In summary:

Bon Jovi’s 10th studio album sees them go country. They sound exactly how you’d expect them to, and the results are solid, so it’ll be surprising if they go back to rock after this experiment

Lost Highway receives 7/11.
★★★★★★★

Lost Highway is the 10th studio album from U.S. rockers Bon Jovi.

It features the hit singles Lost Highway and Make A Memory, and helped them become the first rock band ever to reach #1 on the country music chart.

That’s right, country!

After the unexpected success of the Who Says You Can’t Go Home (from 2005’s Have A Nice Day), the band decided that their next effort would be a full-blown country affair.

To be honest, it always seemed like a natural progression for Bon Jovi.

With no fewer than 14 cowboy-themed songs in their back catalogue prior to the recording of this album (and that doesn’t even include their soundtrack for Young Guns II), Wild West references have never been difficult to find amongst their work – so much so, that when original bassist Alec Jon Such departed in 1994 he even snarked, “All his songs are fucking cowboy songs anyway!”

Ironically, now that he’s been given a free pass to go nuts with the cowboy-isms, he doesn’t.

Instead he chooses to sing about everything from falling in love (Whole Lot Of Leavin’), mental health (Everybody’s Broken), and several songs about, err, driving with the top down (Lost Highway, Summertime, Seat Next To You, I Love This Town).

They’re not bad songs by any means, but come on Jon, what the fuck do you want?!

Musically, Lost Highway successfully applies Bon Jovi’s tried and tested formula to the country genre.

Sure, it lacks the huge drums and guitar punch we’ve come to expect from them, but everything else is in place, resulting in several fist-pumping anthems which will sit nicely alongside their previous work.

They’re also not as taxing on his voice, so there’s a high chance that a few of them will claim a regular spot in the band’s live setlist (like the overly simplistic but undoubtedly catchy We Got It Going On).

Highlights include the anthemic Lost Highway and the slow-building Make A Memory, which both cracked the Top 10 across several countries.

Elsewhere, you’ll find great moments on the laid back Summertime, catchy-as-fuck ballad Whole Lot Of Leavin’, the air-punching Any Other Day (which sounds like a track from These Days which has been countrified), and feel-good album closer I Love This Town, which was clearly written with one eye on the band’s upcoming world tour.

It’ll be interesting to see if Bon Jovi continue in this direction, particularly considering this album has outsold any of their 2000s output so far, and if they do decide to switch to country on a permanent basis it suggests they’re well-equipped to make it work.

In summary:

Bon Jovi’s 10th studio album sees them go country. They sound exactly how you’d expect them to, and the results are solid, so it’ll be surprising if they go back to rock after this experiment

Lost Highway receives 7/11.
★★★★★★★