In summary:

Bon Jovi ditch country and return to rock, but they forgot to bring their trademark hooks along for the ride. The result is The Circle, an album which satisfies and disappoints in equal measure.

The Circle receives 5/11.
★★★★★

The commercial success of 2007’s Lost Highway proved to be a polarizing experience for fans of Bon Jovi.

Their transition to country was well-received, and it sold a fuck-tonne of copies, but this caused many long-term fans to worry that the New Jersey legends might lay down their guitars and switch genre on a permanent basis.

So when they unexpectedly announced that their next album would see them go straight back to rock music, most of their fanbase was fucking ecstatic about it.

Unfortunately, the band forgot to bring their trademark hooks along for the ride.

As such, The Circle gives us nothing more than a collection of over-polished rock songs which rely too heavily on sounding like their previous work to carve out an identity of their own.

Much of the album’s 53-minute runtime is spent meandering through mid-tempo rockers which I wouldn’t expect to replace any of their classic tracks in the band’s live setlist.

Occasionally, though, they spring to life and remind us what they’re so great at.

Standout track Thorn In My Side encapsulates everything we love about post-2000 Bon Jovi, and the Springsteen-like second single Work For The Working Man (the lyrics of which were framed and hung in the White House) is as close as they ever get to that classic It’s My Life / Livin’ On A Prayer formula.

Elsewhere, highlights are relegated to the rare moments where the songs manage to escape the grip of John Shanks’ glossy production (e.g. the great verse arrangement of Happy Now, and the storytelling lyrics of When We Were Beautiful) but it doesn’t happen regularly enough.

Perhaps the writing was on the wall for The Circle from day one, as lead single We Weren’t Born To Follow was met with outage from fans. The accused the band of ripping off their own earlier work. It’s hard to tell if they did this on purpose or whether it was purely coincidence, but one listen to Born To Be My Baby (from 1988’s New Jersey) and it’s clear the fans have a point.

In summary:

Bon Jovi ditch country and return to rock, but they forgot to bring their trademark hooks along for the ride. The result is The Circle, an album which satisfies and disappoints in equal measure.

The Circle receives 5/11.
★★★★★