Katana VentraIP

Crush (Bon Jovi album)

Crush is the seventh studio album by American rock band Bon Jovi. It was released on June 13, 2000, by Island Records. It was produced by Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, and Luke Ebbin. The album marks the longest timespan between studio albums for the band, with five years between the release of These Days (1995) and this album. After the initial plan to team up with producer Bruce Fairbairn fell through because of his death a year earlier,[8] Bon Jovi and Sambora hired Luke Ebbin[9] to update their sound.

Crush

June 13, 2000 (2000-06-13)

1999–2000

57:52

Despite the long break, the album was just as successful as their previous releases and helped introduce the band to a new generation of fans. The success of the album was largely due to the lead single "It's My Life" which was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, while the album itself was nominated for Best Rock Album. Crush was certified double platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Background[edit]

After a five-year hiatus, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora released solo albums. In 1999, Jon Bon Jovi was planning to release a third solo album but the band started work on their new album in mid-1999. Its working title was Sex Sells.[10] Posters using this title are seen in and around New York in the video for "Real Life" – the band's then most recent single. Another working title was One Wild Night. The latter was resurrected for a live compilation the following year.


An initial plan to team up with producers Bob Rock and Bruce Fairbairn fell through because of the latter's death.[8] An audition process was set up, but the band was uninterested by the producers interviewed. Eventually Bon Jovi asked A&R executive John Kalodner if he knew up-and-coming producers, and he recommended Luke Ebbin. He was brought to Bon Jovi's home studio in New Jersey, and took a demo with only vocals and acoustic guitar to add programming, string and background vocal arrangements. On his return, Ebbin was hired.[9]

At the end of the album, the band can be heard discussing what would happen if were there, which then follows 30 seconds of silence before a bonus track, "I Could Make a Living Out of Loving You".

James Brown

– vocals, producer

Jon Bon Jovi

– guitars, talk box on "It's My Life", backing vocals, producer, co-lead vocals on "Say It Isn't So"

Richie Sambora

– keyboards

David Bryan

– drums, percussion

Tico Torres

Partial credits sourced from AllMusic.[21]