Jon Bon Jovi
Blaze of Glory

1989: after the binge of successes achieved with "Slippery When Wet" and "New Jersey", after dominating America with various hair metal hits, from "Livin' On A Prayer", to "You Give Love A Bad Name", to "Lay Your Hands On Me", including the classic tear-jerking ballads like "Never Say Goodbye", "I'll Be There For You", and "Wild Is The Wind"; and with the exhaustion of two exhausting tours still freshly present, Bon Jovi decides to take a break. We're at the end of the 80s, music is changing, and in a few years, not even a memory will remain of the pop-metal-glam scene that dominated the USA until the late eighties (with Bon Jovi themselves as protagonists, leading to bands like Poison, Mötley Crüe, Skid Row, etc.). The group decides to take a time-out, torn by internal tensions that, as Jon Bon Jovi would admit a few years later, had brought the band to the brink of splitting. During this time, Richie Sambora, Jon Bon Jovi, and David Bryan used the period to record their first solo works.

Jon Bon Jovi, specifically, composed the songs that became part of this CD for the soundtrack of the film Young Guns II, although the only song actually used in the film was the most famous "Blaze Of Glory".

The genre that unites the 11 tracks present in this album is rock with strong acoustic and western influences, which becomes most evident in the title track, almost a reinterpretation of the Bon Jovian "Wanted Dead Or Alive", though in a somewhat more predictable and pop version, lacking the hard-hitting energy that permeated the fantastic solo of that song. But the true masterpieces of the album might be the less famous ones, like "Blood Money", a brief acoustic ballad of just two minutes in which Jon delivers a chilling vocal performance, with a certainly touching text about the subsequently betrayed friendship between the film's protagonists, Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid, while the sweet guitar notes accompany his voice in a crescendo of intensity and passion.

These same themes are also found in "Santa Fe", another ballad, though this time symphonic, which is another gem in terms of intensity and pathos, in which Jon perhaps touches the highest point of his long career as a singer, in a song that certainly does not pale in comparison with the more famous "Bed Of Roses" and "Always", which will achieve great commercial success in a few years. Another great song present on the album is "Bang A Drum", another ballad with almost gospel-like choruses, impressing once more for the intensity of the singing and for lyrics in which Jon seems lightyears away from the "whooo" he overused in some of his greatest eighties hits, leaving a mark instead with non-trivial lyrics, almost reminiscent of Bruce Springsteen (though I don't wish to be reductive), highlighted by the words that introduce the bridge: "I don't claim to be a wiseman, a poet or a saint, I'm just another man who's searching for a better way. But my heart beats loud as thunder, for the things that I believe, sometimes I wanna run for cover, sometimes I wanna scream..", before the final chorus and the choirs lead us to the end of this beautiful song.

Speaking of Bruce Springsteen, "Never Say Day" can be mentioned as well, a very cute and catchy rock song that seems to come straight from "New Jersey" and directly refers us to that "Blood On Blood" that many had compared to the style (especially vocally) of the Boss. A bit more rock in this album can be found in the experimental and unique "Justice In The Barrel", in the raw rock'n'roll of "You Really Got Me", and in the opener "Billy Get Your Guns", another cute song but certainly not standing out within the album. The more successful are, however, the ballads "Miracle", a decent song for which a fun video clip was also made, and the concluding "Dyin' Ain't Much Of A Livin'", a ballad evoking western saloon atmospheres and whisky bottles, but certainly pleasant to listen to.

The instrumental "Guano City" concludes this Blaze Of Glory, Jon Bon Jovi's first solo album, which showcases the more intimate and singer-songwriter side of the singer, that undoubtedly remained in the background in the works produced with the band, more inclined towards mainstream and chart music. It is precisely for this reason that "Blaze Of Glory" surprises with each listening for its freshness and its evocative atmospheres, and it could even captivate those who never loved Bon Jovi's productions. Following this CD, Jon will return with Bon Jovi with the albums "Keep The Faith" (1992) and "These Days" (1996), which will follow a year after the best of "Crossroads" and the worldwide success of "Always". Jon Bon Jovi, however, will continue his solo career in 1997 with the brit pop album "Destination Anywhere", which perhaps is better not to dwell upon too much, as it pales significantly in comparison to this work, which remains the highest artistic level reached by Jon Bon Jovi and, why not, also at a vocal level.