Keep the Faith


Keep the Faith is the fifth studio album by American rock band Bon Jovi, released on November 3, 1992, by Mercury Records. It is the last studio album to feature original bass guitarist Alec John Such, before he was dismissed from the band in 1994. It is Bon Jovi's first album since 1985's 7800° Fahrenheit not to be produced by Bruce Fairbairn. It was also their first album to have a title track. The album was produced by Bob Rock and was recorded at the Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia. Keep the Faith represented the beginning of a new chapter, marking a change of both the band's image and sound. Moving away from their early glam metal roots in previous albums, it introduced a more "rock n roll" driven groove and turned away from heavy drums and wild guitar solos, instead introducing a new sound with longer songs consisting of piano ballads and long epic guitar solos.
Keep The Faith peaked at number five on the US Billboard 200 chart while topping the charts in the UK and Australia. The album was certified double-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album produced several hits for the band, including "Keep the Faith", "Bed of Roses" and "In These Arms". The album was ranked No. 21 on Kerrang!'s "100 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" and in 2006, the album featured in the Classic Rock & Metal Hammer's "The 200 Greatest Albums of the 90s".

Background

Following the completion of the New Jersey tour, the band went on hiatus. During their time off, Jon Bon Jovi wrote the soundtrack for Young Guns II, which was released in 1990 as the Blaze of Glory album and Richie Sambora released his first solo album called Stranger in This Town. By this time, Jon Bon Jovi fired his longtime manager, Doc McGhee and created Bon Jovi Management. Jon Bon Jovi decided to take on a larger role, and more responsibilities within the band. In October 1991 the band went to the Caribbean island of St. Thomas to discuss plans for the future; the band's internal problems were solved and they were ready to have a go at a comeback.

Recording and production

In January 1992 the band headed to Little Mountain Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia. They spent seven months making the album with Bob Rock producing. Originally the band had approached Bruce Fairbairn, who produced Slippery When Wet and New Jersey, but he was working on Aerosmith's Get a Grip at the time. Most of the recording was done in Vancouver, although a couple of tracks and overdubs were laid down in Los Angeles.
"When we got back together in a room in Vancouver," noted Jon Bon Jovi in 2007, "we closed the door and ignored what had happened to our genre of music. We'd been kicked in the teeth by Nirvana, but we didn't pay attention to that. We got rid of the clichés, wrote some socially conscious lyrics and got a haircut. I didn't do a grunge thing and I didn't do a rap thing. But I knew I couldn't re-write 'Livin' on a Prayer' again, so I didn't try. And it paid off."
Of the thirty songs written for the album, a couple were co-written by David Bryan and a couple by Desmond Child; the rest being by Jon Bon Jovi/Richie Sambora compositions and by Bon Jovi alone. Fourteen songs made it to the final album. Bon Jovi wrote most of the album's songs alone.
Before the band reunited in the studio, Bon Jovi spent the summer of 1991 in anonymity, riding his motorbike in places like Arizona, gaining experiences that inspired him to write "Dry County" and "Bed of Roses". He later commented "It would never have been possible to write songs like 'Bed of Roses' or 'Dry County' five years ago."

Release and reception

Keep the Faith was released on November 3, 1992. To promote Keep The Faith, Bon Jovi returned to their roots playing a few dates at the small New Jersey clubs where they had started their career. The band appeared on MTV Unplugged, but that was different from the other episodes of the MTV Unplugged series. The performance captures Bon Jovi in an intimate, "in the round" experience, performing acoustic and electric renditions of classic hits and new material from Keep the Faith. The concert was released commercially in 1993 as .
The album was released on high-definition SACD in August 2017.

Commercial performance

In the US, Keep the Faith debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 Top Albums in November 1992 while peaking at number one in the UK and Australia. Six singles were released from Keep the Faith between November 1992 and April 1994, with four singles issued in the United States, and two others released only outside the US. According to Music & Media the album has been certified 3 times platinum in Europe for the over 3,000,000 copies sold, but it is estimated to have sold around 3,960,000.
The album also had massive sales in Southeast Asia. According to Ukmix estimates, 200,000 South Korea, 200,000 Taiwan, 10,000 Hong Kong, 15,000 Singapore, 25,000 Malaysia, 50,000 Thailand, 120,000 Philippines, 50,000 Indonesia

Promotion

Singles

The album’s first single, "Keep The Faith", was released on October 1992 a month before the album. On the US Billboard charts, the song topped the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart while reaching number twenty nine on the Billboard Hot 100; elsewhere, it reached top ten on the singles charts in UK, Ireland, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, Norway, The Netherlands and Australia.
"Bed of Roses" was released as the second single. On the US Billboard charts, the song reached number ten on the Hot 100. Elsewhere, it reached number two in Canada and number ten in Australia and Germany. Three more commercial singles were released in 1993. "In These Arms", released in May, reached number six in Canada, number nine in the UK, and number ten in Australia and Ireland. It also hit the Top 40 in the US Billboard Hot 100. "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead", released in August, reached number seventeen in the UK. "I Believe" was released only in Europe and Australia; it reached number eleven on the UK Singles Chart in October. In April 1994, the album's last single, "Dry County", was released only in Europe and Australia; it reached number nine on the UK Singles Chart. By the end of 1993, Keep the Faith had sold eight million copies worldwide. In October 1994, the album was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Keep the Faith is the third most-represented album in Bon Jovi's concert setlists behind Slippery When Wet and New Jersey. This representation is due entirely to the singles, of which "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" and the title track have been live staples. Of the pure album tracks, "Blame It on the Love of Rock and Roll" and "I Want You" were each only played once during 1993, whilst "If I Was Your Mother" was performed live only twice during the Keep the Faith Tour and not subsequently. "Little Bit of Soul" has appeared live only twice during special radio sessions and Bon Jovi have performed "Fear" live only six times, all during the French and Spanish legs of the album's supporting tour in April 1993.

Accolades

designates unordered lists.

Track listing

Some Latin American releases feature "Cama de Rosas" as bonus track.
Some releases have misspelt track as 'Dry Country'.
A 1998 edition contains an enhanced CD-ROM video of Keep the Faith

Personnel

Bon Jovi
Additional musicians
Production

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications