Keep the Faith: An Inside Look

Writer’s foreword:
Out of all Bon Jovi’s albums, Keep the Faith is by far my favorite. I decided I wanted to try my hand at something I’ve only done before on a smaller scale for my high school newspaper, and review a piece of work that not only holds personal significance for me, but to which many fans are just as emotionally attached. And no, I am not posting this as a response to Anthony's These Days review; I have felt strongly about this album since I first heard it, and have always tried to really formulate my ideas about it. Finally, I got the chance to. It’s a bit daunting, to tell you the truth, but as far as Bon Jovi is concerned, I am first and foremost a fan and secondly, a writer. And in my opinion, that qualifies me just as much as anyone else to mull over the finer parts of an album that is perhaps the most critical in Bon Jovi’s career. So go ahead, read and digest what I have to say, feel free to make comments and leave feedback, but please remember that this is just my personal take.
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If you search Keep the Faith on Wikipedia, you get this summary:

Keep the Faith was released in November 1992. Much more complex, lyrically and musically, the album proved that Bon Jovi could still be a viable band in the 90's, despite the industry's and audience's growing affinity for Grunge. As Bon Jovi's sound morphed itself to work in the 90s music scene, their image changed, as well. The media focused far too much attention on Jon Bon Jovi's hair. When Jon Bon Jovi cut his hair he made headlines on CNN. The shift in style worked, and Bon Jovi was the only American pop-metal band of the '80s to retain a sizable audience throughout the following two decades.

In this bare-boned reflection, you gather two things: 1) Despite a shifting preference toward new music styles in America, Keep the Faith remained successful, and 2) CNN had nothing better to do in 1992 than spread the word about Jon’s shorter locks.

What the article doesn’t (and can’t) address, however, is the content of the album itself. What made it work in a time of changing style? How did it reflect not only America at the time, but the band itself? How did it demonstrate the emergence of a “pop-metal band of the ‘80s” into the 1990’s? And most importantly, what’s the story behind it all?

Because Keep the Faith is far more complex than it appears at first glance. The record in its entirety proves that Bon Jovi was changing and maturing, but at the same time, staying true to their roots. Jon has said it a thousand times before, and will absolutely say it again – they never jumped on anyone’s bandwagon. They morphed and tweaked and shifted ever so slightly to embrace new eras in music, but they never compromised who they were at the heart.

Perhaps the biggest thing to consider about KTF is the way it personified a massive transition for Bon Jovi from their glory days in the 1980’s pop-metal scene – ironically, a time when they burned themselves out from the extreme day-to-day lifestyles of rock stars – to a world that was getting more serious by the minute. It was reinvention at its boldest, a dangerous step in attempting to fit back in to a world that had changed significantly in the band’s absence. The early 1990’s were politically and socially charged, especially in America, which was at the doorstep of a new presidential age. In this sense, the optimistic philosophy embedded in the record’s title was prudent, bolstering the idea that the band had released their first “big boy” album.

That is not to say that their previous works were insignificant or immature, because I of course am a huge fan of New Jersey. But the growing complexity and depth of the songs on Keep the Faith far out-intellect the fun, youthful feel to Bon Jovi’s earlier works.

In a parallel movement, Keep the Faith not only demonstrated that the band was becoming more serious, but likewise, they were taken more seriously as well. After all, if they had released another 80’s style record in a time when society was changing so much and embracing a new era, they would have fallen flat on their asses.

Though the album’s dominating theme is optimism, reflections on the struggles and hardships of the time are ever-present. As with any Jovi record, which all fans will attest to, the songs tell stories. While anything pre-New Jersey had woven tales of romance and youth, partying in the streets and “living in sin”, this record illustrated how Jon – and Richie – were developing a more worldly view. They were maturing, both in their songwriting and their own philosophies, questioning and reflecting on the nastier sides of society, waking up to the shadows of culture. Without even knowing them, any fan could tell that this was hugely influenced by their hiatus between New Jersey and Keep the Faith, the time when all the band members went their separate ways…and grew up.

