Hey folks,

Found the following at the Billboard site......sheds some light on Max Martin's participation and the subsequent accusations of being Backstreet Boys soundalikes. Jon Talks about Martin's degree of participation.......
Cheers,
Jack.


Bon Jovi's "Crush" is the veteran rock outfit's first new album in five years. The set -- the band's first for the Island/Def Jam Music Group, the label that subsumed Bon Jovi's longtime label, Mercury Records, in the Universal/PolyGram merger -- debuted at No. 1 on the U.K. album chart.

When the band reunited 18 months ago to begin working on its first album since "These Days," Jon Bon Jovi surprised his bandmates by walking in with 30 songs. He then spent the next year writing another 30 songs with band guitarist Richie Sambora.

First single "It's My Life" is already off to a good start at hot AC, top 40, and rock radio. The song was co-written by Jon Bon Jovi and Sambora, although popmeister Max Martin is also given a songwriting credit primarily for his encouragement.

"He's gonna get a piece of the song for coming in and telling Richie and me what a big thing 'Livin' On A Prayer' was to him," says Jon Bon Jovi. "He didn't write every word of it; he didn't write the chord progression either. But he did sit at the keyboard when we were in the room, and the rules are if you're in the room, I give you a third of the song."

A 50-date tour starts July 12 in Tokyo and goes to Europe before coming to the U.S. in the fall.