John Shanks article - Some Jovi Related
 

Here is an article I saw posted at backstage. It is about John Shanks. I tried to bold most of the parts that deal with Bon Jovi. I may have missed some of the references though.

Saturdaynight

More Mr. Nice Guy: everyone wants to work with John Shanks, today's hottest producer.(Cover Story)




Billboard; 5/21/2005; Newman, Melinda



Call it the fear factor. Despite winning a Grammy Award in February for producer of the year and steering several multiplatinum projects, John Shanks admits that he is deeply driven by the belief that it could all vanish at any moment.

"I always think this is my last gig and I'm never going to work again and they're going to come pull me out of here and find out that I suck," he says. "So I might as well take good work when I can get it."

That explains why Shanks, 42, is a man who can't say no. The day after winning the Grammy, he was back in the studio at 11 a.m. with PlatinumWeird, Dave Stewart's new duo with frequent Shanks co-writer Kara DioGuardi.

In recent weeks, Shanks has also worked on projects for Santana, Jewel, Melissa Etheridge, Bon Jovi, Enrique Iglesias and Sheryl Crow. When asked how he cleanses his palate between projects, he just shrugs and says, "I don't."
Yet those who work with Shanks say he manages to bring a non-formulaic freshness to each project, whether it be Ashlee Simpson's triple-platinum "Autobiography," which he co-wrote and produced; Crow's massive hit "The First Cut Is the Deepest"; or Kelly Clarkson's recent smash "Breakaway." (Shanks won his best producer Grammy for his work on those projects, as well as his sessions with Hilary Duff, Robbie Robertson and Alanis Morissette.)

"He's a rare combination of songwriter, musician and producer, but he also has a great feel of working with artists that's hard to find," Interscope Geffen A&M chairman Jimmy Iovine says.

Plus, Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora says, "He's a great guy."

But Shanks is thinking it may be time to add another distinction to that list: label head.

Even though he spent 2001-2003 at Atlantic Records as VP of A&R, Shanks has avoided the lure of his own imprint. That is, until now. He'll admit to being "in talks" with some folks, but nothing is imminent.

He says he wants to be more involved with an album once it leaves the studio. "David Foster says it's like sticking [the CD] under the jail-cell door," he says. "You create this thing, and they take it, and it hopefully finds a home."

For now, Shanks' home is Hollywood's Studio C at Henson Studios (the old A&M lot). He set up shop here four years ago after deciding he did not want artists rummaging through his refrigerator or urinating on the toilet seat when they recorded in his home studio. He shares the space with his longtime engineer, Jeff Rothschild.

The walls and ceiling are draped in diaphanous Indian scarves. Any available shelf space is filled with books, while much of the walls are covered with black-and-white photographs, including two of John Lennon taken by Shanks' photojournalist mother. The look is bohemian bordello.

The scarf motif carries over to an adjoining room, where he and artists hang out and write, and there are also stacks of guitar cases, which hark back to Shanks' start as a touring and session guitarist. He still plays on many of the records he produces.

Shanks, who is low-key and affable, glows when he talks about music. He dissects a Pink Floyd tune with scientific precision, but then freely admits that there's an inexplicable magic that makes something a hit that can't be reduced to technical expertise.

He is also the antithesis of a music snob: "I like 'Sugar, Sugar' just as much as I like 'cranky_ladyes Brew,'" he says.

That openness endears him to his collaborators. "It is invigorating working with someone who is without cynicism and who genuinely loves music," Crow says. Shanks produced and co-wrote much of Crow's next two Interscope albums, the first of which will come out later this year.

LADIES' MAN

Maybe Shanks just hasn't met the right guy. How else can you explain his phenomenal string of successes with female artists, including Crow, Etheridge, Simpson, Morissette and Michelle Branch. Morissette says working with Shanks on her 2004 album, "So-Called Chaos," was "the most effortless and humor-filled recording time I've had in years."

However, even joking about the reputation he has as a ladies' man--in the studio, that is--takes away from the volume of work he has done with male artists, whether it be the upcoming Bon Jovi and Iglesias records or past projects with Robertson, Vertical Horizon, Chris Isaak and Unwritten Law.

