The Circle (Bon Jovi album)

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The Circle
Bon Jovi - The Circle.jpg
Studio album by Bon Jovi
Released November 10, 2009
Recorded November 2008–August 2009
Genre Rock[1][2]
Length 52:47
Label Island
Producer
Bon Jovi chronology
Lost Highway
(2007)Lost Highway2007		 The Circle
(2009)		 Greatest Hits
(2010)Greatest Hits2010
Singles from The Circle
  1. "We Weren't Born to Follow"
    Released: August 31, 2009
  2. "Superman Tonight"
    Released: January 25, 2010
  3. "When We Were Beautiful"
    Released: May 20, 2010

The Circle is the eleventh studio album by American rock band Bon Jovi. Produced by John Shanks, the album was released November 10, 2009.[3] The album debuted at #1 in several countries, including the U.S., where it sold 163,000 copies in its first week debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200.[4]

The Circle takes the band back to the rock roots after their prior Nashville country music influenced album Lost Highway. The Circle was inspired by the economic meltdown and political turmoil around the world.

Recording and production

In an interview given to Rolling Stone Magazine, guitarist Richie Sambora says the album is a return to "rock and roll" and said "There’s going to be some big choruses on there. It sounds like Bon Jovi, but it sounds fresh. We experimented with a lot of new sounds and had a really good time working with John Shanks, who is also a really good guitar player, so he and I did a lot of ‘weaseling’ with the guitar sounds. There are a lot of really good guitar sounds and new kind atmospheres on the new Bon Jovi record, that I think makes it really modern. I think people are going to dig it, man. And it rocks hard."[5]

In an interview on UK radio station Absolute Radio, Jon Bon Jovi stated the album title has multiple meanings. It stands for the fact that a circle is never ending, and that it also refers to Bon Jovi's inner circle – stating that "in this organization, the circle is very difficult to get into, and even more difficult to get out of."[6]

The lead single, "We Weren't Born To Follow" is about the tough times we are experiencing in this economic crisis. Work For The Working Man was also written about the DHL plant that closed in Ohio. Before the official release of the album, U.S. President Barack Obama's chief adviser David Axelrod had the lyrics to "Work for the Working Man" framed and hung in his White House office.[7]

The album is the first record since 1988's "New Jersey" not to feature bonus tracks (all the subsequent albums from 1992's Keep The Faith through to 2007's Lost Highway have included songs not available in the USA). Lead singer Jon Bon Jovi has stated that there were one or two songs that he left off the album that could have been bonus tracks which he wanted to keep for the Greatest Hits.

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 2/5 stars[9]
BBC Music (favorable)[1]
Boston.com (unfavorable)[10]
Entertainment Weekly (C)[11]
The Guardian (favorable)[13]
The Independent 2/5 stars[14]
Los Angeles Times 1.5/4 stars[15]
The New York Times (favorable)[12]
NU.nl 6/10 stars[8]
Rolling Stone 3/5 stars[2]

The Circle debuted at the number-one position with sales of 163,000 copies on the U.S. Billboard 200.[4] It debuted at the number-one position with the sales of around 67,000 copies on the Japanese Oricon weekly album charts, becoming their fifth number-one album on the Japanese chart. Because of the album's number-one debut, the band tied the Oricon charts' record of having five number-one albums as a Western artist, which was held by Mariah Carey and Simon & Garfunkel.[16]

Initial critical response to The Circle was average. Nigel Britto of the Times of India observed that the album marked a 'return to tradition' and served as a 'breath of fresh air' to those that found the band's recent material corny.[17] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 52, based on ten reviews. The album received a 79/100 from billboard.com praising the group for returning to their rock roots.[18]

Track listing

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "We Weren't Born to Follow"   Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora 4:03
2. "When We Were Beautiful"   Bon Jovi, Sambora, Billy Falcon 5:18
3. "Work for the Working Man"   Bon Jovi, Sambora, Darrell Brown 4:04
4. "Superman Tonight"   Bon Jovi, Sambora, Falcon 5:12
5. "Bullet"   Bon Jovi, Sambora 3:50
6. "Thorn in My Side"   Bon Jovi, Sambora 4:05
7. "Live Before You Die"   Bon Jovi, Sambora 4:17
8. "Brokenpromiseland"   Bon Jovi, Sambora, John Shanks, Desmond Child 4:57
9. "Love's the Only Rule"   Bon Jovi, Sambora, Falcon 4:38
10. "Fast Cars"   Bon Jovi, Sambora, Child 3:16
11. "Happy Now"   Bon Jovi, Sambora, Child 4:21
12. "Learn to Love"   Bon Jovi, Sambora, Child 4:39
Total length:
 52:47

Charts and certifications

Year-end charts

Chart (2009) Rank
Austrian Albums Chart[31] 35
Australian Albums Chart[32] 86
Swiss Albums Chart[33] 49
UK Albums Chart[34] 79
US Billboard 200[35] 189
Chart (2010) Rank
Canadian Albums Chart[36] 35
European Albums Chart[37] 73
US Billboard 200[38] 88

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[39] Gold 35,000
Canada (Music Canada)[40] Platinum 80,000
Germany (BVMI)[41] Gold 100,000
Japan (RIAJ)[42] Gold 100,000
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[43] Gold 15,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[44] Gold 100,000
United States (RIAA)[45] Gold 500,000

^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Chart procession and succession

Preceded by Japanese Oricon weekly number-one album
November 16, 2009		 Succeeded by
Love Is Best by Ai Otsuka
Preceded by U.S. Billboard 200 number-one album
November 28, 2009		 Succeeded by
Battle Studies by John Mayer
Preceded by
This Is It by Michael Jackson
 Canadian Albums Chart number-one album
November 28, 2009		 Succeeded by
My World by Justin Bieber
Preceded by German Albums Chart number-one album
November 21, 2009		 Succeeded by
Reality Killed the Video Star by Robbie Williams
Preceded by
Liebe ist für alle da by Rammstein
 Swiss Albums Chart number-one album
November 15, 2009		 Succeeded by
Reality Killed the Video Star by Robbie Williams

Deluxe CD/DVD Limited Edition

The Deluxe Edition of The Circle includes the twelve track album plus a DVD of the 2009 documentary When We Were Beautiful, directed by Phil Griffin. The documentary follows the band through their 2007/08 Lost Highway Tour.

Release history

Country Date Label Format
Germany October 30, 2009[46] Universal Music CD, CD+DVD, Digital download
Ireland October 30, 2009[47] Mercury Records
Japan November 4, 2009[48] Universal Music CD, CD+DVD, Digital download, SHM-CD
Australia November 6, 2009 CD, CD+DVD, Digital download
France November 9, 2009[49] Mercury Records, Universal Music
United States November 10, 2009[50] Island Records, Mercury Nashville[51]
Canada November 10, 2009[52] Universal Music
Europe November 11, 2009
Brazil November 27, 2009[53]

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 BBC review link
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Rolling Stone review link
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Caulfield, Keith. "Bon Jovi Comes Full 'Circle' at No. 1 on Billboard 200". billboard.com. November 18, 2009.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Jon Bon Jovi Interview with Ben Jones, Absolute Radio, September 22, 2009
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Allmusic review link
  10. ↑ Boston.com review link
  11. ↑ Entertainment Weekly link
  12. ↑ New York Times review link
  13. ↑ The Guardian link
  14. ↑ Independent review link
  15. ↑ Los Angeles Times review link
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Select 2009年11月 on the drop-down menu
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Enter The Circle in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  51. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  52. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  53. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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