Category Archives: Music

Music

The Album

In my view the idea of the album is gone. It doesn’t fit in today’s world. Hell, it didn’t even fit in the old world either. Yes I know some albums are that good, that every song from start to finish had to be heard, however 95% of albums released have two to four, maybe five good songs on them. That is why we purchased them. To listen to those good songs. These days, we just purchase the songs we want, we don’t need the album. However, it remains, as that is how the record labels make money, that is how they trick artists into signing everything away. Artists are signed to album deals. Fans are smarter these days, then the music industry. Fans want to spend their money on artists, however the artists haven’t figured out how to monetize it.

Yes you have artists like Protest The Hero that went to Indiegogo to fan fund their next album. Yes I contributed. Not because they were offering some wam bam fan experience. I contributed because I am a fan, and I wanted their new album. I would have preferred if they had a better fan experience. I would have preferred if they had released a new song by now. I would have preferred if they had a listening party for the fans that contributed of rough demos and sketches or lyrics in progress. Instead I have to wait for the album, and it could be a turd. Or it could be great. Or it could be so, so.

Regardless, people still buy albums. As long as people buy albums, the labels will still order their artists to create and release them. This is where they make most of their money. Kid Rock has moved almost 475,000 physical units of Rebel Soul and is still shifting on average 7000 units a week. It has been out since November 2012.

Shinedown still move on average 3000 units a week for Amaryllis and this album is over a year old being released in March 2012. The band is also approaching the 300,000 sales mark. They are out in tour, working hard, promoting the album. POD and Three Days Grace are also on the same tour, however fans are not buying their offerings. Why. Its crap. I heard the POD album and its garbage. Three Days Grace – Transit of Venus was that bad, even the singer left.

Both Shinedown and Kid Rock are on Atlantic. That is almost 8 million in sales revenue these two bands have come up with, plus they are still bringing in 100,000 each week. Not a bad deal for the label.

Volbeat still move on average 2500 units a week of Beyond Hell/Above Heaven. This album has been out since September 2010. All up they have sold over 220,000 units in the US for this album and their new album Outlaw Gentlemen and Shady Ladies was just released this week and it is a good album, however it does have quite a few filler songs as well. Not a lot of bands have two albums three years apart still charting and selling. The fans are spreading the word for this band. The bands mix of metal, punk, rockabilly, country and reggae has found a market. They have worked hard, they are platinum heroes in Europe and have been since 2005, and they have broken into the US market in the last year or so. It’s been a long time coming.

However in all of this I don’t believe the bands are maximising the fan experience. I am including Bon Jovi in this as well. It’s still the old way of doing things. That is they spend months and months recording 15 to 20 songs for an album, and then spending dollars on marketing the album to people that don’t care, hoping that people will buy and releasing a video or two to keep interest up. Once interest starts to dissolve, it’s time to go on tour, with the thought that the album will start selling again because of the tour. There is a lot of hope in the above as the bands don’t know their fan bases. They need to change their way of thinking.

Warner Music is even going via the fan funding route with Kickstarter. They will offer every act that raises $100,000 on Kickstarter a contract. There is a good chance that most acts will turn down the offer, as why would you need a label if you have raised over $100,000 however people do love to have a safety net and an ego to satisfy. There also another way, where if a band gets 1000 people to donate, they will get offered the deal as well. Warners has effectively moved the cost of recording and developing artists onto the fans. If the artists fail, there is no loss to Warner. If they blow up and become sensations, there is a win to Warner. Either way, Warner doesn’t suffer.

And the reason why I am mentioning this. Warner Music is the parent company to Atlantic Records. The music business is about to change again.

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Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Music

Polution – Forever And A Day – Classic Song Waiting To Be Discovered

Polution. I came across this band by pure accident. I knew nothing about them. Even Googling the name Polution brings up everything to do with pollution but nothing to do with them. Still I delved deeper into Google. I finally came across some information. You can say their web presence is terrible.

Founded in 1997 and they come from Switzerland. In 2009 they released their debut album called Overheated. Twelve years from when they began. The album I heard was their second album called Beyond Control and it was released in May 2012. I heard it today. Almost a year since it came out. I am not sure why bands these days keep taking a lot of time to record an album. Release frequently and release your best. Four songs at a time, even three. Quality is what matters. No one listens to a whole Foo Fighters album. We just listen to their best songs. Even David Grohl said the same, in the movie they released for their last album.

