Dear Jon, Richie, David, Tico & Hugh,
I know this ain't gonna be the first time you're
hearing this complaint, but I'm probably the only guy
from my country (India)who's writing about this.
First thing you should know is that you're damn
popular in India, and Crossroad, These Days and Crush
have all reached #1 here in some chart or the other.
Crush is still going great guns, but because of a
whole legion of bloody disco-dancing boy band fans.
Boy bands seem to have taken over the world. There was
a time when we used to have a large rock following;
there still is, in North-East India, where practically
every second guy is a band member. There used to be
concerts & stuff.
But now because of the boy bands all that is dying.
People in my hostel (I'm an IIT engineering student)
never used to listen to rock and would mock me for it,
but then they gradually began to like YOUR songs. Your
songs have soul, love, intensity. You seem to get
better with each album. After Keep The Faith,
Crossroad and the monumental These Days, I only
expected something even better. I expected a
renaissance of rock in India coming about due to Bon
Jovi with Crush. But no, what you give us is something
'in tune with the times', a pseudo-rock album which
sounds like stuff churned out by another of the boys.
It's My Life was promising, but as I heard the songs
one after the other I was left wondering "What the
hell has happened to these guys? There's not a guitar
solo anywhere." (Never mind Next 100 Years) "And Jon
shows us his greeeeeaaaaat vocal range only in the
last notes of Save The World, the rest of the song being
a bit too sugary.
Nobody who's been a fan of yours from the days of SWW
can possibly like Crush. The album lacks intensity.
There's practically no music in it.
Look, guys, most people who play in bands don't like
your music. That's because you're mostly ballads,
Richie rarely shows off his dexterity except in songs
like Lay Your Hands On Me and Dry County, and there's
not much variety in keyboards, beats and bass. To sum
up, except for the vocalist, other band members won't
be interested in performing your simple songs. I don't
believe that David, Tico and Hugh are so amateurish
that they can't whip up some really amazing stuff. If
you wanna keep your first singles like It's My Life
simple so that they sell, that's perfectly fine. But
do give us some really hard & complex rock in the rest
of the album. Even Whitesnake plays ballads, but
they're much more respected than you guys in band
circles. Why? Because although David Coverdale is no
better than Jon, his musicians play amazing stuff:riffs, solos, et al.
Even I'm in a band. The only band in a university of
4000 people. We play Iron Maiden, Whitesnake,
Metallica, Deep Purple, Pearl Jam, Van Halen and
ultimately aim for Dream Theater & Extreme. I would
just love to cover your songs, guys; you're my
all-time favourite band. But I can't because my band
members are simply not interested in playing songs which
they've no work in.
As a vocalist, you're my God, Jon. I can sing
Dickinson, Coverdale, Vedder, Lee Roth, Gillian and
James LaBrie, but I just can't come up to your style
and standards. All these people reach the high notes
in nasal tones, you, on the other hand sing high from
the chest. And you're the only one who can sing in a
distorted voice even at very high notes.
I have this knack for remembering lyrics more
accurately than the original singers, and I remember
every word of almost all your songs, but I'll never
get to sing them unless you churn out some really
complex stuff which my other band members will love to
play. Richie should reproduce the guitar effects of
Lay Your Hands On Me or the speed of Dry County, David
should play something like what Deep Purple sounds,
Tico should vary his beats much more often. I don't
need to be giving you guys this advice, but I really
want to sing your songs, and unless and until you
bring out an album blazing with musical complexity, I
never will get to.
So guys, please don't try to be too popular. Look at
what's happened to Metallica because of Load & Reload;
they've lost many old fans. Please don't let the same
thing happen to you. You'll lose the people who loved
your power ballads, and there's not much satisfaction
in gaining fans who also swear by Backstreet Boys &
Britney Spears, is there?
Don't give us another Crush. These Days was one album
in which I liked every song, and my band members also
have a respect for that album because of musically
rich songs like Hey God and Damned. Give us an album
as intense as These Days but with a lot more musical
complexity. That way I'll realise my ultimate dream of
singing a Bon Jovi song. And please do it soon.



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