When it comes to country - Bon Jovi are all hat, no cattle

The Target version of Bon Jovi’s Lost Highway comes with two bonus tracks: “Walk Like a Man” and a live version of “I Love This Town” recorded at the Cannery Ballroom in Nashville, TN.

I think that’s the main problem I have with Lost Highway. It’s not a country record, it’s just being marketed as a country record. It’s so deliberate that it’s annoying. The guest appearances by Big & Rich, Leann Rimes, the religion, the Nashville venue—it’s all by design. And it’s all probably a result of the successful collaboration with Jennifer Nettles from Sugarland on “Who Says You Can’t Go Home.”

If Lost Highway is a nice record, it’s certainly not a memorable one. And for context it’s important to remember that these are the lads who cranked our Slippery When Wet. We can’t let them off the hook too easy, even if we’re not using them to decorate our lockers anymore.. . “Everybody’s Broken” is a blatant rip off of Robbie Williams’ “Get a Little High” but not as strong or fresh.

At best the songs on Lost Highway sound like a poor man’s “Thunder Road.” Like pockets inside out poor I might add. This is particularly true of the title track, a big SUV of a song. Nothing special, but it would sound good on a truck commercial.

Lost Highway has some duets, including LeAnn Rimes guesting on “’Til We Ain’t Strangers Anymore.” The problem with the duets on Lost Highway is it doesn’t sound like the two singers are loving each other. There’s nothing in the voices to suggest that these people are happy to be finishing each other’s sentences. This is not June and John. Instead it sounds like a forced marriage, a little bit like Bon Jovi and country I suspect.