I've never been crazy about the "live" album format. I've heard/owned live albums from pretty much all my favorite artists, as well as many I've reviewed for AMZ over the years. I have to give BON JOVI credit for putting out one of the best live albums I've ever heard. There's only one or two others that rank that high with me, so that's saying a lot. Live albums have always irritated me when the band throws it to the crowd and you can't hear a damn thing until the band chimes back in again. I'm not sure how they managed it (other than one hell of a mix/production job done on this one), but there are no blanks on this album. When the crowd is singing alone, you can hear them almost as well as you can hear the band by itself. This one little thing impressed me to no end! The other thing that impressed me is how seamless this album is, even though the performances are from a lot of live shows in different cities and different years. The songs from 2000 sound as good as the ones from 1985, which in itself is remarkable. There aren't too many bands that can carry that off! About the only thing I was a little disappointed about were some great songs performed on the current tour that didn't make it to the album like "Bed Of Roses," "Blaze Of Glory" and "Lay Your Hands On Me." Oh well, you can't have everything . . .

The album opens with "It's My Life," the big hit from "Crush," and it sounds SO awesome in this format. Each song on this album is identified by both the city and year it was recorded and this one is from 11/27/00 in Toronto. I don't know for sure (not from lack of trying!) what they call the microphone Ritchie Sambora uses on "Crush" and in the current live shows, other than it's like a wah-wah pedal used on guitars and is plugged into it's own amp, but it sounds even more impressive on this album. His prowess on this "instrument" ranks right up there with the greats who use harmonica so well, like Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Tom Petty and Steven Tyler. His guitar work is way impressive as well. The vocal harmonies between Jon and Ritchie and the full band backing vocals are also pretty great.

"Living On A Prayer" was recorded 8/30/00 in Zurich and sounds fresh and new because of Sambora using that microphone and some really slick guitar work. Bon Jovi's lead vocal sounds even better than the original release. He really does have an amazing voice and an incredible way of working a crowd. On the entire album he wrings every possible bit of the audience's enthusiasm and participation out and it's all here for your listening enjoyment. Also from the Zurich show is "You Give Love A Bad Name," opening with the first line sung a cappella by the whole band. The instrumental bridges are really outstanding. Great harmonies and backing vocals update this song and the audience participation on this track is as loud as listening to the band when it's thrown to the crowd.

From New York City on 9/20/00 is "Keep The Faith." A lot of rhythm/percussion backs the lead vocal and the backing vocals and harmonies are great. This song was never one of my favorites, but this version has made me a convert! The guitar solos are outstanding and I've always been a guitar kind of gal! Time travelling to the past is "Someday I'll Be Saturday Night" from11/10/95 in Melbourne, Australia. I only vaguely remember this particular song, so this version was pretty new to me. A couple things stand out on this track. First, Jon Bon Jovi's vocals are good, but his voice has matured over the years and sounds better now. The instrumentals and harmonies are nowhere near as prominent and intricate as they are on the songs recorded in 2000. Even though the cut is only 6 years old, you can still hear the "improvement" in the band performing live. It could have something to do with the actual recording, but the style is still different.

The next song is the first of two tracks that were included because of the special circumstances surrounding the performances. "Rockin' In The Free World" was recorded on 12/1/95 in Johannesburg, South Africa right after the "end" of Apartheid and the freeing of Nelson Mandela. This one totally sounds like a celebration and it's obvious the band felt privileged to be singing this song at a concert for such a momentous occasion. One thing I did notice is that you don't hear much from the audience on this particular track except the cheering at the end. "Something To Believe In" comes from Yokohama on 5/19/96. Audience participation is very apparent on this track right from the opening notes. Just from listening to this album it's quite obvious BON JOVI has a huge following in Japan. This is a good song, but one of my least favorite tracks on this particular album. I think it's more because of my taste in music than anything to do with this cut.

Probably my all time favorite BON JOVI song is up next. "Wanted Dead Or Alive," recorded 9/20/00 in New York City, is the track that always ends up on repeat on my CD player. Starting with some acoustic guitar picking that really doesn't indicate what the song is, Bon Jovi announces to the audience "This is for all the cowboys out there," followed by a shout from the crowd and the first few notes coming from the keyboard. You can hear people screaming through this entire song, as well as singing along and carrying it through when it's tossed to the crowd. This version features Bon Jovi and Sambora throwing the vocals back and forth, as well as harmonies and guitar lines. The energy is outstanding and I think this particular song probably shows the interaction between Sambora and Bon Jovi better than any other on the album. The crowd is more than psyched too!

Moving back to the '80s is "Runaway," performed 4/28/85 in Tokyo. This is the first of two songs recorded from that performance. While being treated to a young and boisterous BON JOVI, I'm again reminded of just how much this band has grown musically and vocally, yet, at the same time, I can't believe how the 2001 version of BJ still sounds SO good. I don't know which person is singing the falsetto on this particular track, but man are they good at it. The second song from this performance is "In And Out Of Love." I think it's much more noticeable on this song how BON JOVI fit in with the rest of the mid-'80s hair bands. The lyrics might not be quite as graphic as some of the other bands back then, but the style is almost interchangeable with Van Halen, Whitesnake and maybe even Poisen. This is an okay track for a nostalgia trip.

The other momentous occasion captured on the album is from a performance on 6/25/95 in London, just 2 weeks shy of the 10th Anniversary of "Live Aid." After Jon reminds the crowd of the significance of the date, he introduces "Sir Bob Geldof" who joins BON JOVI in a rousing rendition of "I Don't Like Mondays." On this particular track I'm positive Geldof is singing lead and the band is backing him. It gets a little muddy in the middle so it's a bit hard to tell if Bob and Jon are trading vocals, but it's not the finest moment on this album. Bob Geldof did some great things, but his vocals, at least here, are less than stellar.

Moving almost to the present is "Just Older," again from 11/27/00 in Toronto. One of only three songs from "Crush" included here, the instrumentals seem to be much better than the vocals. I think it's partly the way the vocal was written, rather than how it's being sung, but that's how I'm hearing it. A quick trip back to Melbourne on 11/10/95 follows with "Something For The Pain." Again I'm really into the instrumentals, although they're far different from the year 2000 concerts, but this is a great song and it's a good comparison to the current performances.

No BON JOVI album like this would be complete without "Bad Medicine" and this time we're back to the performance in Zurich on 8/30/00. This one is also a biggie as far as crowd participation. I really like how the old songs sound so good mixed with the newer ones. There's a lot more vocal participation from ALL the band members in the performances from the "Crush" tour than in past tours. That's another plus on this album.

And so we come to the end of this time trip with "One Wild Night 2001." This song was updated and remixed from the version on "Crush." The performance is Toronto 11/27/00 and I like this version of the song so much better than it's predecessor. A super instrumental intro leads into a funky vocal by Jon Bon Jovi and great band backing vocals and Sambora on that microphone again. This song would be damn hard to sit through if you were actually at the concert, that's for sure!! This is absolutely a perfect ending to this time travelogue of an album. Do I recommend it? Absolutely!!