I think Rolo is being unfairly flamed. His suggestion that an album with the same producer and same label will likely just create more of the same is not an unreasonable or unrealistic prediction. They may have recorded it differently this time with the entire band together rather than the piecemeal method they've been using for a while, but I don't see that alone making a monumental difference. I think the biggest difference with this album will be, for better or for worse, Richie's absence.

Had Jon replaced Shanks and/or had he gone with either an indy or some other label which could have possibly provided him with more artistic freedom, then the expectation of a truly different Bon Jovi album would be far greater. But Rolo expressing that he doesn't foresee a huge departure from the past few albums under this recurring model Jon keeps using is a fair in my opinion.