The songs each tell stories within themselves, but the album as a whole is strategically sequenced to tell a universal story alone. It starts out with the religiously tinged opening track, “I Believe”, a song that boldly proclaims self-worth and dismisses the influence of the media on our lives. (Don’t look up to your movie screens, in record stores or magazines, close your eyes and you will see that you are all you really need…) With it, Bon Jovi sets the stage for their comeback album in a way that reminds fans they didn’t drop off the earth. Simultaneously, the song acts as a greeting after a long time apart – as if to say look, times have changed and are still changing, but don’t lose yourself in it.

The self-titled “Keep the Faith” was a chart-topping single, promoting emotional perseverance and indeed, faith, in a world where humanity is dying. Through its interplay between a “wayward son” and his estranged parents, issues such as forgiveness and having someone to believe in – and someone to believe in you – dominate. Jon’s monologue in the middle of the song subtly reflect not only the characterization of the lyrical character, but no doubt of Jon himself: Walking in the footsteps of society’s lies - I don’t like what I see no more, sometimes I wish that I was blind …


Watch Bon Jovi's performance of 'Keep the Faith' from the famous Live From London tour in 1995.

“I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead” goes back to traditional Bon Jovi – a fun song with a blatant message: “I ain’t gonna live forever, but I sure as hell am gonna party while doing it.” The music is upbeat, the lyrics lighthearted, but one can still find the heavier message if they listen between the lines: time on earth is short, and you better spend it having fun and making the most of it. (I was born to live, you know I wasn’t born to die…)

“In These Arms” is, in my opinion, the most powerful ballad they’ve ever written, and one of the most passionate love songs I’ve ever heard. Though it starts out slowly to a gentle piano/guitar melody, the song quickly turns powerful, bringing to life the desperation it encases. The story centers around a longing, determined love that cannot be swayed, for a woman who is missing from the picture. The lyrics themselves are deeply meaningful, proclaiming unbridled love at its rawest and most primal. Baby I want you, like the roses want the rain – you know I need you, like the poet needs the pain – and I would give anything, my blood, my love, my life, if you were in these arms tonight…

“Bed Of Roses” is sadder and more reflective than “In These Arms”. It showcases Jon’s solo work – an angle that is exclusively him, without the balance of Richie’s songwriting. It is considerably more poetic and symbolic, featuring a tortured artist who’s gotten himself in too deep, and longs only for the comfort of his true love.

To rev things back up after two ballads, Keep the Faith transitions to “If I Was Your Mother”, a slightly twisted, different take on attraction. It brings into consideration the impact of a stronger attachment for a man who cares for a woman more than she seems to care for him. The drums and guitar in this one are heavy, contrasting starkly with the gentle lulls of the previous songs.

“Dry County” is arguably the most meaningful track on the entire record – symbolizing a very real account of the decline of the oil industry and the lives of those whose income relied on it. At the same time, however, it holds a parallel of the hardships of life in general, and addresses the recession in a way that Bon Jovi excels at – music. Now the oil’s gone, and the money’s gone, all the jobs are gone, still we’re hanging on…down in dry county …no one’s getting out of here alive. The music itself is critical to note, as well, since ‘Dry County’ is the longest song on the record. While it starts out slow, it climaxes in a ripping guitar solo by Richie, then tapers off and fades in ending. In a way, the length of the song could be said to symbolize the idea of the never-ending drought and economic failure, and the pit of despair that accompanies them. Perhaps the epitome of the maturity Bon Jovi exhibited at the time, the song is their most complex and socially-relevant one to date.

