Bon Jovi
Slippery When Wet (Mercury Universal)
Exclusive numbered limited liquid disc edition
It's hard to imagine that at this point, anyone who wants a copy of Bon Jovi's mega-selling hard rock classic album Slippery When Wet doesn't have one. That said, this latest vinyl reissue has to be seen to be believed because the damn this is sloshing with water. It's literally wet, if not slippery.
More specifically, a clear vinyl sandwich, expertly sealed, houses a liquid of some sort. It's a lot of fun to watch spinning on the decks even if it is a bit of a gimmick.
"Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band Bon Jovi will unveil their Diamond-certified best-selling third full-length album, Slippery When Wet, on vinyl and Digital Deluxe on February 28, 2025," they say. "The original record will be available in various configurations through the artist store, including an exclusive liquid-filled vinyl disc limited to 1300 copies worldwide, and a picture disc limited to 1500 copies. It also arrives on cassette limited to 500 copies. Additionally Slippery When Wet will be available as a Deluxe Edition with seven bonus tracks, on 2CD and digitally at all streamers."
That's cool. It feels a little redundant to review the actual music at this point, but suffice to say that some of the Jovi's best-known tunes are on here, including the iconic "Living on a Prayer" and "You Give Love a Bad Name."
The non-singles, such as "Let it Rock," "Social Disease" and "I'd Die For You," are bangers too and iut';s easy to see why this album has shifted so many units.
Slinky Vagabond
The Eternal Return (Slinky Vagabond)
Red vinyl LP
The main men of Slinky Vagabond are Keenan Duffty and Fabio Fabbri. Outside of that, the project has always been a bit of a revolving lineup of guest musicians, by design.
David Bowie man Earl Slick has passed through the ranks, as has Blondie's Clem Burke and Sex Pistol Glen Matlock. Both Slick and Matlock pop up with co-writing credits on The Eternal Return. Meanwhile, another couple of Bowie peeps, Mike Garson and Ava Cherry, appear, as do Dom Belen (Nick Mason/The Orb), Percy Jones (Brand X/Kate Bush) and Christian Dryden (The Ritualists). Not bad.
More importantly, the songs are great. There are psychedelic elements, but also heaps of jangle-pop and Brit-pop. "Perfect World" is the song that Matlock got his mitts on, and it's a riotous stomper. The closing "End of the Show" is where Slick made his mark, and it's an epic, melodic journey with hints of the Beatles. But there are joyful rock gems all over this thing, including "Roller Coaster Ride" and "If Looks Could Kill."
"The Eternal Return’s lyrics concern mortality, morality, abstraction, and also some straightforward storytelling,” says Duffty. “The album title is in reference to the philosophical idea that time repeats itself in an infinite cycle, with the same events occurring in the same way over and over again,” he adds cheekily. “I don't necessarily subscribe to this,” Duffty continues. “Nietzsche believed that without a higher meaning, humanity would eventually become concerned only with small pleasures. That, I do believe. So we must be creative to fulfill our higher selves. That is the message of our record.”
Fair enough!
