You didn’t think he was going to do it, but back of the net! He (I’m) back, and yes, this time I’m going to branch off from the main Bon Jovi discography and listen to Jon’s two solo efforts. Blaze Of Glory or the Young Guns II Soundtrack was written and released at what most consider the band’s heyday – late 1980s, early 90s. At the time of writing, I have listened to and reviewed all of Bon Jovi’s pre-2000 albums so before I move on to the new millennium I thought I would cross off the two main solo albums. The other members of the band have released solo material, but I don’t know if I’ll care enough to listen to those – at least with Jon’s solo albums I am already aware of some of the songs and have a vague idea of what I’m getting myself into. Young Guns II is a particular favourite of mine and I’ve always been fond of the music – even though only two songs from this album appear in the movie. I haven’t heard the rest of this album, as far as I can recall, so it’ll be another interesting one for me. For you? Shut up and read.
Billy Get Your Guns: Starts in standard Bon Jovi style – big guitars and a little bit cheesy and 80s around the edges. He’s saying ‘Billy’ too much. Nothing exciting in the verses, light, fun, with a chorus which is a little better but still not anything special. There’s a pretty awful hand clap, music free section in there to reduce levels further.
Miracle: Ahh, that short intro brings back memories of watching the movie, before the song proper starts. This one seems like a nice enough ballad – I’ve probably head this before but I don’t remember exactly. More unfortunate hand claps in the chorus, along with some gospel backing – a decent chorus but it’s all very MOR 80s stuff. The guitar solo works well though.
Blaze Of Glory: The main event. Growing up as not a huge fan of Westerns in general, anytime I thought about cowboys I heard this song in my head. Even know, those opening notes make me think of The Wild West. Great song and typical of Bon Jovi’s best – atmospheric, melodic, big chorus. It’s great how the song fits in so well with the movie too, from lyrics to the actual music.
Blood Money: Harmonica and country guitars. Pat Garrett. Good verse melodies. Good melodies throughout. A short and sweet one, interesting and pretty.
Santa Fe: Drums and strings and piano. Nice intro. Good vocals again and more good melodies. Emotive and atmospheric, another great song which I’m surprised I don’t know.
Justice In The Barrel: Native American voices and other assorted sounds and words. This goes one for about a minute before the guitar comes in – great solo followed by manic drums, spoken words, gunshots and other swirling sounds. This interesting start gives way after a couple of minutes to a jarring, slightly cheesy riff. More very 80s stuff once the singing begins. The drums are unusually stuttered throughout. Decent middle section with more good guitars. A very odd song with equal parts good, bizarre, and crap.
Never Say Die: This is a faster paced song with memorable simple riff and catchy moments throughout. This one is quite familiar to me so I must have heard it before. Not sure about those random shouts, but that’s part and parcel of the BJ experience (matron). This could be a Bon Jovi band song from the 80s as it has the euphoric stadium chorus and the fist-pumping verses as any of their singles.
You Really Got Me Now: What a silly opening. What a silly tavern song. I guess it’s maybe good for a chuckle, but it’s nonsense that shouldn’t be on the album.
Bang A Drum: Drums. Chord. This sounds more reasonable. Drums pull back. Preacher. Decent verse. Good chorus. Similar inspiring stuff as your standard Bon Jovi fare. Backing choir for the chorus. Decent bridge. Here comes the solo? Yes. Extended outro with more prominent choir work. A perfectly fine song.
Dyin’ Ain’t Much Of A Livin’: Taking a famous Eastwood movie quote as the title for one of your songs seems like a good enough idea. Slow pace. More atmospheric soul searching. The chorus doesn’t have the impact it needs to. I think the verses and chorus work well on their own, but there is a slight disconnect between them so everything doesn’t sync up. Hmm, that na na bit actually sounds a little like a song I wrote, slightly.
Guano City: And so we reach the end. Seems like they have gone instrumental. It pumps along in dramatic fashion, reminds me a little of The Untouchables. Too short and doesn’t add anything to the album whatsoever.
A mixture of good and bad then – par for the course. Plenty of the songs fit with the tone of the movie and stand well on their own, but there’s only two or three here you’re going to choose to listen to multiple times. Next time it’ll be Jon’s second solo effort – again a soundtrack, but this time for a movie I haven’t seen – Destination Anywhere. Let us know in the comments what your thoughts of Blaze Of Glory and Young Guns II are!
The Spac Hole 