Never has the anticipation or curiosity levels for a new Bon Jovi album been so high as it has been for their new release “Lost Highway”. For months the Internet was bursting with rumours about its format and that it was to be a country rock album. Then so called band insiders started to pedal the stories of rifts opening up between Jon and Richie. The stage was being well and truly set for a musical disaster or triumph. The country rock thread began to take some credence when it was reported that Jon was spending a lot of time in Nashville and that he had brought in John Shanks and Dann Huff as producers. To be honest when I saw that Dann Huff (Giant) had been brought on board I did breathe a sigh of relief as he has exceptional levels of personal quality control and has been one of the most successful artists that have crossed rock with country. He has always kept the music rocking but also injected new flavours.

The opening title track “Lost Highway” it has to be said bursts from the speakers and instantly portrays a sense of optimism and new beginnings. This track is Jon Bon Jovi making a definite statement of intent. Listen to those lyrics “I’ve finally found my way, say goodbye to yesterday”. If ever Jon was baring his soul to his followers, this track is it. The song itself is perfect for getting in your car, opening the sunroof and just heading out into the wide-open spaces. A great start to the album.

Next up is “Summertime” which is as catchy as hell. It gives up all its melodies in the first moments of the song but to be honest that’s its intention. This song isn’t meant to be complicated or rocket science, it’s just about portraying a vibe, and that is to just go with the flow and enjoy life.

“Make A Memory” will be familiar to most people now as it is the lead off single from the album. It didn’t grab me on first listen but it did eventually get under my skin and became the itch that I couldn’t reach to scratch. As a song it’s a slow burner, paced to perfection with lyrics that show Jon is a major league songwriter. Towards the end of the song wind instruments supply a new flavour to Bon Jovi’s work that hasn’t been heard before and I have to admit classic era Chicago came to mind. I personally wouldn’t have picked this track to be the first single as it is just a little bit too tame to make a big impact on the radio.

“Whole Lot Of Leavin” is another bouncy and up-tempo number which is very much new country in its delivery and instrumentation and also has one of the strangest uses of the English language in a lyric I have head for awhile in the line “do we got it anymore”. It’s safe and one can’t help but tap your feet to the music but maybe it’s a bit predictable.

Talking of predictable “We Got It Going On” is rock by numbers. It’s a track, which will come into its own in the live environment, but as an album track it’s one of those where you’re happy to press the fast forward button. It does however give some space to Richie Sambora to deliver one of his trademark voice box guitar solos and for a brief moment the spirit and roots of Bon Jovi are on display.

Next up is the track I feel would make a great single from the album “Any Other Day”. It has a great verse and chorus and a vibe that just says, “Get up and face the day”. The chord progressions are uplifting and it feels like all members are rocking out especially Sambora who in this song has a platform to wail on his guitar.

“Seat Next To You” is one of the albums big ballad moments and features Leann Rimes dueting with Jon. As a song it’s tame and very safe but also demonstrates Jon has embraced the whole new country sound and approach. It’s a pretty song, but not very memorable. Obviously lyrically the song requires a female to duet with but I couldn’t help thinking that I wished it could have been a song where Sambora could have displayed his gritty and soulful vocals on instead of Rimes.

“Everybody’s Broken” is a mid-tempo plodder, which doesn’t really go anywhere. It’s solid and listenable but just a little boring and is definitely one of the tracks that will have you reaching for the fast forward button. Lyrically however there will be many people whom identify with this song and as a result will probably play it over and over again.

“Till We Ain’t Strangers Anymore” is the albums defining power ballad and again features Leann Rimes but this time she gets more airplay. It’s pure new country and one can’t deny it’s a beautiful song and lushly arranged and orchestrated and as a song it will possibly cause the birth rate in the United States to rocket, as this is definitely a seduction song.

“The Last Night” is another safe song, which floats past and is rather uneventful. What did strike me was the similarity between this song and Don Henley’s “Last Worthless Evening”, it has the same tempo, vibe and subject matter. Even the way the song moves through chord progressions is strikingly similar, thankfully the chords used are different but the without a doubt these songs could be twins.

“One Step Closer” is a little bit too predictable and as a result doesn’t really grab the listener and to be honest it’s gone in the wink of an eye.

“I love This Town” is a song, which will be a superb live track as its country shuffle drums, and call and response vocals just cry out for audience participation. This will be the number where Jon picks out a beauty from the audience and dances with her on stage, yes I can see it now.

“Lonely” is the final track and it sends the album out on a bit of a whimper. It sounds just a little bit too much like “You Want To Make A Memory” in its delivery and arrangement.

Overall “Lost Highway” isn’t a bad album, in fact it’s a very good album. As one would expect with a band of the standing of Bon Jovi no expense has been spared to make the album sound superb. What it does show however is that Bon Jovi in a geographical musical sense are shifting position steadily but surely. Jon Bon Jovi has definitely started to take the band down the country rock road for better or for worse. My wife made a great point as we were listening to this album and that is putting it simply “this is now and that was then”. To put that into some semblance of meaning she was trying to say the Bon Jovi of years gone by are older, possibly wiser and as artists need to explore new musical territories. She believes Jon Bon Jovi is a survivor as he has always kept moving and has never let the band stand still. They’ve moved with the musical fashions and still managed to retain their fan base.

Personally I wonder just where Bon Jovi go next after this release, as country rock isn’t exactly the most creative genre. It’s safe, fun and predictable and often a little bit forgettable and there lies my worry. After living with “Lost Highway” for a long time I feel there are only four memorable tracks on it and the rest are simply just that forgettable. I don’t think Bon Jovi will lose any fans in fact quite the opposite I think they’ll gain some new ones from the huge new country market. I do however think this album will test the faith of many for the following reasons. Richie Sambora has one of the finest rock voices around and the fans love to hear him sing and yet he is buried in the mix and has been ignored in favour of Leann Rimes. Also the country rock platform doesn’t give Sambora a good platform to rock out to on his guitar. This genre will probably lead to him going stale as a guitar player as he is no Brad Paisley. Guitarists who have followed his playing style down the years will know he uses certain licks and phrases which he has made his own and has led to him being classed as one of the most melodic rock guitarists to come out of the eighties. Sadly on the new album if you listen closely to his sparse solo moments one actually feels he is repeating some of his old solo’s over the new songs and that is worrying.

There will be many Bon Jovi fans reading this who will probably want to send me hate mail after this review but I would ask them to really look inside themselves and ask, “Where do Bon Jovi go next?” Maybe the “Lost Highway” will actually be the end of the road for Bon Jovi the rock band. Jon Bon Jovi is singing to a new song, or should that be fiddle?