"When I worked with Robbie, he said, 'You gotta get some testosterone back into this room!'" Shanks recalls.

But he says that for the most part, he has found the music that women are making more compelling than that of their male counterparts.

"I'd love to work with some amazing male artists," he says. "Hopefully, the music world will let them explore their vulnerable sides too. That's what I miss. I listen to Cat Stevens and think, 'This is so amazing!' or early James Taylor and Nick Drake. You're like, 'God, where is this [now]?'" At the same time, he feels his work with Bon Jovi and Keith Urban has allowed some male vulnerability to shine through. Etheridge jokes that she believes she broke in Shanks for the other women. Shanks toured with her starting in i988 and helped produce her i999 album, "Breakdown." They just finished three new songs for a greatest-hits package.

"I take it as a compliment that I taught him how to respect the ladies," she says. "He has always treated me with respect and never said, 'You can't do that because you're a girl.'"

Moreover, Etheridge feels Shanks fosters a welcoming environment. "It's rare," she says. "What he does is create a space where we're able to experiment."

Shanks says he works best with artists who feel, as he does, that the studio is hallowed ground. But when they don't share that feeling, or when he's working with acts who "need to go through the barbed wire and the mud just to feel like they've done what they're trying to get to"--and they try to take Shanks with them--he says that's when he reminds himself, "You just have to shut up and take it and do your job."

"Really, I'm very tenacious. I can take a lot of pain," he continues. "There have been a few that I wanted to walk out on, there have been a couple. I almost got into a fistfight with somebody. They were inebriated, it was three in the morning, and they were sure that I had erased something on purpose and they wanted to get into a fight, and I said, 'I'm not going to go there with you.' "

Then there is his role as therapist.

There are artists "where I have literally gone out into the room and hugged the singer because they're crying because the lyric is so heavy. I've been a witness on people's divorce papers and literally signed them. I've tried to get somebody sober. I've canceled sessions because someone is not functioning as well as they should. I've done it all."

And when someone does show up too wasted to work, "I'll just say, 'Let's not do the vocal tonight, and you can go,'" Shanks says. "If that's more important to you, then you go do that, but I relate to that because I've been through all that. I was a knucklehead when I was in my 20s too."

Shanks' story starts earlier than that. He grew up in New York, relocating to Los Angeles when he was 17. By high school, he was playing guitar in Teena Marie's band. His own group, Line One, would play local clubs. "We would save up $200 and go print up posters, and Saturday nights, we'd grab the staple gun and hit Sunset Boulevard," he says. Line One worked its way up to the Friday-night house band at the Troubadour, but Shanks ultimately decided his talents lie in working with others instead of leading his own band.

JOHN OF ALL TRADES

Because of his range of talents, Shanks finds himself brought into projects at different mix-and-match levels: as a songwriter, a songwriter and producer, or just a producer (and most recently, as a mixer). But he admits it is difficult to hand off a song to another producer, as he did after he and Urban co-wrote Urban's country chart-topper "Somebody Like You."

"Sometimes it can be [weird]. You know, it depends upon who's watching the kids," says Shanks, who is published by Warner/Chappell and managed by Tim McDaniel. "Then I heard Dann Huff was producing ["Somebody Like You"], and I was like, 'Oh, that's great!' And then you get the song back and it's like opening a present."

Urban says that at first he worried about writing with another guitar player, "but John is so damn good and versatile. He comes at rhythmic and layered parts very differently than me, yet it's totally complementary to what I do," he says. "Just his presence helps me create in a way that's different to other people I write with. He recognizes what you're naturally good at and helps you be right at the center of what you're doing."

Even though Shanks laughs that he often gets paid more to write and/or produce three songs on a project than to do an entire album, his preference is to helm the full project.

"Those are my favorite situations, whether it's a male or a female artist, because it's very intimate," he says. "It's very creative because you have these blank canvases to create from."

Also, there's often less pressure in creating a whole project instead of a few songs. "Then we're trying to write the single where I only get two or three songs on the record and I'm competing with the best writers and producers out there--you know, the Max Martins," he says. "So it's very competitive."