Live Until You Die. It’s got that sleazy, head banging AC/DC meets ZZ Top La Grange riff. You can even call the riff a rip off. It doesn’t matter, as all musicians are influenced. Music is never created in a vacuum, even though someone like Prince tells you so. The riff is heavy and it makes you pay attention. The drums keep the toe tap feel of the intro riff going. Why couldn’t Bon Jovi release a song like this on the new album? Imagine that, Bon Jovi going back to his Classic Rock roots, taking influence from ZZ Top, Deep Purple, Aerosmith, AC/DC, Toto and Styx. Instead Bon Jovi is trying to compete with Justin When Is My Voice Going To Break Beiber and One Direction.

Forever and A Day is by far the best song on the album. It came out of nowhere. After Live Until You Die, I wasn’t expecting a melodic song. Pure class. This is nothing like the previous song. It has got that melodic arena rock style of 80’s. Europe and Scorpions are two bands that come to mind. I even hear a Michael Schenker / UFO vibe merged with Classic Aerosmith. I even hear current Nickelback merged with Hinder. I even hear Adam’s Song from Blink 182. There are so many elements that wash over me sonically. That is what music should be. If you are a music fan, you need to check out this song. It deserves to be heard. It can stand on its own. It doesn’t need a Gangnam style video clip to keep it going. It makes you want to hear the next song. Did anyone care that PSY released a follow up single? Of course not. It was all about the clip and the dance. The song couldn’t stand on its own without the video.

Check it out here on You Tube.

Polution got me interested and I want to tell others about it. They are not banging my head over with the marketing sledgehammer or spamming me to do so. They just released an album, that I came across today, and had a great song on it that I wanted to talk about. It’s not perfect, it’s not original, but it’s human. Their life experiences shine through on the tracks, their influences shine through.

If listeners can listen to any of the above songs, then I have succeeded in getting this band heard above all the other amateur noise that clogs up the Internet. It’s great how the playing field has levelled, because if it wasn’t, I probably wouldn’t have come across Polution. They would have been lost in the regional restrictions of the old ways and available as an expensive import in Australia.

All they need to do is increase their web presence. They still have a MySpace account. Enough said.

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Music

Bon Jovi – What could they have done differently

What could have Bon Jovi done differently with the release of What About Now.

They need to know their audience. The audience are the ones that will spread the word. It is the audience that will spread the word via text, Facebook and tweets. Instead Bon Jovi focused on advertising spending stupid amounts to hit people that don’t really care about the band. Bon Jovi experienced his daughter OD’ing and his family lived through the Jersey wild weather, all before the release of the album. They still could have released the album, but how cool would it have been if Jovi released a song for free about how the storms destroyed his beloved Jersey. How real and true would it have been if he released a song, showing his pain at his daughters subsequent overdose. The songs didn’t have to be released as part of an album, they can be released as stand songs. They don’t need to chart (however I am sure that is what Jovi judges success on). Be real, be true to yourself. Don’t be a fake.

Once upon a time, Bon Jovi had an edge. Through all the years of success he has lost the edge, smoothing up all the surfaces like he is a big window skyscraper. To me that looks pretty damn uninteresting.

The fans know when their favourite musician is telling the truth. So why don’t they do that. The whole Richie Sambora leaving the tour is about smokescreens and dishonesty. Who are the band worried about alienating. The fans care, they want to know what is going one, so be honest with them.

Don’t Act Above Your Fans – Bon Jovi is the CEO of the band, he is part owner of this, has a stake in that, blah, blah, blah… Once upon a time Bon Jovi was just one of the people, one of the kids from the street who was a rebel and had rock n roll dreams. He achieved those dreams, and now he act’s above the people. All this does is inspire people to take swipes at him. If you have success, it means that you will always have haters. Accept it, don’t try to control it. Don’t try to be someone you are not.

Break all the rules, create a great 10 minute song, get a scriptwriter in and make a music video motion picture of another great song, create a concept album, have the movie to go with it, do a small club tour, paying homage to earlier releases like the first two Bon Jovi albums in their entirety. Stop thinking about the $$$$ at the end and start thinking about increasing the fan experience which in turn will bring more $$$$ than ever.

