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Slippery When Wet

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Untitled

Slippery When Wet is the third studio album by Bon Jovi. It was released on August 18, 1986 through Mercury Records in North America and Vertigo Records internationally. The album was produced by Bruce Fairbairn. Recording sessions took place between January and July 1986 at Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver, Canada.

Slippery When Wet was an instant commercial success. The album features songs that are today considered Bon Jovi's most well-known tracks, such as "You Give Love a Bad Name", "Livin' on a Prayer" and "Wanted Dead or Alive".

The album spent eight weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200.[2] It was named the top selling album of 1987 by Billboard.[3] Slippery When Wet is the band's best-selling album to date, with an RIAA certification of twelve times platinum, and over 28 million copies sold worldwide. The album is featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Background

Despite the 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.

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", "Livin' on a Prayer","Without Love" and "I'd Die For You" which were co-written by Desmond Child. Child was brought in by the record company to help write some of the songs along with Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora. 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.

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. Jon Bon Jovi has since said that this track should have been on the album. He said "It was absolutely appropriate for the Slippery record - coulda, shoulda, woulda been on Slippery had cooler minds prevailed. Here's my formal apology." It was first released on the soundtrack to the 1987 movie Disorderlies and has since been released on the band's box set as well as the special 2-CD edition of Cross Road.

Album name and art

The album went through various name changes during its inception including "Wanted Dead Or Alive" (an album cover was produced with the band dressed as cowboys; the artwork was later used for the single release of the track of the same name), with Slippery When Wet being the final title conceived. According to Jon Bon Jovi, the album's working titles were Wanted Dead or Alive later the band decided to name the album Slippery When Wet after visiting The Number 5 Orange Stripclub in Vancouver.

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, 34DD woman in a wet yellow T-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 border on the cover. The exception is in Japan, where most releases of the album do include the original cover art.

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]
Piero Scaruffi [4]
Robert ChristgauB− [5]
Rolling Stone(unfavorable) [6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide [7]

The album became a massive success commercially. Between 1986 and 1987, Slippery When Wet produced an amazing string of hit singles, including three Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hits, two of which ("You Give Love A Bad Name" and "Livin' On A Prayer") reached #1, making Bon Jovi the first hard rock band to ever have two consecutive #1 Billboard Hot 100 chart hits. The third single "Wanted Dead or Alive" peaked at #7, making Slippery When Wet the first hard rock album to spawn three Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 hits.

The album peaked at #1 on the Billboard 200, becoming Bon Jovi's first number-one album in United States. The album also had impressive staying power, with 38 weeks inside the Top 5 of Billboard 200, including 8 weeks at #1. Slippery When Wet was the best-selling album of 1987 in the United States, and eventually reached Diamond certification by the RIAA and current[when?] sales stand at 12 million copies, making it the 48th best-selling album in the United States.

In the UK, Slippery When Wet received a 3x Platinum certification by the BPI. The album also achieved Diamond status in Canada and 6x Platinum status in Australia.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Let It Rock"Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora5:25
2."You Give Love a Bad Name"Bon Jovi, Sambora, Desmond Child3:42
3."Livin' on a Prayer"Bon Jovi, Sambora, Child, Steven Harang4:11
4."Social Disease"Bon Jovi, Sambora4:20
5."Wanted Dead or Alive"Bon Jovi, Sambora5:09
6."Raise Your Hands"Bon Jovi, Sambora4:15
7."Without Love"Bon Jovi, Sambora, Child3:29
8."I'd Die for You"Bon Jovi, Sambora, Child4:31
9."Never Say Goodbye"Bon Jovi, Sambora4:50
10."Wild in the Streets"Bon Jovi3:54


