Book Review #24: Bon Jovi - When We Were Beautiful

Bon Jovi - When We Were Beautiful (2009)

Bon Jovi: When We Were Beautiful is hyped as a career retrospective coffee table book with never before seen photos. I was thinking this was going to be like that of Queen: The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Crown Kings of Rock. Boy, was I ever wrong on that. Where Queen's book is packed with a ton of never seen images of the band and in depth stories, testimonials and reviews to keep you busy for days on end, Bon Jovi's book is the complete opposite.

I have been a huge fan of these guys since day 1 and I can't tell you how disappointed I am in this book. For a book that hinges on a retrospective look at the band, I would say that probably 80% of the pics in the book are from the previous Tour. There is hardly anything from their glory days before Slippery When Wet. And even then, not a lot of content from Wet and Jersey either.

And the words on paper is not a retelling of their history so much as a "we do this for the fans..." pat on the back book. Some of the pictures are ok, but the majority are lacking. It's not going to make you go "whoooooa", or "cool". It is what it is. It's just something that will take you no longer than a couple of hours to get through and you certainly will never bother to look through it again. I know I won't.

What a shame.

Rating: 2 Stars out or 5

Review by Chiprocks1