Cross Road is the first official greatest hits album by American rock band Bon Jovi, released on October 11, 1994, by Mercury Records. The album contains hits from all previously released albums from their debut, Bon Jovi (1984) to Keep the Faith (1992). The album includes two new tracks: the hit singles "Always" and "Someday I'll Be Saturday Night", as well as "Prayer 94", a new version of "Livin' on a Prayer" only on the North American versions. "Runaway" was never recorded with the current band, though at that time there were plans to put a "Runaway '94" on the album but it was never recorded. The diner located on the cover of the album is the Roadside Diner in Wall Township, NJ, near the crossroads of Route 33 and Route 34.
The album's first single "Always" went top five in many countries. It spent six months in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 and became Bon Jovi's biggest selling single in the United States. Its international success helped the album to peak at number one in 13 countries and made it Polygram Records' best-selling album of 1994. It is Bon Jovi's best selling album in many countries. It has sold over 21.5 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time.
In 2005, Cross Road was re-issued as a 3-disc box set under the name "Deluxe Sound & Vision", which included the original remastered album, a bonus CD containing B-sides, rarities and fan favourites, and the Live from London DVD. The original remastered album was released in 1998. A video, also entitled Cross Road, was simultaneously released, containing 16 of the band's music videos.
Release and reception
In the United States, the album debuted and peaked at number 8 on the Billboard 200 the week of November 5, 1994 The album was certified 7× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2024, ten years after release, and has sold over seven million copies in the United States.
In the United Kingdom, Cross Road debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and spent a total of five non-consecutive weeks atop the chart, later becoming the best-selling album of 1994. The album was certified 6× platinum by the BPI. It spent two weeks at number one in Australia
The album won Metal Edge's 1994 Readers' Choice Awards for "Album of the Year" and "Best Hits or Compilation Album". Its namesake home video was voted "Best Video Cassette," and the single "Always" was voted "Song of the Year" and "Best Video Clip".
Track listing
Personnel
Credits adapted from Cross Roads liner notes.
Bon Jovi
- Jon Bon Jovi – lead vocals, acoustic rhythm guitar, additional guitars
- Richie Sambora – lead guitars, backing vocals
- David Bryan – keyboards, backing vocals
- Alec John Such – bass, backing vocals
- Tico Torres – drums, percussion
Additional musicians
- Hugh McDonald – bass, backing vocals
- Kenny Aronoff – drums and percussion on "Blaze of Glory"
- Jeff Beck – lead and slide guitars on "Blaze of Glory"
- Jeanie Brooks – background vocals on "In and Out of Love"
|2
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!scope="row"|Danish Albums (Nielsen Marketing Research)
|1
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!scope="row"|Estonian Albums (Eesti Top 10)
|align="center"|1
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!scope="row"|European Albums (Music & Media)
|1
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!scope="row"|Finnish Albums (Seura)
|1
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!scope="row"|French Compilations (SNEP)
|3
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!scope="row"|Hungarian Albums Chart
|4
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!scope="row"|Irish Albums (IFPI)
|2
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!scope="row"|Italian Albums (Musica e dischi)
|1
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!scope="row"|Japanese Albums (Dempa Publications, Inc)
|1
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|-
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!scope="row"|Portuguese Albums (AFP)
|1
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!scope="row"|Spanish Albums (AFYVE)
|2
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Year-end charts
{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+Year-end chart performance for Cross Road
!scope="column"|Chart (1994)
!scope="column"|Position
|-
!scope="row"|Australian Albums (ARIA)
|3
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!scope="row"|Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)
|17
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!scope="row"|Canadian Albums (RPM)
|29
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!scope="row"|Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)
|9
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!scope="row"|German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)
|21
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!scope="row"|Japanese Albums (Oricon)
|28
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!scope="row"|New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)
|37
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!scope="row"|Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)
|47
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!scope="row"|UK Albums (OCC)
|1
|}
{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
!scope="column"|Chart (1995)
!scope="column"|Position
|-
!scope="row"|Australian Albums (ARIA)
|26
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!scope="row"|Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)
|8
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!scope="row"|Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)
|30
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!scope="row"|Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)
|22
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!scope="row"|Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)
|15
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!scope="row"| Europe (European Top 100 Albums)
|align="center"|3
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!scope="row"|German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)
|align="center"|11
|-
!scope="row"|Japanese Albums (Oricon)
|31
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!scope="row"|Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)
|11
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!scope="row"|UK Albums (OCC)
|38
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!scope="row"|US Billboard 200
|41
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|}
{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
!Chart (2002)
!Position
|-
!scope="row"|Canadian Metal Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)
| style="text-align:center;"|40
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{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
!scope="column"|Chart (2006)
!scope="column"|Position
|-
!scope="row"|UK Albums (OCC)
|189
|}
{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
!scope="column"|Chart (2007)
!scope="column"|Position
|-
!scope="row"|UK Albums (OCC)
|158
|}
{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
!scope="column"|Chart (2008)
!scope="column"|Position
|-
!scope="row"|UK Albums (OCC)
|175
|}
{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
!scope="column"|Chart (2009)
!scope="column"|Position
|-
!scope="row"|UK Albums (OCC)
|156
|}
Decade-end charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+Decade-end chart performance for Cross Road
!Chart (1990s)
!Position
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!scope="row"|Austrian Albums Chart
|9
|}
Certifications and sales
See also
- Cross Road (videos)
- List of best-selling albums in Australia
- List of best-selling albums
- List of diamond-certified albums in Canada