For the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina roller coaster, see
Soak'd.
Slippery When Wet is the third studio album by Bon Jovi, released on August 18, 1986. It is the band's most commercially successful album, selling over 12 million copies in the United States and has sold over 28 million worldwide[1]. It was named the top selling album of 1987 by Billboard[2]. The album is featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Background
Despite the respectable moderate success of 7800° Fahrenheit, Bon Jovi weren't becoming the superstars they had hoped, and they changed their approach for their next album. Hiring professional songwriter Desmond Child as a collaborator, the group wrote 30 songs and auditioned them for local New Jersey and New York teenagers, basing the album's running order on their opinions. Bruce Fairbairn was chosen as the main producer of the album, with Bob Rock as the mixer. They recorded the album at Little Mountain studios in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Writing and composition
Much of the album's content was written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, except "You Give Love A Bad Name" and "Without Love" which was co-written by Desmond Child. Desmond Child helped write some of the songs along with Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora. He was brought in by the record company. This was the first time Child worked with Jon and Richie. He came to New Jersey, where they worked on this in the basement of Sambora's mother's house
Jon Bon Jovi was initially reluctant to include "Livin' on a Prayer" on the album, believing that it was not a good enough song. Richie Sambora was convinced it was a hit single in the making, and so the band re-recorded it, releasing the second version on the final album. Ironically, it became one of the band's most popular and well-known songs. The song is referred to in Bon Jovi's 2000 single "It's My Life" among other songs. The original demo, which Jon Bon Jovi thought was not good enough for the album, can be found as a hidden track on the band's box set.
One of the songs written during the making of the album was "Edge of a Broken Heart", which did not feature on the final version of the album. It has since been released on the band's box set, and featured on the special 2-CD edition of Cross Road.
Jon Bon Jovi has since said (from notes in the boxset booklet and on the boxset DVD (Disc 5)) that this track should have been on the album. Jon said "It was absolutely appropriate for the Slippery record - coulda, shoulda, woulda been on Slippery had cooler minds prevailed. Here's my formal apology." Jon also mentions that this was the same era when he thought "Livin' on a Prayer" wasn't a hit (see above) and he's never claimed to be a good A&R guy.
Album name and art
The album went through various name changes during its inception, with Slippery When Wet being the final title conceived. According to Jon Bon Jovi in a DVD interview on the box set 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong, the album's working titles were Wanted Dead or Alive and later the band decided to name the album Slippery When Wet.
The cover consists of a wet black garbage bag with the words "Slippery When Wet" traced in the water. The album originally was to feature a busty woman in a wet yellow tee shirt with the album name on the front of the shirt. This original version of the cover was swapped for the wet plastic bag cover just prior to release, mainly due to the fact that Jon Bon Jovi hated the pink edging to the cover. The exception is in Japan, where most releases of the album do include the original cover art.
Release
With this album's singles, Bon Jovi was the first hard rock band to ever have two consecutive #1 Hot 100 chart hits. Slippery When Wet was the first hard rock album to spawn three Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 hits. The band would go on to break this record with New Jersey, which spawned five. With Slippery When Wet, the band twice had the #1 single and the #1 album simultaneously, another hard rock first.
The track "Raise Your Hands" was featured in the 1987 motion picture Spaceballs. "Raise Your Hands" also remains a staple in Bon Jovi's live shows, being a stalwart on their Have a Nice Day Tour. The German team handball club VfL Gummersbach often uses this song during their home matches when the players enter the field.
"Wanted Dead or Alive" is currently the theme song to the television show Wanted, Dog The Bounty Hunter, and a short section for the opening theme of Deadliest Catch and was in the 1991 film Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man.
"Wanted Dead or Alive" is credited with spawning the very popular MTV Unplugged series when Bon Jovi and Sambora appeared on the MTV Music Video Awards with just acoustic guitars and performed it in front of the live audience.