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Music

Bon Jovi’s What About Now drops from #34 to #50

Well its week 4.  As predicted, the worst ever Bon Jovi album has proven to be just that.  It’s moved 2,383 units for the week but the tour is selling out.  That alone should tell Bon Jovi that the music they put out, is completely garbage.  The fans coming to the shows have totally ignored it.  In most cases, i can see fans running to the toilet or to buy a drink when any new song appears in the set.

This album debuted at Number 1 four weeks ago.  It went to number 7.  It went to number 34.  Now it is at 50.

There are fans that are angry at the absence of Richie Sambora due to drinking and partying.  If i was Richie, i would be drinking as well, especially when in the lead up to the album release he was saying that it is the best thing Bon Jovi has ever created.  With a statement like that, i will be hitting the booze as well, as all street cred goes out the window.

Trust is more important these days than sales.  Bon Jovi is moderating its own forums so that they paint a rosy picture.  What are they trying to say to their fans?  We don’t care about your views?  We don’t want to connect with you?  We just want you to give us all of your money, like the one way street of old.  It’s different these days Jon.  It’s a two way street.  If you want to be relevant, you need to write great songs again and again and again.    You need to release them more frequently or just stop releasing new crap music and live of the legacy you created sort of like the Eagles.

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Music

Andy Johns – Rest In Peace and Thanks For the Music

Does anyone remember the band Cinderella?  Tom Keifer had the best blues rock voice ever.  Andy Johns, produced and engineered their first two albums, Night Songs and Long Cold Winter.  Both albums where hits.  That was my first introduction to Andy Johns.  He nailed the glam hard rock sound for Night Songs and then he got he got the blues rock (Bad Company/Aerosmith) inspired sound that the band was going for on Long Cold Winter.

Then came For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge by Van Halen.  Ted Templeman was on board to record Sammy Hagar, as Andy Johns was too demanding for Sammy.  Eddie returning to his hard rock roots and Andy Johns on board to capture it.  It spawned the hit Right Know.

Majority of music lovers will remember the artists and the songs attached to them.  Key players in the history of recorded music are the producers, engineers and the mixers.  They are the ones tasked with getting the ideas of the artist recorded.  They need to please the artists and the record label at the same time.  They do not get the credit they deserve. Alan Parsons deserves more credit for his engineering role, especially on Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd.  Martin Birch should be credited as the god father of heavy metal and hard rock.  Andy Johns alongside him.

Rest in Peace Andy Johns and thanks for contributing to my soundtrack

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Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Music

Periphery – Ragnarok – Classic Song Waiting to Be Discovered

Djent.  Who comes up with these terms for music?  Do people really need music to be labelled and categorised to like it.  Why can’t music just be music? It’s not like we are walking through super market isles with a list of what to get.

Seriously I grew up on 80’s hard rock / metal bands.  That doesn’t mean I didn’t like glam rock, thrash metal, pop rock, pop, death metal, technical metal, progressive metal (yawn as more labels come to mind)etc…   See how ridiculous it is.  The problem is when a niche explodes, it becomes mainstream and like it or not its part of the mainstream music machine.  Does anyone refer to Pearl Jam or Alice In Chains as grunge bands or Limp Bizkit as NuMetal anymore?  No they are just bands releasing music and playing shows.   

Coming back to Djent and Periphery.  I saw these guys live at the Annandale Hotel in Feb 2013, as a sideshow they did from the Soundwave tour.  They were good.  Very good.  Technical and melodic.  Technical and aggressive.  Technical and progressive.  Technical and rocking.  Technical and serene.  Technical and mechanical.  It was a pleasure to be there.  To me it is music.  I don’t see it as a Djent movement.  I don’t see it as a niche where only an elite group of fans can participate because they all like Djent style bands and everything else out there is crap.  Its music, that encompasses all the terms I mentioned. 

Periphery was formed in 2005 by guitarist Misha Mansoor.  It wasn’t until 2010 they released their debut album.  Are people prepared to put in 5 years of service these days without making a dime from music and working a full time job to support the dream of being a musician?  

Misha got traction by connecting.  He had a Soundclick account that he regularly updated with riffs and songs.  He went on to forums that mattered.  He didn’t spam everyone.  He went after the people that had a similar interest in the style of music he was into.  In this case, it was the Meshuggah, Dream Theater, John Petrucci and Seven String forums.  He met other musicians like this?  Those other musicians would end up as members in Periphery.  So from just Misha and his computer originally, now it is a band of six musicians.  Vocals are provided by the gifted Spencer Sotelo.  Where did he come from?  In the first two minutes you think he’s singing from the depths of hell and then the angelic melodic voice carries the outro of the song. 

