Greatest Hits: The Ultimate Collection

 

 

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I guess Bon Jovi were due for a new "hits" CD. Crossroads, after all, is 16 years old now and Tokyo Road was only made available in Japan. Ultimate Collection isn't the ultimate collection that I personally made a couple years ago (I included some awesome less-known tunes such as "Last Cigarette" and "Something For The Pain") but it truly is not a bad Bon Jovi collection. Listening to it front-to-back, I was pleasantly reminded of all these hits, and man, Bon Jovi had a lot of hits. From early stuff like "Runaway" to the great lost classics such as "Born To Be My Baby", to the newbies like "Have A Nice Day", this has pretty much all the key Bon Jovi radio hits. Sure, you're going to miss out on second-rung hits like "Dry County" and "Joey" but for the unitiated, or those who just want a great Bon Jovi collection, this is the place to go.

Almost every Bon Jovi album has hits included here, right up to The Circle. The song flow is excellent, hitting you with hit after hit after hit, landmark ballads sprinkled in between. And I give credit for the inclusion of "Blood On Blood", a song that was never a single but has been a huge concert favourite due to its real life story of JBJ's childhood. Not to mention it's just a great song.

The four new songs create feelings of moderate indifference to great dislike. "What Do You Got?" is another trademark Bon Jovi ballad, certainly nothing special, outshined to a great degree by all the other tunes here. Easily forgettable and feeling tacked-on as an afterthought. But two of these new songs -- "No Apologies" and "The More Things Change" are just awful songs. Cheesey, contrived, choose whatever words you like, they're juvenile and awful and really don't fit in among the classier hits. To me these are B-sides and perhaps should have been held back as B-sides.

Packaging is not the greatest. There are full songwriting and production credits, but they are arranged in such a way as to make finding information difficult. Performance credits are even harder to find -- I couldn't find bassists Hugh McDonald or Alec John Such's names anywhere in the credits, and their pictures are also not included. There are a few more recent photos of the main four guys. No liner notes.

On the whole, despite the fact that I don't really like the four new songs, I don't regret this purchase. It's going to be a great road CD. It is a good way to hear tunes like "We Weren't Born To Follow" without listening to the album it came from, which I wasn't too keen on. So no regrets. I think most fans will like the album, they might even like the new songs, and newcomers would be wise to pick this up as it has a great hit-per disc ratio!

4 stars.

Bon Jovi has been around for over 25 years now and their music has changed with them, this compilation is a statement of that. It's hard to please everyone and evolve in the music industry because there will always be fans who will say "your old stuff was better", to a certain degree I feel that way but I enjoyed just about each album the band has released and think the "new" sound isn't bad at all. It's great to see Bon Jovi still performing and releasing new music after more than 25 years in the music business, that's something alright. A 1 star review that claims Bon Jovi sucks or that they are the worst band ever doesn't explain much and isn't helpful to those figuring out whether or not to buy this new greatest hits album, I'd look for a more objective review if you're visiting this page. Someone who hates the band will not make a helpful recommendation, if you hate the band go on a forum and complain about it. Me? I'd rather let the music do the talking...

The single disc edition of Greatest Hits has 17 songs, including two new ones, while the double disc edition has 28 songs, including four new tracks. The first disc (which is the single edition of Greatest Hits) is the better one as it features classic. That doesn't mean disc two is bad, not at all, there are 12 songs on this disc and some good ones as well. I was surprised to see that Jon Bon Jovi's Blaze of Glory was included; however there is no other solo material on this collection. It's unfortunate that Greatest Hits ignores two albums completely, 1985's 7800 Degrees Fahrenheit ("In and out of love" would've been the obvious choice) and 2002's Bounce ("Misunderstood" would have been a great selection), at least one song of each of those albums should have been included in order for it to be more complete. It's not that big of a deal but to a huge fan of the band it might be. New Jersey is the album with the most songs represented here with a total of 5 (which is a little too much if you ask me).

