Scout, I agree that numbers aren't everything, for the exact examples you mentioned. But here's the thing: There have been many Biebers. Spice Girls, N Sync, Creed. They have a few amazing years, then no one gives a crap about them anymore. Bon Jovi's been selling tons of albums and selling out tours for 30 years now. You don't do that with 1 or 2 hit singles or if you're a flash in the pan.
So I had a 4hr drive this morning to go and retrieve something I left at a relative's over thanksgiving and since I was alone on the highway for awhile I figured I'd take another 'fresh' look at Bon Jovi. I fired up Pandora, put in Bon Jovi, and listened for awhile.
I followed it up by going through their 2010 Greatest Hits CD
In retrospect... I think Bon Jovi will be seen as 'forgettable'. Popular in it's era, but inconsequential to the long term music world or pop culture in general.
JBJ's voice really doesn't stand out. It's lost in a sea of similarities and really isn't stand-out compared to many of his contemporaries. Sting, Melloncamp, Cetera, etc. His voice sounds like any other LA rock band of the era and honestly sounds much thinner in their later works than his early albums. In the duet with Jennifer Nettles - it could be two girls singing. Overall he's a great singer, but the sound just feels 'more of the same'.
The songs.. honestly most of what I hear beyond their 80s tracks is also 'forgettable'. Beyond 'Its my life' I wouldn't bother with anything beyond the New Jersey album.. which was 1988.
Now I know captainkidd will go on about how that really doesn't reflect their popularity since, etc and all the albums sales in the 2000s. Well here is some 'facts' you can chew on about what people objectively and systematically perceive of Bon Jovi.
Pandora, which works off of the logic of the Music Genome Project to identify similar types of music would recommend basically all 80s rock as similar sounds when you ask for Bon Jovi. From the band Europe, GnR, REO Speedwagon, etc. And really what listening to Pandora with Bon Jovi as input made me really see is... out of the pack.. really Bon Jovi is the least distinctive or ironic of the bunch. No they aren't a band that relied on one album or one big single which has become iconic to identify them... but while they have had had great success over the years.. it really just feels like more of the same. I mean from that Pandora session - love em or hate em... GnR was far more distinctive and impactful or an AC/DC. Joey Tempest from Europe, another band that really boomed in the 80s, but dropped off.. could almost be interchangable with JBJ, except Joey was stronger.
Then when we look at Bon Jovi in iTunes... look at what the site suggests for 'listeners also bought'
Motley Crue, Pink, Foreigner, Aerosmith, Van Halen, Def Leppard, Styx, Daughtry, Scorpions
Notice a trend? Again, dominated by their sound from the 80s.
My conclusion from these points of reference is that Bon Jovi's legacy is still defined by their albums of the 80s.. most dominately Slippery When Wet and New Jersey.
And really out of that era, while Bon Jovi was wildly successful, I doubt anyone sees them as ironic or defining of that era. Acts like Poison, GnR, Crue, etc would probably come off the tongue of people far quicker than Bon Jovi when asked for defining bands of the late eighties gram/arena rock stuff. People had harder hitting stuff, and better ballads. Bon Jovi was great for the 'sing-along' concert... but so was 'Da Butt' on the dance floor... and no one sees tunes like that as anything more than just fun for that era.
