What About Now
by Bon Jovi
  • Record Label: Island
  • Release Date: Mar 12, 2013
Metascore
50

Mixed or average reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 11
  3. Negative: 1 out of 11
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  1. Kerrang!
    Apr 12, 2013
    60
    There's enough gritty social commentary and songwriting class amid the occasional cheese to suggest that, on the long road to credibility, Bon Jovi are finally more than halfway there. [9 Mar 2013, p.52]
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  2. Q Magazine
    Apr 10, 2013
    40
    Jovi's delivery of the usual cliches has a curious, sickly sheen. [May 2013, p.96]
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  3. Drowned In Sound
    Mar 21, 2013
    50
    Over and over again What About Now pitches itself at the same commercially anthemic middle ground as U2, ideal for talent show montages and inspiring moments at award shows but ultimately anemic, soulless and forgettable.
  5. Rolling Stone
    Mar 12, 2013
    60
    The 12th Bon Jovi album extends the Springsteen liberalism in JBJ's stadium­rattling Jersey cheese into full-on "social commentary" (his term).
  6. The New York Times
    Mar 11, 2013
    50
    What About Now suggests a few paths for progress, and an ambivalence about committing to any one of them, all under a comfort-zone haze of undifferentiated, low-ambition, lightly rootsy hard rock.
  7. Entertainment Weekly
    Mar 11, 2013
    42
    What About Now has enough always-darkest-before-the-dawn positivity and bland arena-country warm fuzzies to chock a true believer. [15 Mar 2013,, p.62]
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  8. Boston Globe
    Mar 11, 2013
    40
    The best way to enjoy What About Now is to not listen too closely, ignore the clumsy lyrics (“I feel just like Picasso, and you’re my masterpiece”), and ignore that it’s watered down U2 flirting with pop-country.
  9. The Guardian
    Mar 11, 2013
    60
    It's easy to excoriate this band for producing another corporate-rock album, dominated as ever by Jon Bon Jovi's increasingly leathery bark and Richie Sambora's relentlessly uplifting guitar lines, but it's hard to slate them for still feeling kinship with their own blue-collar backgrounds.
  10. AllMusic
    Mar 11, 2013
    40
    On the proper What About Now, the group is striving to sound big and important yet winds up sounding small.
  11. The Observer (UK)
    Mar 11, 2013
    40
    Bon Jovi's 12th studio album finds them on familiar ground, arena-pleasing blue-collar anthems of everyday struggle sitting alongside overblown power ballads.

Awards & Rankings

76
#76 Most Discussed Album of 2013

User Reviews

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User Score
5.5

Mixed or average reviews- based on 56 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 56
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 56
  3. Negative: 21 out of 56
  1. StrawberryBlond
    Apr 13, 2013
    1
    It looks like Bon Jovi have finally hit that point where rock bands start to really water down their sound. There are no timeless anthemsIt looks like Bon Jovi have finally hit that point where rock bands start to really water down their sound. There are no timeless anthems here, just a bunch of bland amateur sounding tunes that aren't representative of one of the biggest rock bands of all time. After hearing this, it's no wonder that tickets for their tour went on sale months before the album's release a classic sign that the album's going to be awful. It looks like Bon Jovi are going to need a much needed time out to decide the musical future of the band. Surely when they play their classics like Livin' On A Prayer, Blaze Of Glory, Bed Of Roses and Always, they wonder where they went wrong with their new work?… Full Review »
  2. Phadafi
    Mar 14, 2013
    10
    One of the best Bon Jovi's Album, the songs bring back the same style of their most recent albums like Lost Highway and The Circle. Because WeOne of the best Bon Jovi's Album, the songs bring back the same style of their most recent albums like Lost Highway and The Circle. Because We Can like the first single does show pretty much how the new album sounds. And it even contain a Richie's Sambora solo song: Every Road Leads Home to You, what is unusual, but great.… Full Review »
  3. Dono
    Mar 12, 2013
    1
    I have been a Bon Jovi fan since 1983. I have every album they have released, including releases in other countries. Without a doubt, thisI have been a Bon Jovi fan since 1983. I have every album they have released, including releases in other countries. Without a doubt, this is the worse album in Bon Jovi's career.

    I have been very critical of their releases since These Days, but at least in the releases since that album we had elements of rock. Some glimpses of hard rock. Sadly it appears those days are long gone. It appears that JBJ is more concerned with pleasing his 36-52 year old female demographic than actually staying true to what he is. JBJ is a rock star, who for whatever reasons appears to be very ashamed of his past. The past that built his legacy, the past that fans who purchase the concert tickets to catch a glimpse of what he and his band used to be.

    If JBJ cares what the critics and fans say, then hopefully he will read what is being written. JBJ needs to go back to a time that made him and his band what they were, an amazing hard rock act. Put out a New Jersey type of album. Then and only then will he reclaim what was once his. Sadly, I don't think he cares.    … Full Review »
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