Aftermath.....what if Jon sang on the album?
 

I was driving from Warwickshire going back up north last week and in the car I put Richie's album on. Listened from it to start to finish.

And I got thinking - you know what. This album is actually pretty good - but Richie is singing on it. It has no value to it at all. Richie is not a front man and his voice aint that good. So would the album be amazing if Jon (with his voice from 20 years ago) sang on the entire album instead of Richie? I think so. I know the album is very close to Richie lyrically. But imagine Jon howling out Seven Years Gone live with the gravelly voice that he used to have. I think it would be immense.

Thoughts?

I think it's pointless.

Considering this was Richie's first solo music in 14 years it was a lot more special at the time. I think there was a lot more buzz on this board for Aftermath vs. What About Now.

The same argument could be done for recent band's songs. What's Left of Me came to my mind as an example that could sound very powerful in a higher key.

Richie from 20 years ago would also sound much better on Aftermath, especially guitar-wise.

It's unfortunate that every disappointing effort from the past 14 years stems back to the lack of Jon's vocal efforts.

If this was 1990, What About Now would be a killer album because Jon would deliver it vocally with a different vibe which would change the songs completely.

And the same goes if the situation was reversed. All those killer hit songs Jon sang back in the day would fall flat and wouldn't be sung the same way which would change the overall vibe. Basically TLFR would be end result of all those gems. Can you imagine if Jon sang BOR in 2004 and the result was what we got in 2004. It wouldn't even be the same song.

A song like Pictures Of You could be a Soul Truth if it was sung back in 1992. Sad but True.

Would love to hear a version from the KTF-TD era Jon of Every Road Leads Home To You that's for sure!

Am I the only one who thinks this would be awful? Aftermath is only listenable because it is Richie in that place and time. The songs are generally pretty... well... otherwise shit - by the numbers rubbish. He offers no new playing and just your typical forms with passable lyrics.

Edit: Just a point I actually like Aftermath, it's a very personal and therefore relatable album. I just wouldn't expect anyone who didn't know Richies backstory to even listen to it.

Great point. I also enjoyed Aftermath when it came out, but once you take away the personal references to Richie's life, the album sounds really awful due to sub-par arrangements and production.

Thinking about the past and imagine Jon is singing these songs did not make sense to me. Another thing is in the last years Jon sing these songs, but we would have the eternal problem, surely the John Shanks production would have lost much of its atmosphere. Also, Jon has a taste for too pop sound and certainly ballads like Seven Years Gone would sound like All About Loving or Everybody's Broken, and forget the jams.

Honestly, the only thing that is missing in Aftermath is a good engineer to make everything sound with better quality in the mix.

Alternately it could have been a more upbeat It's Just Me - which featured lengthy instrumentation. I don't think Jon is quite as 'pop' as you make him out to be.

You should pay attention to this song. The sound of their instruments, especially the guitar and his solo, is more rocky than the last Jovi singles.

I don't think so. In these times, Jon would never do that, and less for a current album of Bon Jovi. Surely the result it would be much like to 'Thick As Thieves' or 'Into The Echo' sound.

Burn The Candle Down is great, and does not fit the style of Bon Jovi.

I'll Always Walk Beside You could have been a good jovi song, but I still insist on production. If JBJ and J. Shanks had produced this song, it would not be nothing special..... maybe in 2004-05, but not now.

Learning How To Fly With A Broken Wing It feels like a Jovi song, but for some strange reason, Jon does not do this anymore, instead, he prefer to compose pop songs like Beautiful World or What About Now.


Its funny how Aftermath and What About Now ends with a simple acoustic song.

What is your favorite? The Fighter VS World.