone looking to buy this to find the original - there's actually nothing wrong with it, the mastering was fine, punchy, balanced volume, good full-range response and low noise, so why they felt a need to remaster it (for anything other than marketing to easily led consumer sheep) is completely beyond me.

Heck, I'd copy you my original, but the disc suffered a little accident and is now unreadable... hence my ending up with an inferior, newer version. Currently I'm rolling through the amazon back catalogue, seeing if wishes can actually come true.