Once your star burns bright enough, it doesn’t matter all that much about the quality of your work. Bon Jovi released a miserable album, Legendary, which played up the tones which made him a legendary figure at pub discos and quiz shows on forgotten terrestrial television. Living Proof, a song which slots Jelly Roll into the studio for an attempted punch at modern relevancy, is agonising. Not least because it pairs two bizarrely popular yet shallow artists, but because neither has the decency to work with heartfelt intentions. Neither has shown their desire to push the limits of their songwriting or style, as limited as both may be. An ailing glam rock momentum and whatever it is that Jelly Roll fans think he provides them is the blur here on Living Proof. At least the preceding song had Bruce Springsteen. How much he did with so little.
It depends on what you make of the collaborators, and when neither inspires much faith or hope, it makes listening all the harder. Somewhat embarrassing it may be to have this scanned onto Last.fm, it’s worth giving Living Proof a listen. Listen in close enough and you can hear the instrumental fatigue of decades chasing the high of Livin’ on a Prayer. Bon Jovi and Jelly Roll accept this not as a limitation, but as an inevitability to get audiences involved. Music which reminds you of another time, a happier past, will root itself there and fester. You’ll be conned by Living Proof into thinking there is a heartfelt flourish, an intensity or instrumental inspiration worth hearing. There is no such experience. Painful even for a few seconds, stagger through to the end of Living Proof and you’ll be stronger than most. Achingly tiresome glam rock structures, which were expanded on by the bands Bon Jovi influenced. Their inability to change with the times means they, at best, sound fusty and dated.
A shame to waste a decent voice. Bon Jovi still has a decent vocal range but seems uninterested in entertaining the twilight years. He says it himself, he has “nothing else to prove” and is “living proof” of success. Selling records is no sign of success, just popularity. Donnie Emerson sold five records and did more for music than Bon Jovi or Jelly Roll. Living Proof is a fascinating car crash. It’s the religious flavours of Jelly Roll crushed into the soft tempo, inevitably steady instrumentals of this predictable pop slop. Living proof of what, exactly? That’s the missing link here. Roll and Jovi may be a popular double but their impact, their influence, is not felt in circles of sincerity or interest. At its best, Living Proof is passable, plodding rock which will be solid filler for road trips without an end in sight.
But for those at home, or those wanting to hear what the new generation of chart-topping songwriter can offer that of old, it’s a grating experience. Limited guitar work, percussion work which dislodges a bit of hope with every beat, and a frankly uninteresting story to behold. Bon Jovi is living proof, again, of what? Hitmakers can coast off their successes, and the audience will be convinced enough by the sole success to keep returning. Vapid nonsense at the best of times and a return to a song which not only wasn’t the best of his works but wasn’t far from the mole hill heights of Jelly Roll’s output so far. Vacant songwriting, a message of such passiveness it’ll only work if you haven’t had experiences of your own. Bon Jovi is excellent at that, Jelly Roll too. But excelling in forms where the music is so barebones and flippant is nothing special. Nor is Living Proof.
