The album mainly focuses on the theme of redemption and whether an individual's past wrongs will catch up with them. Another theme on the album is about making a stand and making yourself heard in the world. Jon Bon Jovi said on the "100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong" DVD that he originally thought the album's aggression and themes dealt with Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett from "Young Guns II" but has come to realize that they reflect the bad place he was in at the time. The album more or less transitioned Jon's songwriting from mostly girls and having a good time to other subject matters, which would lead into him and his band's further maturing in songwriting with 1992's "Keep the Faith".