When producing an entire album, he has discovered that magic can be found in the tracks that are never considered for singles. "There's that last song, 'Undiscovered,' on Ashlee's record. It's now going into a movie, and there's a song that almost didn't happen," he says. "So that's what I love, when the little song makes it over the hill."

If working with newbies like Simpson often means helping them find their voice, working with veterans provides its own opportunities. With Bon Jovi, it was encouraging the band not to shy away from its past.

"I sit down with them and try to write a song that I would like to hear from them as a fan. I said, 'I want the big chorus, I want the big 'Living on a Prayer,'" says Shanks, taking on the urgency of a coach giving a halftime pep talk. "'I want that because I want you guys to win. Big drums, big guitars, big harmonies. Let's honor who you are, let's not pretend. There's nothing wrong with that.'"

Unlike some producers, Shanks doesn't come with a specific sound. "You know, I'm always told I'm in a service business and, at times, that's frustrating, but it's true," he says. "At the end of the day, it's their name on the record. And 1 think that's why I can jump around and work with different artists, because I'm very conscious I'm making their record. I also think, coming from being a session player, I can play a lot of different styles."

Indeed, Iovine says one of the keys to Shanks' success is "he's someone who is big enough to understand which side of the glass is important. He's not putting himself in front of the artist, which a lot of producers do."

He also can't put himself before the label executives who hire him. Shanks pauses for a long time when asked how he navigates record company politics: "I've argued with Clive, I've argued with Tommy Mottola. I've had disagreements with Jimmy Iovine and Jordan Schur," he says. "When I've felt it was a noble and just cause, I will fight for what I believe in, and I think they respect that."

But Shanks is savvy enough to know that respect comes because he is a proven hitmaker. "I deliver for them. I know what's expected of me--coming in under budget, making the experience great for the artist, working as quickly as possible, being amicable to [their] notes--It's my job to do that for them, or they're going to hire someone else."

As someone who prides himself on always finishing within or under budget, the trend of decreasing studio budgets has affected him in a surprising way: "I went through a period last year where certain people were cutting food out of the budget, and I literally had to call up business administration people or presidents of record companies and say, 'You don't understand: If the Starbucks is flowing and Baja Fresh is flowing and the artist is fed, they're going to sing, they're going to write.' I swear, it's all about the food. That's a big lesson I learned."

This sounds good to me :D

Thanks for posting

Great article. Thanks for posting! :D

I really can't wait to see what he's done with Bon Jovi, I really think Bon Jovi need a great producer to bring their best out and it looks like they've got the best in John Shanks. They had that from Slippery trough to These Days and as much as I love Crush and especially Bounce, I really feel if they had have worked with a kick-ass producer like Bob Rock on those two albums then they could've been vastly better, and they are pretty damn good anyway.



Phil

"I sit down with them and try to write a song that I would like to hear from them as a fan. I said, 'I want the big chorus, I want the big 'Living on a Prayer,'" says Shanks, taking on the urgency of a coach giving a halftime pep talk. "'I want that because I want you guys to win. Big drums, big guitars, big harmonies. Let's honor who you are, let's not pretend. There's nothing wrong with that.'"


****ing right.... That just pumped me up! I can't ****ing wait!

Ryan

I hope tha's true.
HOPE being the key word.

From reading that, the new album sounds promising.

me either......now im getting really excited about it :D

Wow.. It will be great if it's true.

Just remember "Bounce" and how "pumped up" you all were.

I'll wait untill September to see if it's any good.

Ice

I have some real faith about Shanks and his album with Bon Jovi.

I've listened to the latest album by Alanis Morissette and he has done a very good job. Also, some Pop artists like Hilary Duff, Ashlee Simpson and even the Backstreet Boys had different and more power sounds in their recent records. I'm not kidding. Very effective work in their style.

I'm just waiting what is capable to do with Bon Jovi: Make them recover the old fashion sounds, lost with Crush and Bounce. And improve Richie's work guitar. I hope that we listen guitar solos and big chorus in the new album.

Hmm... I'm a Alanis fan and I hate her last record, with Shanks as producer. He made a very pop album and it sells only 1 million albuns worldwide (before Shanks, her albuns used to sell 10 millions worldwide, 30 millions with her debut album).
Well, with Bon Jovi it can be different... so hope! :?