1998 2-CD Special Edition Bonus CD PHCR-90015/6
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Wanted Dead or Alive (Live/Wembley 1995)"Bon Jovi, Sambora 
12."Livin' on a Prayer (Live/US 1987)"Bon Jovi, Sambora, Child 
13."You Give Love a Bad Name (Live/US 1987)"Bon Jovi, Sambora, Child 
14."Wild in the Streets (Live/Wembley 1995)"Bon Jovi 
15."Borderline (Studio Outtake)"Bon Jovi, Sambora 
16."Edge of a Broken Heart (Studio Outtake)"Bon Jovi, Sambora 
17."Never Say Goodbye (Live Acoustic Version)"Bon Jovi, Sambora 
2010 special edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."You Give Love a Bad Name (Live Version)"Bon Jovi, Sambora, Child 
12."Livin' on a Prayer (Live Version)"Bon Jovi, Sambora, Child 
13."Wanted Dead or Alive (Live Version)"Bon Jovi, Sambora 

DualDisc

In 2005, Slippery When Wet was re-issued as a DualDisc. The CD side contained a newly remastered version of the album, and the DVD side contained the same album in its original stereo mix, plus a slightly expanded 5.1 Surround version. The expanded album included additional elements within 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.

Personnel

Charts and certifications

Album

Charts (1986-2011) Peak
Position
Australian Albums Chart[8] 1
Austrian Albums Chart[9] 2
Canadian RPM Albums Chart[10] 1
Dutch Albums Chart[11] 5
Finnish Albums Chart[citation needed] 1
German Albums Chart[12] 11
Greek Albums Chart[13] 64
Japanese Albums Chart[citation needed] 10
New Zealand Albums Chart[14] 1
Norwegian Albums Chart[15] 1
Spanish Albums Chart[16] 19
Swedish Albums Chart[17] 3
Swiss Albums Chart[18] 1
United Kingdom[19] 6
US Billboard 200[20] 1
US Catalog Albums[21] 3

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[8] 6× Platinum 420,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[22] Diamond 1,000,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[23] Platinum 73,564[23]
Germany (BVMI)[24] Platinum 500,000^
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong)[25] Gold 7,500*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[26] 2× Platinum 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[27] 3× Platinum 900,000^
United States (RIAA)[28] 12× Platinum 12,000,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Slippery When Wet at AllMusic
  2. ^ "Allmusic (Bon Jovi charts & awards) Billboard albums".
  3. ^ Billboard.com
  4. ^ Piero Scaruffi Review
  5. ^ Robert Christgau Review
  6. ^ Rolling Stone Review
  7. ^ Rolling Stone Album Guide
  8. ^ a b Thompson, Bronwyn (2008-01-29). "On a steel horse Bon Jovi rides to top of the charts". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2008-06-04.
  9. ^ "Austria Top-40 - Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet (album)" (in German). Retrieved June 9, 2012.
  10. ^ "Top Albums/CDs". RPM. March 14, 1987. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
  11. ^ "Dutch Charts - Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet (album)" (in Dutch). Retrieved June 9, 2012.
  12. ^ "Bon Jovi, Slippery When Wet" (in German). Charts.de. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
  13. ^ "Greek Charts - Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet (album)" (in German). Retrieved June 9, 2012.
  14. ^ "New Zealand Charts - Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet (album)". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
  15. ^ "Norwegian Charts - Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet (album)". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
  16. ^ "Los discos más vendidos". ABC (in Spanish). 11 November 1987. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  17. ^ "Swedish Charts - Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet (album)". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
  18. ^ "Swiss Charts - Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet (album)" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
  19. ^ "Chart Archive - Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet". Chartstats.com. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
  20. ^ "Bon Jovi Album & Song Chart History - Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
  21. ^ "Bon Jovi Album & Song Chart History - Catalog Albums". Billboard. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
  22. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Bon Jovi – Slippery When Wet". Music Canada. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
  23. ^ a b "Bon Jovi" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
  24. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Bon Jovi; 'Slippery When Wet')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
  25. ^ NO certyear WAS PROVIDED for Hong Kong CERTIFICATION.
  26. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Slippery When Wet')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
  27. ^ "British album certifications – Bon Jovi – Slippery When Wet". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved June 9, 2012. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Slippery When Wet in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  28. ^ "American album certifications – Bon Jovi – Slippery When Wet". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
Preceded by Billboard 200 number-one album
October 25, 1986 – October 31, 1986
January 17, 1987 – March 7, 1987 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Australian Kent Music Report number-one album
July 13 – August 23, 1987 		Succeeded by
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