These Days is Bon Jovi's sixth studio album, released on June 27, 1995. This was the first album Bon Jovi released after the departure of bassist Alec John Such. Hugh McDonald unofficially replaced Such as bassist. The album, produced by Peter Collins, Richie Sambora and Jon Bon Jovi, was an overall darker album in contrast to the band's usual brand of feel-good, inspiring rock songs and love ballads.
At the time of release, the album was a huge commercial hit, particularly in Europe and Japan. In Japan, the album debuted at number one on the Oricon chart with sales of 379,000, becoming the fastest selling album by a non-Japanese act in history of the country's chart. In the UK, These Days replaced Michael Jackson's album HIStory at number one on the UK Albums Chart and spent four consecutive weeks at #1. The album spawned four Top 10 singles on the UK Singles Chart, the band's highest number of Top 10 singles from one album in UK. The album also topped Billboard European Albums Chart for seven weeks and certified triple platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry for selling 3 million copies across Europe.
The album was ranked number two on Q magazine's list of the "Top 50 albums of 1995". In, 2006 the album featured in the Classic Rock & Metal Hammer's The "200 Greatest Albums Of The 90's".
In the U.S., despite selling 1 million copies and certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the album wasn't as successful as it did on the overseas. The album peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200.
The high sales of the album in Europe warranted a re-issue of the album under the name of These Days Special Edition a year after its original release.