BON JOVI – 7800° Fahrenheit

Bon Jovi – 7800° Fahrenheit (1985, Mercury Records)

Track List:
1. “In and Out of Love” … 4:26
2. “The Price of Love” … 4:14
3. “Only Lonely” … 5:02
4. “King of the Mountain” … 3:54
5. “Silent Night” … 5:08
6. “Tokyo Road” … 5:42
7. “The Hardest Part Is the Night” … 4:25
8. “Always Run to You” … 5:00
9. “(I Don’t Wanna Fall) To the Fire” … 4:28
10. “Secret Dreams” … 4:54

Band:
Jon Bon Jovi – Vocals
Richie Sambora – Guitar, Backing Vocals
Alec John Such – Bass, Backing Vocals
Tico Torres – Drums
David Bryan – Keyboard, Backing Vocals

Additional Musicians:
Tom Mandel, Jim Salamone, and Randy Cantor – Synthesizer
Carol Brooks, Jeannie Brooks, Rick Valenti, and Phil Hoffer – Backing Vocals

Produced by: Lance Quinn

Total keyboard-heavy 1980s cheesefest. David Bryan really shined on this album. =)

This album is so much of a guilty pleasure. The songs are catchy, but you’re almost embarrassed to be singing along because they’re so bad they’re good. The band had yet to hook up with master rock/pop songwriter Desmond Child and had they not done that in time for 1986′s Slippery When Wet, I imagine one more album of this kind of somewhat generic keyboard-based hair metal and all members of Bon Jovi would’ve been back in Jersey working 9-5 factory jobs. I can’t help but imagine these songs as part of a music montage during some 80s movie.

“In and Out of Love” is the closest to what Slippery When Wet would bring (it also made it onto the band’s Cross Road greates hits release), but it’s easy to see why the rest has been forgotten over the years. I still like the album, but it’s definitely not the first album I would recommend to any potential Bon Jovi fan.

In fact, this album and the self-titled debut were actually the final Bon Jovi albums I purchased back around 2000 or so in order to complete my Bon Jovi collection. I picked’em up during one of my many great Columbia House raids for just a few dollars a piece.

Highlights: “In and Out of Love”, “The Price of Love”, “The Hardest Part Is the Night”, “(I Don’t Wanna Fall) To the Fire”, “Secret Dreams”

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