Great Metal Albums of 1985: Bon Jovi- 7800 Fahrenheit

After reading comments by Jon Bon Jovi, it seems that the band which bears his name has pretty much disowned their second album, “7800 Fahrenheit.” Bon Jovi states that the band was in a bad place on a personal level and it was clear that the album’s producer, Lance Quinn, wasn’t the right man for them. With all that said, I am now to ask the question, Was the album as bad as they make it out to be?”

Not for the lack of trying with singles “In and Out of Love” and “Silent Night” getting a decent amount of radio play in 1985, the album does lack a ‘grab you by the throat’ song. Those two songs aren’t terrible, okay “Silent Night” wouldn’t even crack the top fifty on my power ballad list. But those nor any song on the album came close to matching the great “Runaway” from the debut album, nor many of the songs that they would astound people, especially the young ladies, with on future albums. With all that said, however, I do not consider “7800 Fahrenheit” a bad album.

Note: I know the actual name of the album is “7800 Degrees Fahrenheit” but my computer lacks the symbol for degrees. 

“Only Lonely” was also released as a single but my memories from 1985 don’t recall hearing it played on air. Like the two mentioned, it was probably a good choice at the time to be a single and of the three, I rate it the best of the singles, largely down to Sambora’s guitar solo on it. While not officially released as a single, “Tokyo Road” is probably the best known song on the album. Probably because long after they stopped playing the other songs on tour, they still played it well into the 90s whenever they toured Japan. I do like the song, it is more rocky than the ones previously mentioned.

Fortunately, there is a clear hidden gem on “7800 Fahrenheit” and it makes itself abundantly clear on the album. The honour goes to the rockingest song on the album, “King of the Mountain.” It is great to hear them simply let their hair down and just get down to rocking. There are guitars a plenty on this song and it does prove that Bon Jovi are capable of some decent metal when they want to. As for the rest of the album, Sambora does shine on “The Price of Love” with a cool solo. However, for me, the remaining four songs are pretty much filler for me. Again, not bad songs but they don’t have me wanting to break out the air guitar either.

Track Listing:

1. In and Out of Love
2. The Price of Love
3. Only Lonely
4. King of the Mountain
5. Silent Night
6. Tokyo Road
7. The Hardest Part is the Night
8. Always Run to You
9. To the Fire
10. Secret Dreams

Bon Jovi

Jon Bon Jovi- lead vocals, guitar

Ricie Sambora- lead guitar, backing vocals

Alec John Such- bass, backing vocals

Tico Torres- drums, percussion

David Bryan- keyboards

Overall, “7800 Fahrenheit” doesn’t suck as much as Bon Jovi claims it does. It does have its moments but it’s not an attention grabber either. It adds more confusion in my investigation of the statement I once heard, something I will mention with every Bon Jovi album I post, that Bon Jovi represented everything that was wrong with heavy metal in the 1980s.

One amusing piece of history, on the 1985 tour for this album, Bon Jovi opened for Ratt. There is an account of my experience of this in “Rock and Roll Children.” Today, this pairing would be the other way round.

Next post: Savatage- Power of the Night

To download Rock and Roll Children, go to: https://c-newfreepdf.cf/olddocs/free–download–online–rock-and-roll–children-pdf-1609763556-by-michael–d–lefevre