The very thought of Bon Jovi recording a critically-acclaimed, country-flavored album may initially appear fanciful on paper. Nonetheless, the legendary New Jersey rockers pulled this daring stylistic coup off after they decamped to Nashville to seize the Grammy-nominated Misplaced Freeway.
Hearken to Misplaced Freeway now.
Bon Jovi’s love of Nashville
In actuality, the band had lengthy flirted with the style. Jon Bon Jovi’s 1990 solo debut, Blaze Of Glory, continuously sparred with Americana, whereas “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” the second single from Misplaced Freeway’s predecessor, 2005’s Have A Good Day, shot to No.1 on Billboard’s Sizzling Nation Songs chart after it was afforded a rustic makeover and recast as a Jon Bon Jovi duet with Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles.
The one’s success acted because the catalyst for the band’s subsequent chapter, with Bon Jovi and guitarist/co-writer Richie Sambora heading to Nashville to put in writing the songs for Have A Good Day’s mooted follow-up in the course of the summer time of 2006. As Bon Jovi defined in a contemporaneous promotional video, holing up in nation music’s heartland felt like a pure development after the success of “Who Says You Can’t Go Home.”
“I’ve always loved the lyrical content of Nashville songs and I’ve been coming here for almost 20 years, so we thought why not jump on doing a whole album like that,” he mentioned. “If you just go into a bar here, every guy you meet is a great songwriter, so you can’t help but be inspired by that.”
The periods in Nashville
Bon Jovi and Sambora have been fired up by a few of their new collaborators, finishing songs with gifted however lesser-known Nashville writers similar to Billy Falcon (with whom they created “Everybody’s Broken”) and Brett James, who contributed to “Till We Ain’t Strangers Anymore.”
By the point the duo accomplished their new materials, they’d been joined in Tennessee by the remainder of Bon Jovi, and Misplaced Freeway’s two producers, John Shanks and Dann Huff, who oversaw the nation model of “Who Says You Can’t Go Home.” The 2 producers took management of periods in two separate Nashville studios, with 12 tracks being minted in whole. Nonetheless, whereas the periods ran easily and produced some implausible songs, Misplaced Freeway ended up sounding just a little extra numerous than Jon Bon Jovi had initially envisaged.
“We had to find an album that made a statement without pandering or seeming like carpetbaggers,” he mentioned. “When I told people we were going to Nashville to make a country record, I misconstrued that a little. We actually made a Bon Jovi record influenced by Nashville.”
Misplaced Freeway
Taking its title from the Music Metropolis report label shaped by Luke Lewis, Misplaced Freeway usually felt like one of the best of each worlds. High quality tracks similar to “Everybody’s Broken,” the craving, John Mellencamp-esque “Seat Next To You” and the pressing title monitor might have been embroidered by pedal metal, mandolins, and fiddles, however the Americana blended seamlessly with the band’s trademark driving rock sound, which additionally dominated on the radio-friendly “Summertime” and the hedonistic “We Got It Going On,” which featured a Peter Frampton-esque discuss field half from Sambora.
The Misplaced Freeway periods additionally spawned two of the band’s most memorable ballads, each of which have been delicately enhanced by country-roots flavors and stylish preparations. Hailed by Bon Jovi because the album’s “magical moment,” the temptation-fuelled “(You Want To) Make A Memory” was elevated by one of many singer’s best performances, whereas “Till We Ain’t Strangers Anymore” finally took form as a heartstring-tugging duet between Bon Jovi and LeAnn Rimes. Previous to Rimes’ arrival, nailing the music had proved elusive, however as Bon Jovi later mentioned, the Mississippi-born nation star “came in and just did an amazing job.”
The reception
Constructing on the success of “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” Misplaced Freeway shot straight to No.1 on the Billboard 200 on its preliminary launch, June 19, 2007. It offered round 250,000 copies in its first week, and the band’s religion within the album’s across-the-board enchantment was vindicated when it went on to maneuver upwards of 4 million copies worldwide. Certainly, Misplaced Freeway’s success caught the group off-guard and their mooted Biggest Hits tour of 2008 was shortly introduced ahead to the top of 2007 and rechristened the Misplaced Freeway tour because of unprecedented demand.
Bon Jovi returned to their hallmark rock sound with their subsequent album, their 2009 Mercury Information swansong, The Circle. Nonetheless, the New Jersey icons stay pleased with Misplaced Freeway and nonetheless acknowledge its creation as one in all their high-water marks.
“Coming down to Tennessee and having the chance of putting it out on the Mercury Nashville label was really special,” Jon Bon Jovi recalled. “It opened up a floodgate of artistic freedom for us.”
Misplaced Freeway might be purchased right here.
