warto przypomnieć arcyciekawy artykuł z Kerranga z 15 kwietnia 1995r.* :
A&M Studios, Los Angeles. Friday March 31. 4.25pm. The very end of Bon Jovis These Days recording sessions. The door to Studio A swings open and in strides a man with a silly voice and sunglasses complaining with a laugh about being tired. Hes coming on all Mexicano/Italian with theees fahnee voice. He is
Richie Sambora, Bon Jovi guitarist.
Behind him follows a man quieter but no less fatigued. There are two more b-sides to lay down and he wants to get em done quickly. He is
Jon Bon Jovi.
Already in the large control room are drummer
Tico Torres, irrespressible keyboard player
David Bryan and bassist
Hugh McDonald. McDonald, of course, replaced long-serving bassist Alec John Such last year. Hes done the album and will do the tour, but still isnt a band member in the gang sense, although its obvious from his friendship with Jon (he worked on the first Bon Jovi album in 1984) that he is maybe the only person who could have worked out.
Engineer
Obie OBrien, a warm practical joker, is revving up the gears for final off the floor recordings of Always and Someday Ill Be Saturday Night. Obies been one of Jons best friends from the days when Jon swept the floors of the Powerstation studios. Hes had a hand in engineering most Bon Jovi projects: he just knows how the band tick.
JBJ is vibin up the band: Okay guys, lets do it! And in they go, setting up very quickly
Make yourself comfortable, says Jon, suggesting I stay in the room where the band are about to record. So I park myself between McDonald and Bryan as the band lay down each track in one take, off the floor, no f**k-ups registered!
Its a glorious sight: five people of such consummate musical ability that they need no second chance to get an excellent job done. Masters of their craft, Bon Jovi have just put down the last two b-sides in twenty minutes!
One more take? Asks OBrien. Jon shakes his head, picks a beer off a nearby flightcase and strikes up a smoke before walking upstairs into the playback room.
Torres and Bryan are both flying back to New Jersey tomorrow. Bryan is relishing his role as father of baby twins while Torres, recently engaged to Wonderbra model Eva Herzigova, has got his pilots licence.
Richie Sambora is looking forward to a few weeks off with his new bride Heather Locklear. Jon Bon Jovi meanwhile will spend some more time in Southern California trying to kick back a little before Bon Jovi head over to Europe to play a few small gigs here and there with Van Halen, including a few at Wembley Stadium and some shows with the Rolling Stones. As one does, eh?!
Bon Jovi started as underdogs, became top dogs, were underdogs again and with These Days theyre back as top dogs once again.
Proof? Three night at Wembley Stadium in June. But Bon Jovi aint slacking off. No, when youre born with a work ethic, you die with a work ethic.
Weve worked very hard with this record, sighs Jon Bon Jovi.
Yet, on first listen, These Days sounds like it came so easily and naturally that its hard to imagine the band sweating over it. But then, great albums always sound effortless.
And These days is the ultimate Bon Jovi album, a superb collection of songs from superb songwriters with a few twists in the tail too.
The seeds of this record were sown long ago.
After the last tour I went off to the Caribbean with my family to chill out, says Jon, And thats when I started writing songs for the album! And, before you know it, Id invited Richie out. So, we ended up drinking a lot and writing a lot together.
This was in January of 94, so it took 11 months of writing and rewriting before we even demoed the songs. We started recording in Nashville but ended up trashing everything because I didnt like the guitar tones, the tuning, the keyboard parts.
Then we came out here and started all over again. We took about 2 weeks out for the Christmas holidays, but I had the tapes all of December - and, being the lunatic that I am, I couldnt help but go in the studio! I started doing vocals at home, and hated it!
So we came out here to LA, initially as a favour to Richie.
He was a newlywed and because of his and Heathers schedule, he wanted to spend as much time with her as he could because he knew about the heavy touring schedule coming up. I had a house here so it wasnt any big deal.
So we spent January here, did all the guitars, went back to my house for February to finish the vocals, then came back here in March for overdubs and mixing. Overall this record has takes 11 months to write, demo, make. A lotta time!
Why did Bon Jovi ever go to Nashville in the first place, especially as it seemed to be so unproductive in the end?
I loved the idea. First of all, we always go away when we make a record. I never considered just staying in my house. I like that whole thing of being a Rock band and going off to work on the album, the five of us. With this one its changed a little because of kids, but we wanted to go to Nashville. Wed been there for a week during the greatest hits record and I loved the idea that on every street corner, theres a songwriter. So we gave it a shot but it didnt really work out, so we went back to LA. The songs are meant to sound like theyre gonna sound live, thats all. I have an idea of the kind of guitar tones Id like Richie to have, he knows how to get em and its almost unspoken. Same with the arrangements, same with everything.
We did a fine job together, Jon purrs with satisfaction, taking a long draw on his cigarette. And with the recording finished at last,
Jon begins a track-by-track breakdown of These Days exclusively for Kerrang! Readers.
Incidentally, this is not the order in which the songs will run on the album.
This Aint A Love Song
Its just us doing RnB. Theres no deep lyrical meaning other that a broken hearts song.
A great, great singer with a voice better than mine could have a blast here! Otis Redding for example. Its us flexing a little more of our influences.
Hearts Breaking Even
The funny story here is that Desmond Child and I wrote this one when Richie was away. He said, Look, I got this date with Heather Locklear - I gotta catch a plane. So I said, Have a nice time! And, when he got back, here was this love song, Hearts Breaking Even!