Ragnarok.  The end of the world in Norse mythology by submersion of the world in water.  Afterward, the world will resurface anew and the world will be repopulated by two human survivors.  Does this sound familiar to all the Christian’s out there?  I will be clear from the outset, I am not a fan of screaming guttural vocals.  I appreciate what they bring to a song and what they try to add to the message/context of a song however I don’t really like them.  However, I like how the music is technically aggressive from the outset but to me this song explodes from the 2.20 minute mark to about 4.30.  I remember playing this song to people that like more of a commercial sound.  They were looking at the ceiling and then from the 2.20 minute mark they are paying attention.  Is this the same band they ask me.  I answer yes it is. 

Somewhere in time…
Off in the distance we can see, shining, clear, our demise to be.
We’re not listening to ourselves.

The end of the world.  We can see it, but we failed to stop it.  Allowing Corporations to influence legislation so that it protects their bottom lines and takes away from our liberties.  We need to stop it.  Allowing politicians to serve the lobby groups instead of the people that voted them in.  We need to stop it.  Allowing our privacy to be stored and traded on hearsay evidence.  We need to stop it.  Experience the end of the world with Periphery.  Be amazed.  For the ones that don’t like the death metal vocals, hang in there until the two minute mark.  

You Tube

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Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Music

Undivided – Another classic Bon Jovi song waiting to be discovered

This is what music is about, writing about experiences. September 11, 2001 changed everyone. That event changed everything. For those that saw it, we felt fragile and we felt afraid. This lead to anger. We wanted revenge.

Undivided was written by Bon Jovi, Sambora and Billy Falcon. Falcon actually pops up on a lot of Bon Jovi songs that have been missed. Falcon was an artist who really hadn’t released anything worthwhile, until Jon signed him to a deal with Jambco Records. Does anyone remember that label? Jambco was a record label started by Jon Bon Jovi, under Mercury Records in the late 80’s. I remember it released Aldo Nova’s – Blood on The Bricks and Billy Falcon’s – Pretty Blue World. Both albums did nothing. Aldo Nova couldn’t capture the magic from the Fantasy album, even though JBJ co wrote all the songs on the album, and even produced the album. In the case of Falcon, all the songs were written by Falcon, with JBJ co producing. In the end even JBJ’s name couldn’t get it to sell.

Undivided is probably the heaviest song Bon Jovi has recorded. The producer was Luke Ebbin (who was introduced to JBJ by A&R legend John Kalodner) and the song was originally called One. For those that don’t know, John Kalodner was the guy that broke Whitesnake in the US and relaunched Aerosmith in the 80’s (both via Geffen Records). He also signed Foreigner and AC/DC to Atlantic Records in the seventies.

They should have kept the One song title. Maybe they thought One belonged to U2. The stomping groove grabs you from the outset. Its mean and its angry and you can feel it coming out of the speakers that way.

That was my brother lost in the rubble
That was my sister lost in the crush
That was our mothers, those were our children
That was our fathers, that was each one of us
A million prayers to God above
A million tears make an ocean of

It could relate to anything, a terrorist attack, a war front, a natural disaster. The message here is to stick together. We can rise back up, but we can’t do it alone. We need each other. We need to do it together. Even though we are connected to each other 24/7, we are alone. We don’t stick together anymore.

I found spirit; they couldn’t ruin it
I found courage in the smoke and dust
I found faith in the songs you silenced
Deep down it’s ringing out in each of us

I know that this song is about the twin towers. When I listened to the song back in 2002 that was not how I related to it. Being from Australia, the Bali Bombings happened on the 12 October 2002, and the Bounce album was released on the 6 October 2002. This song to me is about Bali. I even wrote a song called Mourning Sun, about the two terrorist acts.

When people are hurting they turn to music. All the fund-raising is aided by musical benefit concerts and compilation albums. When I couldn’t make sense of what was happening in the world I turned to music.

Hearing this song again in this day and age, one day we will stand as one against the copyright maximalist, against the greedy politicians and the lobby groups that influence them, against crime and violence in the family. One day Bon Jovi will release another song as powerful as Undivided, instead of the C Grade elevator music they released with What About Now.

