The Circle (Bonus Track Version)

iTunes Review

Jon Bon Jovi may be getting older, his voice weathered by age, but he isn’t backing down from the anthemic rock of his youth. “We Weren’t Born to Follow” continues in his “rock as defiance” stance, while offering up a comfortable, conventional arena-rock anthem with a singalong chorus. “Work for the Working Man” shades towards the populism of John Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen with its Sam Cooke chain-gang grunts backing a lush, modern-rock production. “Brokenpromiseland” continues in this worldview, where the deep recession of the new century is omnipresent. “When We Were Beautiful”, “Superman Tonight”, the slow unwind of “Fast Cars”, among the highlights, elicit the echo chambers of U2, evoking their deep seriousness, even as Bon Jovi himself sounds like a teenager in love. “Live Before You Die” has a Tim McGraw-like mortality tale hitched to its Jersey Camaro. The straightforward drive of “Thorn In My Side” is compressed into a wall of tension. The band settle in behind, offering grand harmonies while their veteran arrangements sound like second nature by now.