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Judging by some early notices, you'd think that on The Circle, Bon Jovi's 11th studio album, the Jersey boys have committed some unpardonable sin along the lines of Sonic Youth employing standard tunings or Trent Reznor getting all La Vida Loca on Dancing With The Stars.

By attacking the populist band for writing (gasp!) anthems custom-built for stadiums and, yes, beer commercials, one wonders if some of these self-professed pundits have actually listened to a Bon Jovi record before.

What were they expecting? Fugazi? My Bloody Valentine? Sorry, folks, but Bon Jovi have always been at their best when cranking out and cranking up big-time rockers with titles and lyrics geared for the blue-collar masses.

True, Jon Bon Jovi might never have spent time absorbing the works of John Ford, Woody Guthrie and John Steinbeck as that other Garden State institutuon, Bruce Springsteen, but since the day he first sang about Tommy working on the docks and poor Gina dreaming of running away, you believed his ever word.

On The Circle, the band, again paired with producer and co-writer John Shanks, have ditched all traces of their wildly successful forays into country-pop and create the kind of fist-pumping, chest-beating earnest rock - think variations on Glory Days and Downbound Train and you have a good idea of what we're talking about here - that made them stars 23 years ago.

Oh, and one other thing: With rare exception, each song is instantly memorable, working its way into the thicket of your senses. Don't try to fight it - you'll be humming these tunes in your car whether you're playing the CD or not. Like that's such a bad thing? Please.

1. We Weren't Born To Follow

A driving, minor-key rocker that wastes little time getting to the "Yeah! Yeah!" pre-chorus which yields to a full chorus that va-rooms the pedal to the metal. Richie Sambora's brief guitar solo screams out. Four minutes and three seconds never went by so fast.

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