These Days
Its fun! Now that I think about it, so much of the album is throwbacks. The first two have the RnB things which go back to me wanting to taste those influences and wanting to be an Asbury Duke.
These days brings back those characters: the kinda characters that Van Morrison or Bob Dylan or Bruce (Springsteen) would use, the ones we used in Livin On a Prayer.
Theres a line Jimmy Shoes busted both his legs. Thats Jimmy Iovine (president of Interscope Records). Thats his old nickname so I made him the guy in the song - and I knew I had to do something fun with him - like break his legs!
Theres another line the stars aint out of reach but these days there aint no ladder on the streets, in essence, its telling everybody that its there to be had but it aint easy. Nobodys gonna help you do anything man so forget all the excuses like, Theres no ozone layer, theres no future, I cant get a job.....
Of course it aint right, but deal with it! I wanted to say in this song that theres nothing left but us these days. We dont have any white picket fences, we dont have any cheap excuses. Okay, fine! All we got is us, so lets go!
Something For The Pain
The hardest song on the album. We rewrote it 10 times! John
Kalodner (the Columbia Records industry mogul who put Aerosmith back on the map) told us to rewrite it again last week! Hes one of the smartest guys Ive ever met.
Kalodner is an old-style record producer-type A&R guy and Columbia let him give advice to artists outside the label. Ill tell ya this: if John Kalodner needs a favour for Columbia records, Ill write him a song. Thats just the way it is. Hes been a friend of mine for nine years.
John said, Lets put an accordion on the song and a 12-string Rickenbacker! This song was meant to sound like T-Rex and it turns into something so incredibly unique that we cant even decide where it came from!
A week ago we finally finished the song after 6 months of toil! I came in with a new title, new lyrics, re-recorded the vocals. It was called Ive Been Loving You Too Long To Turn Back Now and Kolodner said, I dont like it. And it was his persistence that made the song great!
What It Takes
We always knew it had great verses, great chord progressions, but we didnt have a great chorus. We kept trying to get those emotions through a 12-bar chorus, and just 10 days ago, I came up with those lines, the important ones.
Hey God
An observation. I dont understand how I can walk down 57th Street in Manhattan and step over a guy who is sleeping in the street. It makes no sense to me. Why does America have to have this? You get the guilties. Why not me? And other such stuff.
Letting You Go
I wrote it for the movie Ill be in - Moonlight and Valentino. Itll surprise a few people! Dave Bryans not playing on it. Hughs not playing on it. Its just me, Richie, machines and a guy called Robbie Buchanan, a programmer. I was playing keyboards and singing it live: theres no vocal overdubs.
I wrote the song as a gift. The only copy I had was on cassette and I wrote it for one of the movies producers. It was a thank you for having me.
I didnt even want it in the movie but they really wanted it in so, slowly it got there. Im very happy with how it turned out.
Guitar Lies Bleeding
Basically the concept I learnt on Bed of Roses was, if ycant come up with something, dont just put down the instrument.
And in Guitar Lies Bleeding I had these visions of the scene in Tommy where he walks in and theres posters of him all over the wall. I had visions of me walking into a nightmare like that, posters of me, staring at me going, Well, well, go on then, write a record!
Thats the shit Im dealing with in Guitar Lies Bleeding. And its cool to write that frustration down and admit the fear.
Its a constant fear throughout the writing of every record. Every song on every record is like that. Will I ever write another song? Can I? Will I? You question yourself all the time.
All I Want Is Everything
This is an observation of the Generation X theory that you cant have everything. Im saying you can! Im not saying everyone can get a big house and a big car, more that you dont wanna be told that you cant have this, cant have that job and so on.
I loved the character in this song saying, Ive had enough of having nothing. I love the underdog attitude. Thats what we were and I want my kids to have that!
I want people to just think, F**k telling me what I cannot have! And if I could leave just one message, without sounding too deep, then that is it.
Something To Believe In
The first song I wrote for the album. Its a very introspective look at where I was at the end of the last tour. I needed something to believe in. I was satisfied, but I had to consider where I was going.
Damned
I cant wait to play it live. I used the Asbury Duke horn section. I wanna be a Duke! My most prized possession is a blue satin Juke jacket from 77!
Lie To Me
We wrote it here and not only would it be a great hit but itll be so cool to play live. Its Tommy and Gina growing up, saying, I cant make ends meet but dont walk out on me cos Im in deep shit. So, if you cant tell me you love me, lie to me! This didnt come from fiction!
Bitter Wine
Its a kinda Stonesy-type, Wild Horses ballad. Its a bonus track on the album.
And thats it, the biggest Rock record of 1995 revealed! And you read it here first in the Big K!
Its now
9.30pm at A&M. Tico and Dave Bryan are off to catch the red-eye back to Jersey.
Heather Locklear's arrived to meet up with husband Richie Sambora. And Jon Bon Jovi wanders the control room looking strangely guilty. Guilty because there isnt something else to do.
Jon Bon Jovi may well be back at the top, but dont forget that he burns the candle at both ends. Not that hes unhappy, no. But you sense that he always feels that theres more to be done.
I ask him: Jon Bon Jovi, tired but satisfied?
Yes. But, yknow, I heard a phrase recently that everything in life has a price. And Im just wondering what mine will be...
*źródło
że w piosenkach Damned i All I Want is Everything wystąpili muzycy znani z zespołu Bruce'a Springsteena oraz Southside Johnnyego: Richie LaBamba, Ed Manion, Mark Pender i Jerry Vivino znani jako Asbury Horns. 
