This House Is Not for Sale
by Bon Jovi
  • Record Label: Island
  • Release Date: Nov 4, 2016
User Score
6.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 44 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 44
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 44
  3. Negative: 11 out of 44
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  1. ydnar4
    Nov 7, 2016
    5
    John Bon Jovi is a guy who knows exactly what to give his fans. This House is Not For Sale is exactly what people have come to expect from the band since the new millennium. The album follows a very similar template to recent albums like The Circle and What About Now. The title track and lead single is very similar to Have a Nice Day and We Weren't Born to Follow. It follows the same BonJohn Bon Jovi is a guy who knows exactly what to give his fans. This House is Not For Sale is exactly what people have come to expect from the band since the new millennium. The album follows a very similar template to recent albums like The Circle and What About Now. The title track and lead single is very similar to Have a Nice Day and We Weren't Born to Follow. It follows the same Bon Jovi sound and its catchy, their fans normally eat it right up.

    Bon Jovi's 13th album takes a bit of a hit as former lead guitarist Richie Sambora has absolutely no involvement. Phil X replaces Sambora and he really doesn't do anything to assert himself as a worthy successor. He has a few good moments but he mostly hides behind simple riffs and Bon Jovi's lyrics. Sambora's writing is missed as well as no other band member receives a writing credit with producer John Shanks and some third parties getting some credits.

    There are some moments in This House is Not for Sale that are memorable and do feel like some new ground for the band but they are few and far between. Bon Jovi's lyrics are fairly solid through most of the record with the exception of Knockout and Reunion with are full of Bon Jovi clichés. They take up space after Jon Bon Jovi stuck two excellent songs (Teardrop to the Sea and Saturday Night Gave Me Sunday Morning) on a throw away record that wrapped up their contract with Mercury records. Both of those songs are probably better than anything we get in This House is Not for Sale.

    This House is Not for Sale will probably impress Bon Jovi's fan base of middle aged moms, but it isn't much more than an excuse to go back on the road and make millions on tour.

    I highlight: This House is Not For Sale, Labor of Love, Born Again Tomorrow, Come On Up to Our House.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
59

Mixed or average reviews - based on 6 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. Drowned In Sound
    Nov 23, 2016
    50
    The arena-filling sound that runs through modern music owes something to Bon Jovi, but This House… comes across more like their third-tier spiritual successors, comprised of forgettable dance-rock and schmaltzy slow-burners loaded with endless platitudes and those echoey, staccato guitar lines that bands do when they want to sound big.
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  2. The Guardian
    Nov 3, 2016
    60
    Bon Jovi’s first album since guitarist Richie Sambora’s departure doesn’t tear up the old formula.
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  3. AllMusic
    Nov 3, 2016
    70
    Bon Jovi and Shanks may not have done much to freshen up the band's sound--they don't take any mid-2010s musical trends into consideration--but that simmering defiance does mean this is the band's liveliest album in years.
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