For those that don’t know, here it is

For those that know it, revisit it, put it in your mp3 player and spread the word on it.

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Music

Black Sabbath must have the same marketing team as Bon Jovi

Black Sabbath

I am going to watch Black Sabbath towards the end of April.  The way I got into Black Sabbath is through Randy Rhoads.  He was my idol.  The Tribute, Blizzard and Diary albums became my bibles in relation to guitar playing.  I needed to learn every riff, every lick, every bass line and every vocal melody line.  It was an obsession.

On Tribute, I heard three songs that where not written by the usual Ozzy, Randy and Bob Daisley combination.  I actually feel sorry for Bob Daisley.  Sharon tried her hardest to write Bob out of the Ozzy history and to give the barely sober Ozzy a bigger role in the song writing process.  It’s common knowledge that Randy wrote the music, Bob the lyrics and the melodies where Ozzy’s.

Paranoid, Iron Man and Children Of The Grave where the songs.  On the album sleeve it mentioned that the songs are written by Osbourne, Iommi, Butler and Ward.

This is the pre internet era, so you couldn’t just Google the names.  You needed to read the album sleeve, buy magazines or ask older people if they know anything about the artists.

It was Children of The Grave that got my attention.  The way it’s done on Tribute, the original Black Sabbath version sounded lame when I heard it.  The tempo was slower and it didn’t have the wonderful Randy Rhoads Guitar Hero solo.

So Black Sabbath is about to release a new album.  The first one with Ozzy since 1978’s Never Say Die.  It’s called 13.  They even got Rick Rubin involved.  What he actuakky dies these days is open to discussion.  Ozzy calls the album, mind blowing.  It’s the usual approach of the old school of marketing.  Talk up an album before its release.

Ozzy’s last great album was No More Tears featuring the wonderful bass playing of Bob Daisley.  His musical career has been slowly declining however his net worth has been increasing due to Ozzfest and reality TV.  Does anyone remember any songs from Black Rain, Scream and Down To Earth.  Do people care about a new Black Sabbath album?  Heaven and Hell (the recent Dio fronted Sabbath) made their money through ticket sales, which focused on the legacy created by the first two Dio fronted albums.

One thing that Black Sabbath doesn’t seem to know is that this is a new era.  They are doing it all wrong, like how it was done in the old days.  Top down marketing.  Hit the fans across the head with a sledgehammer of marketing propaganda and hope they spread the word.  No one in the streets is spreading the word.   Yeah its all over the usual music websites and the band is doing radio interviews, but no one is really pushing it socially.  Black Sabbath has fans, there is no doubt about that but it does it know any of them.

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Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Music

Last Man Standing – Classic Bon Jovi song waiting to be rediscovered

I have been critical of Bon Jovi, especially around their latest release What About Now.  However, the band has created a lasting legacy and a lot of great songs along the way.  Everyone knows the hits.  They are the songs we go to the live show to see.  However, there are a lot of songs that deserve more attention than what they have received. 

This song has had some history.  It is written by Jon Bon Jovi and Billy Falcon.  The studio version was meant to be on 2003’s This Left Feels Right greatest hits package, however, it ended up on the 100,000,000 Fans Can’t Be Wrong box set released in 2004.  It was a laid back acoustic style ballad with slide guitar and all the country twang you can get into a song.  An acoustic live version of the song was added to the This Left Feels Right DVD.

It was then re-worked into a great rock song for the 2005 Have A Nice Day album.  The intro grabs you and makes you want to pay attention.  It’s no longer a ballad, but a real rocker.  This is the beauty of music.  You can try different variations of the same song.  The rockier Last Man Standing leaves the original version in the dust.

The theme of the song is about kids turning up to a circus/freak show act to see the last real performer of live music.

Come see a living, breathing spectacle
Only seen right here
It’s your last chance in this lifetime
The line forms at the rear
You won’t believe your eyes
Your eyes will not believe your ears
Get your money out, get ready
Step right up, yeah you, come here

I live in Australia.  In most cases, the bands that come down are the large arena bands.  Normally around Soundwave (February each year), I will get to some sideshows of the medium sized bands to come down for this festival.

