Keep the Faith

Background

Following the completion of the New Jersey tour, the band went on hiatus. During their time off, Jon Bon Jovi wrote the soundtrack for Young Guns II, which was released in 1990 as the Blaze of Glory album and Richie Sambora released his first solo album called Stranger in This Town. By this time, Jon Bon Jovi fired his longtime manager, Doc McGhee and created Bon Jovi Management. Jon Bon Jovi decided to take on a larger role, and more responsibilities within the band. In October 1991 the band went to the Caribbean island of St. Thomas to discuss plans for the future; the band's internal problems were solved and they were ready to have a go at a comeback.

Recording and production

In January 1992 the band headed to Little Mountain Studios in Vancouver. They spent seven months making the album with Bob Rock producing. Originally the band had approached Bruce Fairbairn to produce the album who produced Slippery When Wet and New Jersey, but he was working on Aerosmith's Get a Grip album at the time. Most of the recording was done in Vancouver, although a couple of tracks were laid down in Los Angeles along with some over-dubs. According to an interview with Jon Bon Jovi, the album's original title was to be "Revenge".

Of the thirty songs written for the album, couple were written with Desmond Child and a couple were by David Bryan, with the rest being made up of Jon Bon Jovi/Richie Sambora compositions and those written solely by Jon Bon Jovi. 14 songs made it to the final cut. Jon Bon Jovi alone wrote most of the album because, as he says, "This was my way of trying to keep things together." According to Richie Sambora, his own input had to be limited, because he'd been supporting his solo album.

Before the band reunited in the studio, Jon Bon Jovi spent the summer of 1991 in anonymity, riding his bike in places like Arizona, gaining experiences that inspired him to write "Dry County" and "Bed of Roses". He later commented "It would never have been possible [for me] to write songs like "Bed of Roses" or "Dry County" five years ago."

Release and reception

Keep the Faith was released on November 3, 1992. To promote Keep The Faith, Bon Jovi returned to their roots playing a few dates at the small New Jersey clubs where they had started their career. The band appeared on MTV Unplugged, but that was different from the other episodes of the MTV Unplugged series. The performance captures Bon Jovi in an intimate, "in the round" experience, performing acoustic and electric renditions of classic hits (Bon Jovi and non-Bon Jovi tracks) and new material from Keep the Faith. The concert was released commercially in 1993 as Keep the Faith: An Evening with Bon Jovi.

In the US, Keep the Faith debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 Top Albums on November 1992 while peaking at number one in the UK and Australia. Six singles were released from Keep the Faith between November 1992 and April 1994, with four singles issued in the United States, and two others released only outside the US. The album's first single, "Keep The Faith", was released on October 1992 a month before the album. On the US Billboard charts, the song topped the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart while reaching number twenty nine on the Billboard Hot 100; elsewhere, it reached top ten on the singles charts in UK, Ireland, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, Norway, The Netherlands and Australia.

"Bed of Roses" was released as the second single. On the US Billboard charts, the song reached number ten on the Hot 100. Elsewhere, it reached number two in Canada and number ten in Australia and Germany. Three more commercial singles were released in 1993. "In These Arms", released in May, reached number six in Canada, number nine in the UK, and number ten in Australia and Ireland. It also hit the Top 40 in the US Billboard Hot 100. "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead", released in August, reached number seventeen in the UK. "I Believe" was released only in Europe and Australia; it reached number eleven on the UK Singles Chart in October. In April 1994, the album's last single, "Dry County", was released only in Europe and Australia; it reached number nine on the UK Singles Chart. By the end of 1993, Keep the Faith had sold 8 million copies worldwide. In October 1994, the album was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Accolades

(*) designates unordered lists.

Track listing

Some Latin American releases feature "Cama de Rosas" (Spanish version of "Bed of Roses") as bonus track.

Personnel