Bon Jovi - Lost Highway

Mellow rockin’ from the Jersey cowboys

While Bon Jovi’s flirting with Nashville led to rumours of a ‘country album’, the truth of this 12-song offering is far from that. While there are only a couple of moments where Livin’ On A Prayer air-punching wouldn’t look out of place, there’s not one wrong move made on this thoughtful, heavily acoustic set.

Opener Lost Highway provides direction with its electro-acoustic amble and strings-backed midsection, before a familiar crescendo onto the rock prairie. Make A Memory has shimmering, brushed cymbals and cello anchoring a lovely vocal redolent of Coldplay, while the jaunty Whole Lot Of Leaving is a twangy U2-on-the-trail effort. Richie Sambora’s slide is showcased on the unreconstructed rock of We Got It Going On, before the summer dreamscape of Seat Next To You and classy guitar action of Everybody’s Broken. Granted, such as Stranger drifts into country music by way of Mindy McCready, with the first of several fine fe/ male duets, and One Step Closer adds charming harp. It’s never overdone, and only the closing singalong of I Love This Town brings to mind Dave Berry joining in!

Mercury | 000890202

Reviewed by Tim Jones
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