JoeLumb's Album Review Bon Jovi's "Slippery When Wet" (1986)

 It's been a while since I did an album review on Blogger so before this month ends which happens to be at midnight November 30th. I should do an album review

"Slippery When Wet" is Bon Jovi's third studio album released on August 18,1986 through Mercury Records in the States and Canada and Vertigo Records the rest of the world. This album would be called the album that turned heavy metal into a radio-friendly pop format and is also commonly seen as a breakthough for "Hair Metal".

You see when writing and recording for the record. Following the moderate success of 7800 Fahrenheit Bon Jovi had not become international superstars. So by the time to start album number 3 the band needed to change it's approach to a more mainstream sound than the heavier self titled 1984 record and the Fahrenheit album.  The majority of the album was written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora with the exception of "You Give Love a Bad Name","Livin' on a Prayer" "Without Love" and "I'd Die for You" that were co-written with songwriter and hit maker Desmond Child and "Wild in the Streets" was written by Jon himself. The album marked Bon Jovi's first collaboration with Desmond Child who came to New Jersey to work on the four songs in the basement of Sambora's mother. After writing a total of 30 songs they auditioned them for local New York and New Jersey teenagers based on the album's running order on their opinions. Soon Producer Bruce Fairbairn was tasked in producing the album with Bob Rock as the Mixer (Bob Rock would go on to produce Motley Crue's "Dr.Feelgood" and Metallica's Black Album)

"Slippery When Wet" took the first half of 1986 to be recorded at Little Mountain Studios in Vancouver British Columbia Canada. But when it came to the name and the artwork,the album was initially going to be called "Wanted Dead or Alive" they even had a proposed cover of the band dressed up as cowboys,however the band went with "Slippery When Wet" after visiting a strip club in Vancouver named The No. 5 Orange. Richie Sambora stated that "A woman descended from the ceiling on a pole and proceeded to strip off all her clothes,when she got in the shower and soaped herself up, we just lost our tongues. They would go back there everyday as it energized them throughout the project as their testosterone was at an all time high back then. The cover consisted of a wet black trash bag with the words "Slippery When Wet" traced in water. The album originally was to feature a busty woman in a wet yellow t-shirt with the album name in the front of the shirt. The reason given for the switch had something to do with record executives fearing that dominant record store chains at the time would refuse to carry the record with a sexist cover and according to Jon Bon Jovi himself he hated the original back cover of the bright pink border around the photograph of the band that was submitted. 

Once "Slippery" was released on the 18th of August 1986 the album became a massive success. Between 86 and 87 "Slippery When Wet" produced a string of hits "You Give Love a Bad Name" "Living on a Prayer" and "Wanted Dead or Alive" all three were Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 hits while two of them "Bad Name" and "Prayer" made it to #1 making Bon Jovi the first glam-metal band to have back to back #1 hit singles. "Wanted Dead or Alive" reached #7. "Slippery When Wet" is Bon Jovi's first #1 album in the U.S. spending 38 weeks in the Top 5 on the Billboard 200 which included 8 weeks at #1 Becoming the best selling album of 1987,eventually reaching Diamond Status by the Recording Industry Association of America and it's current sales stand at 12 million units sold. 

To this day "Slippery When Wet" is ranked 44th in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of The Definitive 200 albums of all time. 

My Overall rating on this album is a 7.5 out of 10 mainly because of the 3 top ten singles an the underrated power ballad "Never Say Goodbye" which is always a good song for the DJ to play at High School Proms all over the country.