''What About Now'' is the twelfth studio album by American
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
John Shanks
John Matthew Shanks (born December 18, 1964) is an American songwriter, record producer and guitarist.
Early life and education
John Matthew Shanks was born in New York City. Shanks moved to Los Angeles when he was 17 years old. He was in a ban ...
, the album was released on March 8, 2013 in Australia and March 12, 2013 in the United States. The album was promoted throughout the band's 2013 Because We Can: The Tour. It is the last album to feature lead guitarist Richie Sambora before his departure from the band the following month.
The album debuted at No. 1 in the U.S., where it sold 101,000 copies in its first week. ''What About Now'' became Bon Jovi's third album in a row to hit No. 1 in US after '' The Circle'' and '' Lost Highway'' and their fifth No. 1 album during their career.Caulfield, Keith "Bon Jovi Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200, David Bowie at No. 2" billboard.com. March 20, 2013. The album has sold 220,000 copies in the U.S. as of August 2015, and over 1.5 million copies worldwide, going gold in Germany selling 100,000 copies.
Recording and production
In an interview given to ''Classic Rock'' magazine, guitarist Richie Sambora stated that the album was recorded before his solo album ''
Aftermath of the Lowdown
''Aftermath of the Lowdown'' is the third solo studio album by Richie Sambora which was released in Japan on September 12, 2012, in the United Kingdom on September 17, and in the United States on September 18, 2012 as digital download and on Sep ...
'' was completed. He and
Jon
Jon is a shortened form of the common given name Jonathan, derived from "YHWH has given", and an alternate spelling of John, derived from "YHWH has pardoned".Richie Sambora also characterized the new material as a compilation of “different elements”; yet reassured old fans that they will be just as pleased with the new work as they have been with the old for over 30 years.
Music videos were produced for the first two singles " Because We Can" and the album titled track " What About Now". A music video was also made for the Jon Bon Jovi solo single "Not Running Anymore" which is included on the album as a bonus track along with the track "Old Habits Die Hard". Both songs feature on the soundtrack to the movie ''
Stand Up Guys
''Stand Up Guys'' is a 2012 American black comedy crime film directed by Fisher Stevens and starring Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, and Alan Arkin. The film was released in North America on February 1, 2013. "Stand up guy" is an American phrase ...
''. On December 13, 2012 it was announced that "Not Running Anymore" would be nominated for a Golden Globe Award.
Also included as a bonus track and featuring a music video is Sambora's single "Every Road Leads Home to You" from his solo album ''
Aftermath of the Lowdown
''Aftermath of the Lowdown'' is the third solo studio album by Richie Sambora which was released in Japan on September 12, 2012, in the United Kingdom on September 17, and in the United States on September 18, 2012 as digital download and on Sep ...
''.
Artwork
The album artwork was created by
Liu Bolin
Liu Bolin (; born 7 January 1973) is a contemporary concealment artist born in China's Shandong province. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Shandong College of Arts in 1995 and his Master of Fine Arts from the Central Academy of Fine A ...
and was revealed on January 10, 2013, three days after the release of lead single " Because We Can". The cover artwork features the four members of the band painted behind a collage which features a soldier with a guitar and walking up a mountain against a yellow and blue American flag background, two hands wrapped in bandages, a headshot of a woman, some roses, and the band's heart and dagger symbol. A pinwheel is also seen in the background. The cover artwork is also seen on the back, though the collage has more pictures to it and the band members are absent.
Reception
Critical reception of the album has been generally mixed. At
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 50, which indicates "mixed or average reviews", based on 11 reviews. While Caroline Sullivan from ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' states that "the band have reached out with the sort of empowering platitudes and riffage that will give fans on this summer's stadium tour something to punch the air about", Stephen Unwin from the ''Daily Express'' was less favorable, claiming that the album "is the closest thing to predictable from the poster boys of American rock ’n’ roll, which for their most myopic fans is the closest thing to wonderful."
Phil Mongrendien, from the ''
Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...
'', criticized the track "Army of One" for finding them "descending into lyrical self-parody with its 'never give up' motif hammered home artlessly"
while the title track's guitar "hook nods too much to Kraftwerk's ' Computer Love' (and, by extension,
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University ...
's '
Talk
Talk may refer to:
Communication
* Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people
* Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people
* Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct
...
')". James Manning, from ''Time Out'', believes that the band "won't win any new fans with their twelfth album ..but they're unlikely to lose many either."
Ian Gittins, from
Virgin Media
Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint ventu ...
, thought "the band's perennial propensity for clichés and Hollywood blockbuster-style happy endings invariably make it difficult to take Bon Jovi as seriously as they crave", though he later admits that "there are some good tunes. It's a decent soft rock party album. It's probably also about time that Bon Jovi knew their limits." For Stephen Erlewine, from Allmusic, "there aren't so many big hooks on ''What About Now'' -- just the raise-your-fist anthem of 'Because We Can,' with most of the sweetest melodies coming from the softer, quieter moments, such as the acoustic 'The Fighter' and the Christian ballad 'Room at the End of the World'.
Track listing
*All tracks produced by
John Shanks
John Matthew Shanks (born December 18, 1964) is an American songwriter, record producer and guitarist.
Early life and education
John Matthew Shanks was born in New York City. Shanks moved to Los Angeles when he was 17 years old. He was in a ban ...
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 ...
– keyboards, backing vocals
*
Tico Torres
Hector Juan Samuel "Tico" Torres (born October 7, 1953) is an American musician, artist, and entrepreneur, best known as the drummer, percussionist, and a songwriter for American rock band Bon Jovi. In 2018, Torres was inducted into the Rock ...