Bon Jovi: Slippery When Wet-The 20th Anniversary

I opened my email later today and received an email from the Bon Jovi camp to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of their landmark album, “Slippery When Wet”. For a few seconds, I became intrigued as I thought an overdue deluxe reissue of the album would be announced. Instead, I saw the following pictures:


Over the last few years Bon Jovi has been criticized by numerous factions of fans (including myself) for caring more about money than art. Now, I want to be the first to say that I believe every artist...heck every human on this Earth deserves the right to make as much money as they possibly can. I see nothing wrong with it and the truth is we all sell-out every once in a while even if we don’t realize it. We all make sacrifices to live certain lifestyles; however with Bon Jovi…I love them, admire them and want to write about their immense talents. However, they have made my job the last few years very difficult. I want to praise them…they are one of the greatest live bands to ever grace a concert stage and even when I’ve lost faith in them, they redeem themselves when they hit that stage. Alas, I’m growing tired of trying to justify this band and their actions.

Let’s start with the 20th Anniversary of “Slippery When Wet”. It was originally released on August 18th, 2006 and a proper anniversary release would have made sense last fall. However, “Slippery” was the number one selling album of 1987, so I won’t fault them for what is a footnote. But…why hock crappy merchandise? I got into music in 1987 and the second album I ever bought was “Slippery”. I didn’t get into this band because of how they looked or for their merchandise but because of the music. The music is truly what matters. A special Dual Disc was released in 2005, however, the Dual Disc is all but dead and the band should properly celebrate the anniversary with a deluxe edition of this landmark album.

What to include? I have a bunch of ideas:

#1 Include the b-sides “Edge of a Broken Heart” and the currently unavailable “Borderline” at the end of the original album since there is thirty-five minutes of unused disc space. Then on the second disc, why not release the complete and full sixteen song demo originally heard by the pizza parlor jury in early 1986. This copy has circulated in bootleg circles for years, albeit in poor quality. “Livin’ on a Prayer” was a hidden track on the bands 2004 box set and it sounded great so I know they have the tools to bring the other fifteen tracks up to speed. Many of these songs are alternate versions with different lyrics and it even includes a lead vocal from Richie Sambora on “Never Say Goodbye”. It would also give “Too Much, Too Soon” an official release. This was a song Jon and Richie wrote on the same day as “Wanted” and the band has talked about it from time to time in interviews. The 2004 box set did not feature any of the “Slippery” tracks (aside from the hidden track “Prayer).

#2 Include an in-depth documentary on the making of the album and NOT the crappy VH-1 “Ultimate Albums” special from a few years back. Bruce Fairburn may no longer be with us, but release a 2-hour DVD showcasing the evolution of this album, early mixes, the original album cover and the impact the album still has two-decades later.

#3 Release “Slippery When Wet-The Videos” on DVD. The band has not released any of their old home videos on the DVD medium, for reasons I could only imagine but my gut feeling tells me that they are embarrassed by how they look and sounded back then. These were all guy in their 20’s burned out by the demands of the road and they looked it. However, even Bruce Springsteen overcame how he looked and sounded thirty-years back and eventually released a in depth documentary on the making of “Born To Run”.

#4 Release a live home video from the era. Hell will freeze over before this happens as Jon Bon Jovi has been very vocal about his dissatisfaction on how his voice sounded on this tour. It was strained and I believe the shows that were professionally filmed towards the end of the tour so any chance of these seeing the light of day is unlikely.

#5 Release an official live album of the tour. See item #4 for an explanation as to why this will never happen. However, the band did broadcast a radio broadcast from Cincinnati in March of 1987 where Jon’s voice wasn’t as strained as it was later in the tour.

Def Leppard released a great 2-disc set celebrating “Hysteria” late last year and I don’t know why Bon Jovi won’t do the same? I have no issues with artists plugging and pushing merchandise, but respect your fans and give them something that they can chew on. A pair of hot pants with the “Slippery” logo is a lousy way to celebrate an album whose worldwide sales are over 20 million. This band has so much sitting in their vaults, why not release it and capitalize on it while simultaneously celebrating this milestone?

I love this band…I really do but between stuff like this and future appearances on American Idol, it makes my job trying to convince others of the bands talent that much harder.