I'm with you. If it's going to be anything close to what he says there, it will be worth having.

Big LOL
What great expectations we all had back in 2004/2005 when Shanks was going to produce Bon Jovi's next album. Looking back on it, 20 years later, Shanks is the pain in the ass for Bon Jovi and one of the main reasons they have become this rockband that doesn't write rocksongs anymore, that doesn't sound like a rockband anymore, that has lost their rock-star-guitarist (Richie Sambora) and have released nothing but albums that lack real strong guitars.

If only they teamed up again with Bob Rock or any other producer.

And Jon, who's often fond on commercial success has found no reason to fire shanks over the years. Even worse. The guys has practically become a member of Bon Jovi.

Yeah this thread feels ominous from today's perspective.
Also, this conveys it nicely:

But Shanks is savvy enough to know that respect comes because he is a proven hitmaker. "I deliver for them. I know what's expected of me--coming in under budget, making the experience great for the artist, working as quickly as possible, being amicable to [their] notes--It's my job to do that for them, or they're going to hire someone else."

Except that he is not a hitmaker for Jovi, but a caretaker for Jon's comfortable position by having friend producing, co-songwriting and having understanding for deteriorating voice and other time-consuming hobbies of the band's CEO. Also, what is not in essence Shanks' fault, but his competence as guitar player and songwriter basically made Richie more redundant in Jon's eyes

With my dying breath I'll be saying Bob Rock produced RSO featuring a "Rock Star Guitarist" two of the things evreryone claims modern BJ needs.

Shanks can do rock. Jon can't. It's such a lazy complaint at this point.

Yeah, he produced A Different Kind of Truth by Van Halen, a generally well-received album. He also produced Take That's comeback, which is pure pop. Shanks does what fits the artist.

I don't love his production at all, but I am unsure why the blame gets put on him, like he controls the band and has all the power over the sound.

A million times over, this. He's a versitile producer that does what's needed to fit the style of the artist, not a svengali. We have so few stories of the band in the studio and one of them is Shanks telling Jon to trust Phil with the Beautiful Drug solo. If JBJ woke up tomorrow and said to Shanks "less stacked vocals, let's go back to gang vocals and guitar solos and louder guitars" of course Shanks would say "You got it, boss".

Blame Jon for being lazy over Shanks for being a catalyst to do what Jon wants.

The last two Bob Rock produced releases I've heard were the last Offspring album and the new tracks from the Mötley Crüe greatest hits.

Both sounded like absolute ass. Terrible vocal production; the Offspring album was also mixed worse than some of the bands early demos. Zero bottom end, just an all around super shit sound.

The guy is 70 as well. He's not the ass beating young hot shot anymore either, and neither are any of these bands.

Spot on, Bob Rock has been on the beach for 20 years or more. I would still have him over Shanks, but he would just be a yes man to Jon as well.

He produced Paul Rodgers new album and it sounds amazing.

The difference is Bob Rock is not a Yes Man. He will challenge Jon's choices and push him. If you seen any of the Metallica footage with Bob, they were the biggest metal band in the world and Bob would challenge them all the time. That, in my opinion is what a good producer does. Your job as a producer is pointless if you just agree with your boss all the time, which is, in my opinion, exactly what Shanks does. I guess that's what Jon needs/wants right now. Fair enough, but it leads to the same old stuff time and time again. If Jon's voice wasn't an issue, I can't help but think that he would have moved on from Shanks a long time ago. At this point it's just comfortable for Jon.

In some ways I think it was the same thing with Richie, he would push Jon and question his decisions. Jon got to the point where he prefers to have Phil and Shanks who are basically paid to do what he wants them to do instead.

Is Bob Rock still like that, though? There's a lot to be said for everyone acting like if it had Bob, the songs would be better and I still think it's far more nuanced than that. I don't want to keep dunking on RSO but to say he'll butt heads and challenge quality and we wound up with a...sigh...Reggae mix of Good Times.

Bob Rock when he was top of his game, competely agree.