The placement of the next two songs on the record are key – after an admittedly depressing look at helplessness, the listener needs a change. “Woman In Love” and “Fear” switch things up to more lighthearted lyrics and upbeat music at the same time. The former depicts women as sexy, self-assured creatures when they’re in love, contrasting the narrator as a man who can’t help himself around them – while the latter touches upon a lifestyle of crime and trouble, asserting courage in the face of adversity. (You ain't one for taking chances – you work and live and breathe that 9 to 5 – still that's what you call living - that's surviving to me - and surviving is living to die in fear…)

“I Want You” throws in yet one more ballad for good measure, stirring up the mix to balance it out. A pure power ballad, with one simple, albeit sad, message: trying too hard to please can drive away the one you love. I may have built for you a dreamhouse, but never thought you were alone - I filled the party up with company, but never made our house a home…

Nearing the end of the record, “Blame It On the Love of Rock and Roll” is both a fun, lighthearted balance and undoubtedly autobiographical about Jon’s boyhood. On the surface, however, it is universal and speaks to lovers of rock n’ roll everywhere – there ain’t no cure for it, baby!

In its closing, Keep the Faith wraps up with a final reflection on humanity: “Little Bit of Soul”. While it brings the record full circle, the track is jazzy, bluesy, and features a whole lotta soul. Parallelism abounds again, as the idea that “what we need to get by is a little bit of soul” pertains not only to the individual listener, but the world as a whole: if we all exhibited just a little more faith, a little more morality, we’d all be okay. No matter how down and out you are, if you stay true to yourself you’ll be fine. It keeps true to the theme of the entire album, and ends with the perfect subtle message for fans to chew on until the next album.

Bon Jovi performed an intimate groundbreaking performance called Keep the Faith: An Evening With Bon Jovi to promote the release of the album. The feel of everything the album denotes is brought to life by Jon's own words; the performance of Little Bit of Soul proves just that.

Now, I took you on a journey through these songs one by one because I feel it was too important not to. Each track is an integral part of something bigger, a complex piece of art that had been picked at, mulled over, fleshed out, and no doubt changed a hundred times by the band before it was even released. They put effort into sequencing the tracks just right, in a way that told individual stories, sent different messages, and kept things balanced out from a logistic and auditory perspective, and I think that effort should be appreciated.

Aside from the maturity of the record’s theme, the changes in music are notable too. I’m no good with specifics about instrument tuning, steps, or the like (that’s my guitarist boyfriend’s job), but I do know that even the untrained musician’s ear can hear differences between KTF and its predecessors.

For one thing, Jon’s voice deepens slightly and the screaming 80’s power rock is long gone. However, he still incorporates that high, almost pleading voice with certain songs – because it fits. The title track, for example, requires a ton of desperation to fit the lyrics, while power ballads are passionate and require higher pitches.

Richie experiments with his own style after branching out for a solo album during the band’s hiatus; he seems a bit more “freelance” and creative about it on KTF, and it works.

David and Tico provide solid backup, as always, but start emerging from the background and making appearances in the foreground: for example, David was a major contributor to the writing of “In These Arms” and without his backing vocals, that song is considerably weakened.

David Bryan also released his own vocal version of the song on his solo album, Lunar Eclipse. Give it a listen:


Ultimately, some of the band’s best work (ever) emerges from this album – lyrical quality and writing, meaningful messages and tones, all blended with superb music talent. One could say it is the “teenager” in Bon Jovi’s career – symbolizing a maturing teen’s view of the world, starting to question things that just don’t seem right, embracing a more cultured awareness…but having fun while doing it.

And the beauty of it is that it has remained relevant to this day. Though it was crafted for a dual purpose in reinvention and social reflection, the theme resonates with every human being and speaks loudly to the generations struggling through the ever-dismal eras of America. It encourages faith, morality, and perseverance, while still providing an escape to romance and adventure that Bon Jovi is so known for. Behind the critic’s cynical eye (for Bon Jovi was criminally underrated, despite the roaring statistical success, in the ‘90s) Keep the Faith demonstrates the strength of a band that not only survived a lull in their career and came back with a vengeance, but moreover withstood the test of time and cultural shifts to emerge as a strong, powerful act filled with potential…and worthy of continued respect.