Bon Jovi

Where would real rock DJs be without a strong shot of Bon Jovi . . . like "Livin' on a Prayer" and "You Give Love a Bad Name"? Surviving, surely, but short on blue-collar Jersey rock that isn't Bruce Springsteen. At last count, there are round about 100 million of us who simply can't live without these gleaming monuments to pop-metal perfection. Got a taste for more? Head on with Next Steps.

Before Bon Jovi arrived on the hair-metal mob scene (all slippery, wet, and whatnot), the band readied two platters of impeccable hard rock. Their 1984 self-titled debut is still considered an underappreciated classic among diehards, while its successor, 7800 Fahrenheit, hints at the dry-ice dynamics of their big-hair heyday. For more Bon Jovi brilliance, try our Deep Cuts.

Bon Jovi’s appeal reaches far beyond the epic coif and sign-my-yearbook smile of leading man Jon Bon Jovi: let’s hear it for axe-man Richie Sambora and former Miles Davis session drummer Tico Torres. Early on, Jersey’s golden boys offered up battle hymns to working-class warriors, while later efforts (through to 2005’s Have a Nice Day) hit the adult contemporary bulls-eye.

More than a decade has passed since Bon Jovi celebrated its career with a greatest-hits collection, 1994’s appropriately titled Cross Road. Oh, how the boys have changed in the meantime, shedding their patented pop-metal, opting instead for a streamlined, chart-topping A.C. sheen. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. If anything, Bon Jovi has lasted much longer than most members of the ’80s leather-and-lace scene by striking a satisfying balance between hole-in-the-wall bars and Top 40 countdowns.