I don't think your style of production changes, I don't think Bob's personality changes. The RSO record is what it was. It was recorded over the space of god knows how many years, it was finished, then it wasn't, then it was, then they were back in the studio again, then it seemed like Ori and Richie were breaking up so they had to rush release the album. I don't think Bob can be blamed for any of that, that's all on Richie, as is proven when the same thing is happening with his solo record now. Ori is now on her 4th record since then or something. It was disjointed because of Richie. It always felt like Bob was just treating it as though he was helping a friend out between jobs. I can imagine Richie is probably not the easiest to work with in the studio. He needs a Jon or a Bob to reign him in and get him to focus.

Bob has produced numerous other records since then that haven't taken as long, including as someone mentioned the Paul Rodgers album which is excellent. I know Bob's track record has been hit and miss over the recent years, but you can only be as good as whatever band you are working with at the end of the day. He's records have mostly had a pretty good sound to them.

When Bob Rock went to war with Metallica, they were not the biggest metal band in the world. But yes, he pushed them hard and helped them to commercial success. It is worth remembering that there is a massive chunk of the Metallica fanbase that rues the direction the band went in when driven by Bob Rock.

Another important point is that Metallica were the ones balancing the relationship they had with Bob Rock. That antagonism was both ways and is just not something Jon would engage at this stage or I doubt even back then. Of all the major records Rock has produced, the least known about is KTF. If Rock was hired he would be as a yes man or not be hired at all.

It is also interesting that as you follow Metallica through the 90s and into SKOM and St Anger, Rock increasingly did become a yes man. St Anger shows this because there are decisions on that album that could only be be undertaken by a producer bowing to the band.

That said, Rock has a cleaner sound and knows how to maximize rock music even when little is there. I would take him over Shanks any day, even as a yes man. There is also no doubt in my mind that Metallica has only sounded really good on record when Bob Rock was producer. Even so, I push back that he is an uncompromising visionary. I think he will turn yes man pretty easily and indeed has done in the past.

KTF is lesser known than the Simple Plan record he did? Or the MC94 album which got the band fired from their multi million dollar contract?

It's pretty obvious that he was hoping he could joing the band as a permanent member at the time. That's not when you challenge them all the time, that's when you try to be their friend. It didn't work out that way!

Definitely some good points. I'd love the RSO timeline. Yeah it was scattered but it felt like once Bob came on board, the timeline sped up. There was such a long period it was under the control of Michael Bearden. I don't thiiiiink any of the break up stuff happened until right AFTER it was released.

"but you can only be as good as whatever band you are working with at the end of the day" brings it all home. Like it's been said, I don't think Jon wants to be challenged. Shanks is his vocal safety net for better or worse. Would the song quality improve if his voice was better, maybe/maybe not.

I meant least known about in terms of the recording process. It is not a well documented production. Again, from the major bands/records he did. I know a lot about his time with Motley, obviously with Metallica, and even some other bands. But he rarely goes in-depth on KTF in interviews, at least contemporary ones that I have seen. KTF and TD recording footage/information is what I am looking forward to in the doc. I expect to be sorely disappointed.

In an outtake from SKOM, the band mock him for wanting to become their bass player. He quite earnestly denies this, stating he is too old and out of shape. The final edit of the doc does make it look like he is simping for it but he was believable when denying it.

Between The Black Album and St Anger there was no one even close to them as far as metal bands go commercially.

You're missing the point of the producers job. It is not his job to make decisons, the final say will always go to the band, as it should. His job is to make suggestions, challenge their decisions, tell them when something isn't good enough, and Bob was 100% still doing that at this point. Basically his job is to get the best out of them possible. Ok St. Anger was seriously bad, but I think the band are as much to blame for that, that's the sound they were going for, but they were happy for Bob to take the fall.

You know, I'd completely forgot that he was originally on board as producer!

RIGHT?? I think back to how long the proejct was hyped and it's many incarnations and god I'd love an oral history of that time period.

As I said, that relationship with Metallica was built when they were not the biggest metal band in the world. It was the dynamic between him and them that came from where both parties were at that time. How much evidence is there that he pushed Bon Jovi in the same way during the KTF production? Genuine question. Equally, how much evidence is there that Shanks does not make suggestions, challenge decisions, tell them when something isn't good enough?

