Lost Highway

About

"Lost Highway" is the tenth studio album by American rock band Bon Jovi, released on June 19, 2007, through Island Records. It was produced by John Shanks and Dann Huff and recorded at Blackbird Studios in Nashville and NRG Recording Studios in Hollywood. The album combines Bon Jovi's rock sound with elements of country music, following the success of the country version of the band's 2006 single "Who Says You Can't Go Home", a duet with Jennifer Nettles that reached number one on the US Hot Country Songs chart in May 2006. "Lost Highway" features two collaborations with other artists: "We Got It Going On" with Big & Rich and "Till We Ain't Strangers Anymore" with LeAnn Rimes. Jon Bon Jovi described the album as a "Bon Jovi record influenced by Nashville" rather than a country album. "Lost Highway" debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming Bon Jovi's first album to debut at the top of the chart and its third album to reach number one in the United States. The album was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 2008 Grammy Awards. In the summer of 2006, Jon Bon Jovi said that he and Richie Sambora planned to travel to Nashville, Tennessee, to work on the band's next album with country songwriters and artists. The band travelled to Nashville in September 2006 and, by December, had written and recorded ten of twelve planned songs. In early 2007, Jon Bon Jovi decided to rework the album and wrote five additional songs, two of which were ultimately included. The band's interest in incorporating country influences followed the success of "Who Says You Can't Go Home", the second single from "Have a Nice Day" (2005). Its country version, recorded with Jennifer Nettles, reached number one on the US Hot Country Songs chart and made Bon Jovi the first rock band to top the chart. The song also received a Grammy Award and a People's Choice Award. The success contributed to the decision to record a country-influenced album in Nashville. According to Jon Bon Jovi, several personal events affecting members of the band after the "Have a Nice Day Tour" influenced the album's subject matter. Richie Sambora had divorced Heather Locklear and his father had died from cancer, while drummer Tico Torres had also gone through a divorce and was involved in a custody dispute. Bon Jovi said that these events influenced the themes explored during the songwriting process. The band initially met with established Nashville songwriters, but subsequently worked with less prominent writers after finding that the initial sessions did not produce the desired chemistry. Billy Falcon co-wrote "Everybody's Broken" and "I Love This Town", Brett James co-wrote "Till We Ain't Strangers Anymore", Gordie Sampson co-wrote "Any Other Day", and Hillary Lindsey co-wrote "Seat Next to You". The album was recorded partly in Nashville and partly in Los Angeles. Bon Jovi and Sambora also wrote songs while staying at the Hermitage Hotel in Nashville. John Shanks and Dann Huff served as the album's producers, with each producing six songs. Shanks produced and co-wrote "Lost Highway", "Summertime", "Whole Lot of Leavin'", "Everybody's Broken", "The Last Night" and "One Step Closer". These songs were recorded at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles and Starstruck Studios in Nashville and engineered by Jeff Rothschild. "(You Want to) Make a Memory", "We Got It Going On", "Seat Next to You", "Till We Ain't Strangers Anymore" and "I Love This Town" were recorded at Blackbird Studios in Nashville and NRG Recording Studios in Hollywood and engineered by Justin Niebank and Mark Hagen. Jon Bon Jovi subsequently requested that the album be remixed because he felt that the original mix lacked sufficient dynamics and range. The title track, "Lost Highway", concerns travelling towards an unfamiliar destination. Its title was inspired by Lost Highway Records, a Nashville-based record label founded by Luke Lewis. Jon Bon Jovi said that the name evoked an image of an unknown road and reflected the uncertainty associated with a new stage of life. "We Got It Going On" was written after Jon Bon Jovi met Big Kenny and John Rich of Big & Rich in a bar. The musicians developed the song's title, lyrics and music during their conversation. The song incorporates influences from the Beastie Boys. "Till We Ain't Strangers Anymore" was originally recorded in a lower key for a male vocalist. After the band was unable to find a suitable male singer, the song was re-recorded in a different key for female vocalists. Following several unsuccessful attempts, LeAnn Rimes was selected to perform the song. "One Step Closer" concerns moving closer