Bounce

10/10/2002 9:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Rob O'Connor

Hard to believe Bon Jovi has been together 20 years and Bounce is

only its eighth studio album of new material. Granted, there have been solo projects and acting duties, but what could possibly take them so long? They don't "reinvent" themselves with each album. If anything, each album is a repetition, a reconfirming of the values they grew up with. Contemporary production values aside, every Bon Jovi album relies on the same tried and true formula of hyper-catchy choruses, tight harmonies, just enough guitar to suggest 'hard rock' without crossing the line into the actual genre and enough sentimentality to give them lifetime employment at Hallmark should they tire of touring the world to millions of lovestruck fans. Allegedly, Bounce includes songs tempered by September 11. But that's what all the Jersey boys are saying these days. In reality Bounce is the next chapter in an incredibly successful non-descript novel about love won and lost in times of turmoil, with plenty of songs that even a championship soccer team could sing.