And even though Rock started off pushing Metallica, he increasingly became a yes man and like how we presume Shanks is with Jon now. Some Kind Of Monster Bob Rock is not the same as Metallica Bob Rock. Bob has said himself that part of the reason they stopped working together is because he became ineffective and too close to the band to make suggestions.

Metallica are very to blame for St Anger. Rock is on record saying that Lars Ulrich chose the drum sound when James Hetfield was not there and would not change his mind on that sound. I think I remember in the documentary Rock does say the album will feel complete when there are solos but of course that never happened.

I would prefer Bob Rock for Bon Jovi simply because I think he sounds better. But I reject the idea he is an auteur and he would challenge Jon. I also don't think he is "my way or nothing" and he would take Jon's money to be bossed around by him. We'll never know.

But basically that's a producers job. If the producer is not doing this, then he isn't a very good producer...
Watch some of the footage of Bob Ezrin in the studio with Deep Purple or Alice Cooper. Now THAT'S a producer!

Fair point, but Shanks just doesn't seem like kind of guy to me. He's got a kushy job here, he's not gonna rock that boat. Of course I could be completely wrong.

Its a discussion though, I'm not stating anything as fact, it's all just my opinion at the end of the day. If we suddently have to provide evidence for everything we say there won't be many conversations happening here...

I respectfully disagree. There were several scenes in Some Kind Of Monster where he was questioning their decisions and pushing them. Maybe not as much as the beginning but he was still challenging them and making them think outside of the box. They just generally didn't want to listen at that point. Not much Bob can do about that.

Of course he said that. But in my opinion the reason they stopped working together was because Metallica saw the bad feedback for St Anger and decided to put all of the blame on that on Bob.

Great points here by everybody. I just want to add that, in my opinion, part of the problem of modern Jovi is that Shanks is not "only" a producer in traditional sense, he is also a songwriter, guitar player, arranger, starter or finisher of the songs, perhaps even shadow writer sometimes (remember not everything is credited and more often than not, not justly, case in point Dry County does not have Richie as co-writer if I'm not mistaken).

If Shanks was only a producer (it does still mean a lot of responsibility, its' not just mixing and mastering, but again depends from band to band, and album to album. Again, its not the same to be a producer of a young 25-year olds and a producer of a veteran legendary band), then we could have a discussion is he proper for the job, is he still hungry, is he past it, etc. But all of this comes after the fact that he became too valuable and comfortable for Jon. Ofc, bucket stops with Jon and he is the most responsible for drop in quality. But, I can hope that Jon somehow rediscovers his songwriting and performing talents that I grew in love with. I cannot theoretically harbor the same hope with Shanks, cause I was never a fan of him, but the band Bon Jovi. In conlusion, I don't think somebody else would necessarily "mix" it better, I just think change is due so that Jon is outside comfort zone and some novel perspective is introduced. And that is probably precisely why the change won't come

Right but Shanks doesn't mix OR master the albums. He for sure has a large role in crafting the songs he co-writes, yeah. Semigoodlooking brought up such a good point we often forget.....we don't know shit. We don't know what the recording process is like, we don't know how the band operates and what Shanks's role is or isn't. It's all based on notions and theories and us reacting to what we made up in our heads to fit the narrative. We just know the very small fractions of info we get from the band. I really hope the documentary blows this stuff wide open a little.

Yeah that's true. Though mastering is normally delegated far away, but mixing should still be his area of direct supervision. Of course, he will have dedicated mixing engineers (as well as recording engineers). Now, it's completely possible and doable to have different setups. One would be for SWW where Bruce Fairbairn was the producer and Bob Rock as engineer/mixed beneath him (but they were duo basically) and Jon then just as a talent who sings, plays guitar and mostly takes orders. And then modern context you are right, we simply don't know exactly. But it is apparent that Shanks is there to generally be both Fairbairn and Desmond Child all in one, with more vocal Jon about what he wants (and getting it).

