NEW YORK - MEMBERS of Bon Jovi were supposed to be taking it easy this winter, basking in adulation and just letting the money roll in.

They had a flattering documentary of their last tour airing on Showtime - called 'When We Were Beautiful' - and a companion book of photos and reminiscences. They also had a greatest-hits album planned, which would be virtually like printing money.

It seemed time to kick back and recharge those rock 'n' roll batteries. Lead singer Jon Bon Jovi and guitarist Richie Sambora, who had pulled himself together after addiction and a tabloid divorce from Heather Locklear, sat down in September 2008 to knock out new tunes for the greatest-hits CD to follow-up 2007's 'Lost Highway,' the band's flirtation with country music.

It turned out to not be that simple. 'So we're writing boy-girl songs and rehab songs - Richie having gotten it together - and then suddenly the world changes,' says Jon Bon Jovi by phone from London.

While they wrote, the economy tanked - foreclosures swept the nation, unemployment soared. It seemed like everyone was livin' on a prayer. The New Jersey-bred songwriters got swept up in the moment. A few new socially conscious songs led to a few more. Nine months later they had too many.

'We went to the record company and said, 'Well, we've got good news and bad news,'' recalls Sambora, 50, also by phone from London. ''The bad news is you're not getting a greatest hits. The good news is you're going to have a great studio album.'' The result is 'The Circle,' an album with plenty of get-off-your-knees, reach-for-the-sky rock anthems begging for arena screams. It's a CD that should be shipped with its own lighter. -- AP