While Bon Jovi was a respected Rock band after the release of their 1984 self-titled album (which featured the Top 40 Hit “Runaway), for many (including the band), 1985’s 7800° Fahrenheit (featuring Top 100 Hits “Only Lonely” and “In and Out of Love”) was a bit of a letdown. A sophomore album that was recorded rapidly in six weeks; even though the record remains a fan-favorite, the band themselves felt rushed and as if they did not meet their own expectations of who they were striving to be. Who was that, exactly? Rock-n-Roll superstars, of course, and that is how everything unfolded with the release of Slippery When Wet in 1986.
A pivotal moment in Bon Jovi’s history, the band burnt the midnight oil to make Slippery When Wet the best possible record they could create. In fact, they spent nearly seven months recording it between January and July of 1986. Diving deep into the writing and refining their sound to have a more Pop friendly texture as opposed to the heavier Metal feel of their first two records, they called on the accomplished Songwriter Desmond Child (who wrote songs like KISS’s 1979 hit “I Was Made for Lovin’ You,” and worked with other mega songwriters like Bob Crewe who assisted the Four Seasons) to help shape the songs. This is while the band enlisted Canada’s Bruce Fairbairn (who worked with the likes of Loverboy, Blue Öyster Cult, Krokus, and Honeymoon Suite prior) to handle the production. The result was an album full of radio-ready hit songs that had a Metal edge and a Pop sensibility that appealed to a massive spectrum of listeners.
A recipe for success, with Child in the mix, the songs were still very much written heavy-handedly by the dynamic duo of Bandleader Jon Bon Jovi and the highly underrated Richie Sambora. Together, they crafted some truly magical tracks that lit up the charts between 1986 and 1987 with the gun-slinging western vibed “Wanted Dead or Alive,” Glam Metal banger “You Give Love a Bad Name,” power ballad “Never Say Goodbye,” but also one of the biggest Rock hits of the entire decade, “Livin’ on a Prayer.”
A wild time for Bon Jovi; when Slipper When Wet came out on August 18, 1986, it picked up steam immediately to peak at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, spent 38 weeks inside the Top 5 of the Billboard 200, which included eight weeks at No. 1., and it was a best selling album of the year right behind megastar Whitney Houston’s 1985 debut and Madonna’s 1986 juggernaut, True Blue. In fact, Slippery When Wet was so hot that it finished at number one in 1987 on the US Billboard 200 charts and became one of the best-selling records of the entire decade.
Striving for sheer excellence and achieving it, the work put in by the entire band beyond Jon and Sambora, including Bassist Alec John Such, Drummer Tico Torres, and Keyboardist, makes Slipper When Wet arguably one of the most acclaimed Rock albums of all time. Gearing up for a monumental forty-year anniversary in 2026, tons of special releases are arriving in 2025 as a pre-emanated celebration.
Exciting for fans, in 2024 alone, Bon Jovi released the impressive Forever studio album and was the subject of the exceptional docuseries Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story. Additionally, they released a signed/numbered limited edition book called Bon Jovi Forever, a limited-edition ruby-colored vinyl LP reissue, and a limited-edition cassette of the debut Bon Jovi album.
Now, conceding a busy 2025, the band is re-releasing Slippery When Wet in various configurations, including an exclusive liquid-filled vinyl disc limited to 1,300 copies worldwide! Looking more closely at this inventive new format, you get a clear vinyl pressing of the album, which, yes, has liquid inside.
It is hard to understand how it works, but it is no less a smilemaking conversation piece. However, if you select to actually spin it on your turntable, the water trapped inside the vinyl does not affect the sound quality or playback one bit. Carefully designed, the weight is just right, and the quality is top-notch to make it not only visually stunning but also a functional listen.
Available to purchase on February 28, 2025, through UME, this must-have liquid-filled vinyl disc is complemented by the other releases of a picture disc (limited to 1,500 copies), a new cassette (limited to 500 copies), a Deluxe Edition (with seven bonus tracks as part of two CDS), and digitally streaming options.
Overall, it is an exciting and unique way to celebrate Slippery When Wet, which is now diamond-selling status with over fifteen million copies sold in the US alone and twenty-eight million worldwide. That is why it is highly recommended to get one of the special new releases, especially the liquid-filled vinyl disc, with Cryptic Rock giving it 5 out of 5 stars.
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