Happy Anniversary Slippery When Wet...

Twenty-Five years ago today, a little album entitled Slippery When Wet hit the stands and the rock scene was never the same. It was the first rock album to generate three (3) top ten hits: You Give Love a Bad Name, Livin' on a Prayer (both of which hit number 1) and Wanted Dead or Alive (peaked at #7. The album spent 8 weeks at number 1 and another 30 inside the top 5 on the Billboard charts.

Currently, this album has sold 12 million copies and is the 48th best selling album of all time. It was certified Diamond by RIAA and was the best selling album of 1987 in the United States.

The album also sported two covers, the first being shot down by Jon Bon Jovi has it had a hot pink frame around a fairly well-endowed young woman sporting a modified yellow and black Slippery When Wet T-Shirt.

Jon vetoed this cover when he saw it in full color.  (He had only seen a black and white copy up until the night before the album was supposed to be released).  At the eleventh hour Jon walked into the photographer's studio, grabbed a black garbage bag, sprayed it with water and wrote (with his finger) the  Slippery When Wet cover we all know and love.

The band has said on more than one occasion, that this album was the turning point in their career.  Their first two albums did all right, but this one took them from being an opening act to full blown, headlining super-stardom.

They have never looked back.

Are they the critics favorites?  Not on your life.
Are they fan favorites?  Without a doubt.

One Hundred Thirty million albums sold, concerts in more than 50 countries performed before 34 million fans, I'd say they have been and continue to be one of the best rock acts of all time. 

Critics be damned.