towards an unspecified goal. Bon Jovi promoted the album through appearances and performances associated with country music. Jon Bon Jovi served as a keynote speaker at the 2007 Country Radio Seminar in Nashville, where the band also performed a private concert for approximately 400 country radio programmers. The set included songs from "Lost Highway" as well as earlier Bon Jovi material. "We Got It Going On" was selected as the theme song for the Arena Football League's weekly television programme, which premiered on ABC on March 4, 2007. The song was also used in an opening video for the programme. Jon Bon Jovi recorded team-specific lyrics for the league's franchises for use during the season. "Lost Highway" was also featured in the 2007 film "Wild Hogs". The album's title, first single and release date were announced on March 19, 2007. "(You Want to) Make a Memory" was released to radio on March 20, 2007, and was also made available as a stream on the band's official website. Pre-orders for the album began on May 10, 2007, with iTunes Store pre-orders including an immediate download of "(You Want to) Make a Memory" and live recordings of "(You Want to) Make a Memory" and "Lost Highway" from the band's performance at the Cannery Ballroom in Nashville. On June 5, 2007, Bon Jovi performed a three-and-a-half-hour, 20-song concert at Steiner Studios. The performance was recorded for an "Unplugged" special broadcast on MTV, VH1 and CMT. MTV aired a half-hour version on June 22, VH1 aired a one-hour version on June 23, and CMT aired a 90-minute version on June 24. VH1 also streamed a preview of the album on its website on June 12. On June 24, 2007, Bon Jovi performed at the newly opened O2 Arena in London in conjunction with the album's release. Tickets went on sale on April 20 and sold out within one minute. The concert was the band's only performance in the United Kingdom during 2007 and marked its first indoor performance in the country in 15 years. In the summer of 2007, Bon Jovi performed ten concerts internationally as part of the album's initial promotion. A larger greatest-hits world tour had originally been planned for 2008, but the plans were brought forward following the commercial performance of "Lost Highway" and the tour was renamed the Lost Highway Tour. The tour included ten dates in New Jersey, followed by concerts in Canada and Japan, as well as the band's first stadium concert in New Zealand since the "These Days" Tour. Bon Jovi also returned to Australia for the first time since its appearances at the Rumba Festivals in 2002, performing sold-out concerts in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. The band subsequently toured the United States and Europe during the spring and summer of 2008 before returning to North America for additional concerts, including a free performance in Central Park in New York City. "Lost Highway" received mixed to generally favourable reviews from music critics. Metacritic, which uses a normalised score out of 100 based on reviews from mainstream publications, assigned the album an average score of 64 based on 12 reviews. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic awarded the album three stars out of five and noted its combination of arena-rock songs and sentimental material. Helen Groom of the BBC described the album positively, highlighting its large choruses and incorporation of new elements. Karen Schoemer of Blender gave it three stars out of five. Whitney Pastorek of Entertainment Weekly assigned it a grade of B−. Nate Chinen of The New York Times described the results as relatively strong. Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone awarded the album three stars out of five, while Luke Turner of Yahoo! Music UK gave it seven stars out of ten. "Lost Highway" achieved strong chart positions in several countries. It debuted at number one in the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Japan and at number two on the UK Albums Chart, where it was behind "The Traveling Wilburys Collection". It entered the charts at number five in Ireland and Australia, later reaching number two in Australia following Bon Jovi's tour there. In Japan, the album debuted at number one on the Oricon charts, selling 73,212 copies in its first week. In the United Kingdom, it sold 79,000 copies during its first week, compared with 54,000 copies for "Have a Nice Day". In Denmark, it debuted at number five before reaching number one after five weeks. In the United States, "Lost Highway" debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 292,000 copies in its first week. The album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in October 2008.

via Last.fm