Fast forward to 2004. Bon Jovi release a live DVD of their This Left Feels Right material, an album where they reworked their ‘greatest hits’ into something different, something mellower, more acoustic, more jazzier, more synth pop in places; to sum up - more shit. Listening to this is bad enough, but having to watch them as well? It’s like being trapped in a Vegas lounge bar having the house band butcher some fond memories from your youth gone by. The original material perhaps hasn’t aged well, but there was no need to go and age it another 50 years by doing a jazz version of ‘You Give Love a Bad Name’.

I’ve only heard one band successfully do what Bon Jovi have attempted here and that was Page and Plant reworking a few Led Zeppelin classics for their No Quarter album. I guess if this proves anything it shows that Page and Plant always had the better material to work with, sorry Bon Jovi – you can’t polish a turd.

The DVD extras are pretty dull, even alongside the music. We have a documentary, some footage from their concert in Hyde Park, a Q&A session over the poker table and an opportunity to play poker with the band itself – which is rubbish in the extreme.

So that’s Bon Jovi in 2004. Washed up and trading on past glories. How about me in 2004? Well, save for a bit of AC/DC and Faith No More, I don’t listen to rock much. Jane? I never quite got the hang of that either. And what of the promise and hope? If I may steal one of Bon Jovi’s titles, I do my best and keep the faith.
(½/5)

Release Date: 09 February 2004

This Left Feels Right Live