Track listing
| Writer(s) |
| 1. |
"Let It Rock" |
Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora |
5:25 |
| 2. |
"You Give Love a Bad Name" |
Bon Jovi, Sambora, Desmond Child |
3:44 |
| 3. |
"Livin' on a Prayer" |
Bon Jovi, Sambora, Child |
4:09 |
| 4. |
"Social Disease" |
Bon Jovi, Sambora |
4:18 |
| 5. |
"Wanted Dead or Alive" |
Bon Jovi, Sambora |
5:08 |
| 6. |
"Raise Your Hands" |
Bon Jovi, Sambora |
4:16 |
| 7. |
"Without Love" |
Bon Jovi, Sambora, Child |
3.30 |
| 8. |
"I'd Die for You" |
Bon Jovi, Sambora |
4:30 |
| 9. |
"Never Say Goodbye" |
Bon Jovi, Sambora |
4:48 |
| 10. |
"Wild in the Streets" |
Bon Jovi |
3:54 |
DualDisc
In 2005, Slippery When Wet was re-issued as a DualDisc. This released supposedly to celebrate the album's 20th anniversary the following year. The CD side containing a newly remastered version of the album, and the DVD side containing the same album in its original stereo mix, plus a slightly expanded Dolby 5.1 Surround version. The expanded album included additional elements many of the songs, in some cases increasing their runtime. The audio material is playable through a DVD-Audio player and standard DVD Players. The DVD side also included all 5 promo videos from the album:-
- "You Give Love a Bad Name"
- "Livin' on a Prayer"
- "Wanted Dead or Alive"
- "Never Say Goodbye"
- "Wild in the Streets"
The DualDisc was released on September 20, 2005, the same release date as Have A Nice Day.
Samples
Personnel
- Jon Bon Jovi – lead vocals
- Richie Sambora – guitars, guitar synths, backing vocals
- Alec John Such – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Tico Torres – drums, percussion
- David Bryan – keyboards, piano, synthesizer, various noises, backing vocals
- Bruce Fairbairn – percussion, horn, producer
- Bob Rock – engineer / mixer
- Tim Crich – assistant engineer
- Tom Keenlyside – horns
- Bill Levy – artwork
- George Marino – digital remastering engineer
- Hugh McDonald – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Lema Moon – horn
- Mark Weiss – photography
Chart positions
Charts and certifications
Singles
| Year |
Single |
Chart |
Rank |
| 1986 |
"You Give Love a Bad Name" |
The Billboard Hot 100 |
1 |
| 1986 |
"Wanted Dead or Alive" |
Mainstream Rock Tracks |
13 |
| 1986 |
"You Give Love a Bad Name" |
Mainstream Rock Tracks |
9 |
| 1986 |
"You Give Love a Bad Name" |
UK Singles Chart |
14 |
| 1986 |
"Livin' on a Prayer" |
UK Singles Chart |
4 |
| 1987 |
"Livin' on a Prayer" |
The Billboard Hot 100 |
1 |
| 1987 |
"Wanted Dead or Alive" |
UK Singles Chart |
13 |
| 1987 |
"Wanted Dead or Alive" |
The Billboard Hot 100 |
7 |
| 1987 |
"Livin' on a Prayer" |
Mainstream Rock Tracks |
1 |
| 1987 |
"Never Say Goodbye" |
Mainstream Rock Tracks |
11 |
| 1987 |
"Never Say Goodbye" |
UK Singles Chart |
21 |
References
- ^ "On a steel horse Bon Jovi rides to top of the charts". Daily Telegraph. 2008-01-29. http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23122302-5001026,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-06-04.
- ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/yearend_chart_display.jsp?f=The+Billboard+200&g=Year-end+Albums&year=1987
- ^ Hit Parade (1995). "European charts". http://www.hitparade.ch/showitem.asp?key=2094&cat=a. Retrieved on 2008-11-25.
Bon Jovi discography
