In summary:

There are some decent moments here, but 7800° Fahrenheit is mostly a rushed, unmemorable affair.

7800° Fahrenheit receives 3/11.
★★★

Back in the 1980s, a band’s second album would often make or break their career.

As such, Bon Jovi can count themselves rather lucky with 7800° Fahrenheit.

This underwhelming, incredibly rushed LP arrived just 11-months after their debut, and offers nothing which can top breakout hit Runaway, instead spending most of its run-time copying the same old 80s guitar gymnastics that every other band of this ilk were doing at the time.

Minor hit In & Out Of Love is the only exception, showing signs of life in an otherwise dull outing.

So what the hell happened?

Well, Bon Jovi had toured relentlessly both before and after the release of their 1984 debut, and manager Doc McGhee was keen to keep the momentum going by wasting no time on the follow-up.

What he didn’t consider, of course, is that the band were in no fit state to do so.

With barely any time to write the material for 7800° Fahrenheit due to constant gigs, they arrived at the studio in the midst of a Japanese tour and laid down what is essentially an inferior version of the album which came before it.

Jon Bon Jovi: “”I always overlook this album. We had no time to make it, and didn’t know who we were. Each member of the band felt distracted by our schedule and by personal issues due to being away from home for as long as we had been, and I think that showed in the music we created. None of us want to live in that mental state again. We’ve put that record behind us and moved on.”

There are some bright spots, however.

The band are noticeably more polished this time around, with both Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora sounding like battle-hardened musicians (progress you can’t miss when you perform 300 concerts in 365 days!), and the lead single (plus Tokyo Road and The Hardest Part Is The Night) hint that, if they were given ample time to do so, they might be able to write some great material.

Thankfully this didn’t doom Bon Jovi, who would go on to release the blockbuster Slippery When Wet 18-months later – and the rest is history!

In summary:

There are some decent moments here, but 7800° Fahrenheit is mostly a rushed, unmemorable affair.

7800° Fahrenheit receives 3/11.
★★★