This year I caught Bullet For My Valentine and Periphery sideshows.  Last year I caught Machine Head, Times of Grace, Shadows Fall and Chimera side shows.  I paid like $60 for those tickets.  I saw Motley Crue and Kiss last month and paid $200 a ticket.  I’m going to see Black Sabbath in a few weeks’ time and that is $160, compared to Coheed and Cambria at $60 the week before.

Basically the larger bands will try and grab more of the punters dollar as they have a larger entourage and then it will be the last man standing in the audience.

Once upon a time, rock shows where exactly that, people lined up around the side of streets just to get in.  These days, it’s not like that.  I have been reading articles where a lot of artists state that no new band can become a mega star like the artist of the old, and they always make reference to Led Zeppelin, Eagles, Bon Jovi, etc…

Bullshit, I say.  Artists are just as relevant today as they were in the past.  The difference is, in the past, artists created music and followed their muse.  If they sold a million or sold a thousand it didn’t matter.  These days, artists are in it for the money only.  If they sell a thousand, they see it as a failure.  The ones that are in it for the music end up breaking through.  Adele’s first two albums where so personal, she wrote those songs as a sort of therapy to get over her relationship problems.  She didn’t write them, thinking Rolling In The Deep will sell millions and 21 will move 13 million units plus.  The question is what Adele will do now.  Will she become another corporate money making slave?

You ain’t seen nothing like him
He’s the last one of the breed
You better hold on to your honey
Honeys, don’t forget to breathe
Enter at your own risk, mister
It might change the way you think
There’s no dancers, there’s no diamonds
No this boy he don’t lip synch

The debate, live vs. lip synch.  These days, it is acceptable to lip sync if you tell the people buying the tickets that you will be lip syncing.  However it is not acceptable to lip sync if you are telling the people that you are performing live.  There was that whole Britney Spears debacle here in Australia when she toured last time around, as she was lip syncing and didn’t tell the paying customers that is the case.

See those real live calloused fingers
Wrapped around those guitar strings
Kiss the lips where hurt has lingered
It breaks the heart to hear him sing
The songs were more than music
They were pictures from the soul
So keep your pseudo-punk, hip-hop, pop-rock junk
And your digital downloads

Artists used to play a tonne of live shows, to build an audience, to create a buzz and to get a recording contract that promised to make them mega starts.   These days, it’s not like that.  Artists can create something magical in the bedroom on a laptop, and reach a global audience of millions.  There is no need for the gatekeeper.   Bon Jovi wrote this song around 2002/2003 and you can tell he is trying to hold on to the old ways.  He’s even gone on record saying that Steve Jobs destroyed the music business and the album.  What he should have been saying is that Steve Jobs added money to the music business because the legacy record labels where too stupid and clueless to innovate and do it themselves.

If you like the country style of Bon Jovi, check out the ballad version.  It’s a live version that has Jon’s message in the intro about the song.

If you like the rock style of Bon Jovi, check out the rock version.

If you are a fan of Bon Jovi, check out both.

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Music

Bon Jovi’s What About Now drops from #7 to #34

Bon Jovi’s What About Now drops from #7 to #34

Well it’s week 3 of Bon Jovi’s new album release, What About Now.  In three weeks, it has gone from Number 1 to Number 7 to Number 34.  What a drop off.  Sales for weekending 4 April 2013, came to 16,154.  So sales have dropped from 101,000 to 29,000 to 16,000.

Even Richie Sambora has dropped off the tour due to personal issues.   It looks like the elevator music album they created is going down.  To make it worse, the Bon Jovi website has a moderator that is deleting posts from angry fans.  Talk about living in a fantasy land. Lets make everything look okay, because we can.

Babel from Mumford and Sons is still moving 37,000 units, and Night Visions from Imagine Dragons is moving 47,000 units.  Both albums have been on the charts for 27 and 30 weeks respectively.

Another artist using the old mainstream hype of hitting people across the head with a sledgehammer is Justin Timberlake.  He dropped from 1,000,000 in sales to 317,000 in sales.  That is a 68% drop off.  Let’s see how long Justin hangs around.

The people need to feel like they can relate to the album, that they own a part of it, and the old top down approach is not how it works these days.  It is reversed.  It is the people at the bottom that spread the word and make it go viral.  No one is doing that for Bon Jovi.

The shows are selling out.  But the new album is not selling.  Does JBJ care?  I don’t think so.

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