All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Billboard.com

The New Jersey group gets back to the business of rocking on its 11th studio album, The Circle.

Read Full Review >

The New York Times

But even while Mr. Bon Jovi is sympathizing with the common man, the scrape in his voice is never wrenching. And while the arrangements are mildly darker than on the group’s previous albums, this group is still drawn magnetically to swelling choruses, its ambition of scale still grander than its ambition of import.

Read Full Review >

Spin

Predictable and immaculately produced, these arena-shakers offer a familiar brand of Jersey cheese, but where Jon Bon Jovi once was kind of quixotic ('Livin' on a Prayer'), he's more contemplative than ever, turning out meditations like 'Live Before You Die' ("There'll come a day when you have to say hello to goodbye").

Read Full Review >

Rolling Stone

It does rock--if your idea of rock is Aerosmith doing Diane Warren songs.

Read Full Review >

Q Magazine

More than a quarter century down the line, Bon Jovi are still living and selling the rock 'n' roll fantasy on The Circle. Why Not? They've done very nicely out of it. [Jan 2010, p. 126]

Entertainment Weekly

Between cliches and Jon's strained voice, The Circle just feels tired.

Read Full Review >

Boston Globe

Slick production and beer-ad bombast grease these 12 tracks. Singer Jon Bon Jovi has yet to meet a cliche he can’t work into a song.

Read Full Review >

Hot Press

Predictable return to stadium soft-rock from former Poodle-permers.

Read Full Review >

All Music Guide

A knack for oversized choruses remains hardwired in Bon Jovi, but in this gloomy context, they act as reminders that they once sounded like they were a working band for working men instead of rich men fretting about a world they've long left behind.

Read Full Review >

Los Angeles Times

The Circle shows off Bon Jovi's still-sharp knack for wedding blandly optimistic sentiments to predictably soaring choruses. Unfortunately, it's getting pretty hard to tell one song from the next.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.2 (out of 10) based on 32 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Luis G. gave it a0:
I used to like Bon Jovi, a lot but what they do nowadays is...so sadly BAD it is not rock, in any way.

Davey H. gave it a7:
While the songs are not bad, by the end they start to sound the same. What Bon Jovi did great in most of his other albums is the variety of different songs throughout the album. In The Circle every song sticks to a classic rocking rhythm, which on it's own is not bad, but the bar has been set and Bon Jovi didn't quite make it.

Music

Upcoming &Recent Releases

The Circle

Album Info

Summary

What The Critics Said

What Our Users Said

Upcoming &
Recent Releases