''Bon Jovi'' is the debut studio album by American rock band Bon Jovi, released on January 23, 1984, by

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it i ...

. Produced by

Tony Bongiovi Anthony C. Bongiovi (born September 7, 1947) is an American record producer and recording engineer. He is the cousin of musician Jon Bon Jovi. Career Bongiovi has produced records by Gloria Gaynor, Talking Heads, Aerosmith ('' Classics Live''), ...

and Lance Quinn, it is significant for being the only Bon Jovi album in which a song (" She Don't Know Me") appears that was not written or co-written by a member of the band. The album charted at number 43 on the US ''Billboard'' 200. Aside from the hit single " Runaway", songs from the album were rarely performed live after Bon Jovi released ''

Slippery When Wet ''Slippery When Wet'' is the third studio album by American rock band Bon Jovi. It was released on August 18, 1986, by Mercury Records in North America and Vertigo Records internationally. It was produced by Bruce Fairbairn, with recording sess ...

'' in 1986. However, on the band's 2010 Circle Tour, songs including "Roulette", "Shot Through the Heart" and "Get Ready" were performed. The album was ranked the 11th best rock album of 1984 by ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

'' magazine. The song "Shot Through the Heart" should not be confused with the much better-known "

You Give Love a Bad Name "You Give Love a Bad Name" is a song by American rock band Bon Jovi, released as the first single from their 1986 album ''Slippery When Wet''. Written by Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, and Desmond Child about a woman who has jilted her lover, ...

" from ''Slippery When Wet''.

Background

In 1980, Jon Bon Jovi (born John Francis Bongiovi) began work at Power Station Studios, a

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

recording facility where his cousin,

, was a co-owner. Jon made several demos and sent them out to record companies, but failed to make an impact. In 1982, Jon went to local radio station WAPP 103.5FM "The Apple". DJ Chip Hobart listened to the demos and loved "Runaway", deciding to include it on the station's compilation album of local homegrown talent. The studio musicians who helped record "Runaway" were known as The All Star Review. They were: guitarist

Tim Pierce Tim Pierce (born 1959 in Albuquerque) is an American session guitarist. He has worked for artists such as Joe Cocker, Crowded House, Goo Goo Dolls, Michael Jackson, Beth Hart, Roger Waters, Alice Cooper, Johnny Hallyday, Phil Collins, and the ...

, keyboardist Roy Bittan, drummer

Frankie LaRocka Frankie LaRocka (April 17, 1954 – May 12, 2005), born Frank LaRocca, was an American rock musician and producer. He was a member of Scandal, playing drums on their debut EP, and, at various stages, played the drums with Bon Jovi, David Johans ...

, bass guitarist Hugh McDonald, and additional singers David Grahmme and Mick Seeley (Seeley also composed the distinctive keyboard riff that opens the song). McDonald would later replace Alec John Such as Bon Jovi's bass guitarist. The song began to get airplay around New York. Jon signed to

, part of the PolyGram company. He wanted a band name and the A&R staff at PolyGram came up with Bon Jovi. In March 1983, Bon Jovi called

David Bryan David Bryan Rashbaum (born February 7, 1962) is an American musician and songwriter, best known as the keyboard player for the rock band Bon Jovi, with which he also co-wrote songs and performed backing vocals. In 2018, Bryan was inducted int ...

(then known as Rashbaum), who in turn called bass guitarist Alec John Such and an experienced drummer named Tico Torres. At that time Bon Jovi's lead guitarist was Dave Sabo, who later formed the band

Skid Row A skid row or skid road is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people " on the skids". This specifically refers to poor or homeless, considered disreputable, downtrodden or fo ...

. Sabo was soon replaced by Richie Sambora. "We weren't a good band", Bon Jovi said in 2007. "We didn't become a good band until the third record, but we had a drummer who could keep time, which you should never take for granted. But I did okay for a 22-year-old. I'd only been in a studio for three years total prior to that record and I didn't know anything about comping a vocal – where you take a word or a line from one track and piece it together. I was thinking, My God, I'm so bad that they have to put my vocals together for me. The

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

was saying, Don't fret, Jon: even Freddie Mercury and the greats have to comp a vocal."

Release and reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

has retrospectively rated ''Bon Jovi'' three-and-a-half out of five stars. Leslie Mathew, who reviewed the album, said: "The songs may be simple and the writing prone to all clichés of the form, but the album boasts a pretty consistent hard rock attack, passionate playing, and a keen sense of melody", and called the album "an often-overlooked minor gem from the early days of hair metal".

Track listing

Personnel

Bon Jovi * Jon Bon Jovi – lead vocals , guitar * Richie Sambora – guitar, backing vocals * Alec John Such – bass, backing vocals * Tico "The Hitman" Torres – drums * David Rashbaum – keyboards, backing vocals Additional musicians * Hugh McDonald – bass on "Runaway" * Roy Bittan – keyboards on "Runaway" * Chuck Burgi – additional drums * Doug Katsaros – additional keyboards *

– drums on "Runaway" *

Aldo Nova Aldo Nova (born Aldo Caporuscio on November 13, 1956) is a Canadian guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist, and producer. He initially gained fame and popularity with the release of his 1982 debut album '' Aldo Nova'' which peaked to ''Billboards ...

– additional guitar and keyboards *

– guitar on "Runaway" *David Grahmme – backing vocals on "Runaway" *Mick Seeley – backing vocals on "Runaway" Engineers *Larry Alexander *Jeff Hendrickson *John Bengelshmy *Arthur Mann - executive producer Design *Spencer Drate – album design *Judith Salavetz – album design *Geoffrey Hargrave Thomas – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bon Jovi (Album) 1984 debut albums Albums produced by Tony Bongiovi Bon Jovi albums Mercury Records albums Vertigo Records albums