After 25 years, the New Jersey rockers understand what their fans require and have honed to precision the things that work for them. The Circle (* * * out of four) delivers on all counts: simple, rousing messages that acknowledge tough times without dwelling on them; fist-pumping choruses loaded with whoa-ohs and sha-la-las; Richie Sambora's soaring guitar solos.

"I can't pretend that nothing's changed," Jon Bon Jovi sings in When We Were Beautiful, the song that gave name to a new documentary about the group. Maybe not, but plenty within The Circle remains the same.

Does it sound familiar? You bet it does. Work for the Working Man comes across like a sequel to Living on a Prayer, because of both its theme and its bass line. Other songs make lyrical or musical allusions to U2, Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane and The Beatles. Song after song, from single We Weren't Born to Follow to Superman Tonight to Fast Cars, speeds along with the rush of fulfilled anticipation.

Go back to 1988, switch this album out in the Bon Jovi catalog for New Jersey, and it sells 7 million copies, easy – and everybody you know can sing all the words to at least three songs.

>Download: When We Were Beautiful, We Weren't Born to Follow, Fast Cars
>Skip: Bullet

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