This is one of my favourite articles to glean info from about the making of WAN: https://www.soundonsound.com/techniq...what-about-now

Not only is it about the actual music and recording, it talks to the engineers and mixers who have no reason to lie and aren't on the band's payroll to dictate a message. I legit think a lot of people's problems with the 2005-onwards periods is made up in their heads. Some issues hold water but it's a lot of conspiricies.

-------------------------------------------

As the writing and recording of What About Now progressed, Shanks's focus shifted more and more from songwriter to producer. "You take the rough mixes with you, and are listening to them over and over again, and you make notes of what needs to be done to them, like maybe the second verse could be shorter, or maybe it needs a guitar solo in a certain place, or maybe the lyrics need some lines changed. Jon and Richie make their own notes, and by the time we get back together again, each of us will have a laundry list of suggestions for changes, and when we compare them it allows us to look at each song objectively. It's almost like we're A&R-ing the record! For me, personally, because I co-write some of the songs, the more distance I have from the songs the better, so I don't think of them any more as mine or not mine. My job is simply to make every song as great as it can be. They each become like my kids, and I want them represented in the best possible light so they can reach as many people as possible.”

Well the quotes part is exactly the main problem. He became equal partners (and later part of the band even) in songwriting and crafting songs. So producing is who, his assistants? WAN is terrible in production choices, quality of production, not so much mixing and technical aspects, but choosing where to pinpoint a direction of song. And that is his job, no matter how much he delegates. Richie was absent from that record mostly, Tico replaced by drum machines and Jon in a hurry to buy a football team. I would say that record mostly sums up Shanks as the main guy: it's all over the place. few good songs (Left of me, I'm with you, Water) destroyed by awful choices and style of production. With House in 2016 and 2020 albums its rather different

Also, first sentence in quoted part is wrongly attributing to described notions as "producing". He's not talking about producing, but about arranging and crafting a final structure of the song. He is still a "songwriter" in that mode.

what kind of notes did each one have for The Fighter?

jon has nothing left in the tank and shanks isn't going anywhere end of story.

Tico replaced by drum machines? Tico played the parts live then recorded drum loops that were overlayed on top, literally how It's My Life Was made.

See below:

"Hugh McDonald and Tico Torres always tracked the bass and drums playing live together, apart from in a couple of instances when we recorded Tico's drums separately."

"It was written on an acoustic guitar, but they wanted lots of vocals on the track, and big drums. So a lot of work went into doing the drums for this song, because we wanted them to sound huge. As a result, we used Jon's studio a lot to record this song. We got Tico to play individual hits on the drums, instead of him playing a drum kit, and recorded these sounds and programmed drum parts using them. He then played live drums to these beats that had used his own sounds as samples. In addition, I added samples of a dance kick and a big, attack-y snare, to make them pop out more. Jon also sang his vocals at his studio.”

"Usually the drum section is simpler and more compact, as in 'I'm With You', which has 21 drum tracks and six loop tracks, done by John. I did add kick and snare samples on many songs, using Sound Replacer, which are marked 'SRMM' in the Edit window waveforms."

"It's a modern rock album, with a very up-front, compressed sound, which is based on a mixture of played and programmed elements, like synth basses and drum loops. But the core of it is that organic Bon Jovi feel of real people playing. "

My forever arching point is a wealth of information negating a threory and STILL saying "well it's Jon and Friends and Tico was replaced by a drum machine"

Nah, it's an album with less Richie and it wasn't very good.

Sorry but it's not a theory and it's not explicitly meant as Tico is not on a final recording, but no way Tico was present while that album was made and crafted. And this is not a new story, it's like that since Crush at least, with varying degrees. They even bragged that for House album they (finally) got together to craft some songs (again, in minority). Ofc Tico in the end recorded, but that transcipt proves that much of the sampled stuff still found a way to a record. Admittedly, in 2013 samples were not good enough. Today? It's harder to find a popular metal band or a pop artist for that fact that records their own drummer (just as an example). So yes, I stand by what I said, that record is half assed Jon with half assed demos given to Shanks to "produce", read finish them, arrange them and finally record them with a band in the least timeframe possible. His choices along the way define that album as the worst produced and arranged album of Jovi's discography