The 4 new songs are a nice touch it gives something for the longtime fans who collect everything (even if I wish they would just release the new songs individually). The single "What Do You Got?" features a modern Bon Jovi with interesting lyrics and a different sound from their trademark 1980's sound, but I think "This Is Love This Is Life" is the strongest out of the new songs; it has vintage Bon Jovi qualities to it, nice sound and lyrics plus an undeniably catchy chorus to it. "The More Things Change" sounds like something that would be on The Circle or a recent Bon Jovi album, definitely not a bad song, pretty good actually. The same could be said of "No Apologies", it's not all that different from the material found on The Circle but it's a good song.

Otherwise there isn't much to complain about. No, not everyone's favorite songs are on Greatest Hits but it was to be expected with this collection. They included the obvious choices (Runaway, You Give Love A Bad Name, Wanted Dead Or Alive, Bad Medicine and so on, along with more recent songs like It's My Life, (You Want To) Make A Memory and We Weren't Born To Follow) and the hits and singles and it gives a pretty fair overview of Bon Jovi's career which is what buyers should be looking for. In terms of content most of this compilation is fine in my opinion. They even included two songs from last year's The Circle, I was not that big a fan of the album but I liked it for what it was and it's nice to see that it is also represented on Greatest Hits. The 1994 compilation Crossroads is an alternative but I still think this new greatest hits is better (the single disc edition is cheaper and has most of the songs on Crossroads). Good choice of songs, 4 new songs and two discs; not perfect but very good greatest hits album sure to please new fans or those who own no Bon Jovi.4/5

This Bon Jovi's Greatest Hits: The Ultimate Collection is a 2 CD set, with disc 1 having 16 songs (70 minutes) and disc 2 having 12 songs (60 minutes). There are 4 new songs. If you are a Bon Jovi fan, you probably have all the songs already in various album releases (except for the 4 new songs). And if you enjoyed their Live At Madison Square Garden concert blu ray disc, all in the songs in that concert were found in this 2 CD-set, except Raise Your Hands, Chapel Of Love and Hallelujah.

Good points. The sound was very well remastered. The vocal was very clean. The guitar riffs by Richie Sambora were very magical. The drum beat by Tico Torres was tight and quite exceptional. The entire set was very enjoyable. (Sound 5/5)

Bad points. It is a shame not to fill each disc with as many hits as possible (i.e., close to 80 minutes). There are 35 charted hit singles on Billboard Hot 100 from 1984 to now. There are only 19 charted songs included in this set. Fortunately, all the Top 10 hits are included here.

If you are a Bon Jovi fan, this 2-CD set is no brainer. Please buy the 2 CD set, which has much better value than the single disc set. If you are a casual fan, this 2-CD set will be a good collection for this fantastic band. I normally prefer to listen to studio versions, but in Bon Jovi's case, they are also a great "live" band. I would also recommend their recent blu ray release of "Live At Madison Square Garden" filmed in July 2008. It is really more exciting to see the boys in action, together with fantastic sound and beat. Bon Jovi is visiting Toronto on February 14, 2011...what a Valentine gift. The 2-CD set is highly recommended.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Great collection!
I was never a big bon jovi fan during his hey day, but this collection makes you realise the consistency and quality of his music over the years. Read more

Published 13 months ago by CA

5.0 out of 5 stars Great CD
This is a fabulous set of CDs if you love Bon Jovi's music. It has 2 CDs & has all of his best collection of songs. You will love it!

Published 15 months ago by Adam

4.0 out of 5 stars To buy if...
To buy if...
... you want to discover Bon Jovi
... you love/like Bon Jovi and you want to know his hits
... Read more

Published 16 months ago by Cyrille

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent CD
I have to tell you the service I have received from Amazon.Ca is fantastic, you are definitely one of the best companies that I have ever dealt with. Read more

Published 17 months ago by bunbutt

5.0 out of 5 stars Bon Jovi: Greatest Hits - The Ultimate Collection... One hit after another
I was so glad to receive the 2-CD set of Bon Jovi's Greatest Hits: The Ultimate Collection. Over two hours of hits from the boys from Jersey. Read more

Published 17 months ago by CaramelTart

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