Being no 1 in first week dont make a hit album You have to sustain the sales for few weeks
Till date album has only sold 140,000 units in 3 weeks in the US
Circle by 3rd week had sold about 300,000 It will be a miracle if the
album achieves Good Status in the US

It still doesn't mean it bombed- getting to number 1 is still an achievement. Charting at 31, now that would be bombing. They'd have even made number 1 in the UK if it weren't for that pesky David Bowie...

It won't be an album folk remember, but worldwide chart positions were respectable.

Ok but are you or anyone else to that matter able to count the "illegal" downloads of the album? Could be in the millions for all we know.

So what? it's same s*it for every artist, been like that for years.

Richie Sambora bails on Bon Jovi.
 

http://www.tmz.com/2013/04/03/richie...usiness-money/

Richie Sambora is bailing on the Bon Jovi world tour because of "personal issues," but it has NOTHING to do with substance abuse ... it's all about a war that's exploded between Jon and Richie.

Sources directly connected to Bon Jovi tell TMZ ... tensions between Jon and Richie have been running high for years and it's finally erupted. One source tells us, "It's a classic Jagger/Richards blowup."

Our sources say part of the problem is that Jon constantly belittles Richie. But there's another part of the problem -- they're fighting over money.

Richie was a no-show at a Bon Jovi concert in Calgary last night, and yesterday he posted on the Bon Jovi website that he was pulling out because of "personal issues."

During the Calgary concert, Jon told the crowd, "I had two choices: pack up and go home or give you everything I got ... Richie Sambora won't be performing for a while. If there's ever a night I need you, it's tonight, Calgary!"

In the meantime, Richie's been spending personal time with his daughter -- the two were on vacation in Hawaii last week. We're told it was an 11-day trip filled with zip-lining, hikes, paddle boarding, and chilling at the pool.

Enough already making crap music since 2000...now please breakup or retired for good... for me Bj RIP at 2000..

http://drycounty.com/jovitalk/showthread.php?t=55338

stop being silly, allwyn :eek:

To be honest the album has neither flopped or been a hit. Not sure why it not selling in millions means it has flopped, although I am not sure why it reaching number 1 for a week means it is a hit.

It will probably turn into a failure by Bon Jovi's standard, but it will not be a flop.

Well, whatever the reason, hopefully all will work out and he can get back on the road with the band. It really isn't the same without him.
Meanwhile, I'm enjoying the new music.

"Keep on Rockin' in a free world!";)

So it was money, it's always money.

That's for all the people that said that they didn't do it for the money now because they had so much, that they were into it for "the music".

Lol.

????

Is this still from the TMZ article or has something else come out?

If TMZ said the sky was blue I'd still look out the window to make sure.

I'll be astounded if this has got anything to do with money but if it does Richie can go and **** himself.

The fans and the band have stood by him through so much shit (most of it by his own doing) these past few years and to shit over them for the sake of dough when the wolves aren't exactly at his door would be a disgusting move on his part and undo all of the goodwill and respect millions of fans across the world have had for him over the past 30 years.

And wouldn't he know exactly how much he would be earning for each show BEFORE the tour started?? It all screams bullshit to me, but if it is indeed true, it makes Richie a childish greedy idiot, which he is not.

Maybe Richie realized how hot his daughter is so he's staying in LA to protect her from Charlie Sheen.

Haha too true. She's gonna be a stunner. If Richie has any sense, he'll lock her in her room and stand guard until she's 30.

Matthew Bongiovi ‏@MatthewBongiovi 2m

The internal vibe has never been better. All is FINE. just simple personal things Richie has to take care of. Really simple actually.

Until I hear it from the horse's mouth, this whole Richie quitting malarcky is rubbish news to me....

If he has, then I personally would welcome the news. Maybe then JBJ will wake up to the fact that they need to change direction and stop pumping out songs that don't really involve Richie anymore. Just my personal opinion. Actually I don't know if Richie also influences the course their music is taking?

And I also prefer his solo work to the band's efforts. Ever since Undiscovered Soul. At least when he's doing his own stuff, he's seemingly doing it from the heart and love for music. Again my personal opinion, and I'm not sure if this is actually true.

I agree about Richie's solo music versus that of the band:

With Richie, I feel he is writing from a personal place, digging deep and sharing of himself with his songs--more confessional.

With the band's music, I feel that the lyrical standpoint has become more impersonal and observational over the years.

It's money then, this confirms it :(

What a tool this Matt.

How does that confirm anything, you tool. You and Matt would make a great couple.


Andi

I agree but to be fair, with the stuff Jon writes solo, it's not the standard "believe in yourself, get up off your knees, live your life" garbage. Stuff like Not Running Anymore and The Fighter (love 'em or hate 'em) seem to have a bit of thought and originality behind them.

It's only when Bon Jovi come together as a band that we get complete cliched nonsense.

I'm hoping it's a case that your sarcast-ometer is on the blink.

Im going to weigh in on this once just because it seems to be the thing to do.

There are so many different things that go through my head when i try to speculate on what is going on here, and face it its the natural thing to do.

1. I dont believe a think Matt BJ says so i pretend he doesnt even tweet, talk, type, whatever.

2. TMZ is a fairly reliable source and just because a lot of people dont like some of the things they publish, this story isn't crazy out to lunch.

3. I do believe there's a very good chance that this is involving a rift between JBJ and RS for a couple of reasons:

- JBJ has become a monster. There has been a slow shift to this being Jon and the rest of the band, and i know people are going to say "yeah hes always been the boss, blah blah blah" but the interviews used to include the band, they at least used to include RS. Now all i hear is JBJ doing interviews and saying ME, ME, I, MY, etc every chance he gets. You listen to his town hall interview and he is a bold face liar. About HIS shows, HIS tour, HIS this and HIS that, he lies. He lies about setlists, he lies when he makes comments like "my best is yet to come" and i could go on for hours.

- From what i saw in the 2 Toronto shows, there was something going on with JBJ and RS. Very little interaction between the 2, they seemed more disconnected than ever. The set was stale, the band sounded OK, and it seemed like a show that ive seen a million times with a band going through the motions.

- The band didnt want to tour this soon. JBJ made them. To me its about money. For this band doing a tour is like printing money. JBJ is smart and knows the window wont be open for ever so he's milking this thing for all he can. He's gonna keep doing sell out (or close to sell out) shows and every single time they make millions. He's even gotten so cocky with the setlists to the point where they could sing the alphebet and the masses will eat it up.

4. This band is not immune to these types of problems. Some people act like its not possible, that it cant possibly be a fight between "peas and carrots" - well guess what? If i was dealing with that ego (JBJ) every day I wouldnt have lasted this long no matter what the money is. RS has been through enough that he probably doesn't want the stress anymore. He has JBJ by the balls because he knows they cant go to Europe without him so he takes this break and tells JBJ "i'm taking the break you said i was getting" or something along those lines.

5. If it was alcohol, we would know by now. Plain and simple.

I really never thought i would get bored of this band. Ive been to 23 shows and always look forward to the next, but when you look at everything over the past 5 years I have come to the conclusion that Bon Jovi in 2013 is an afterthought. Nobody outside of these message boards cares about this band anymore. JBJ always talks about not being a nostalgia act, which again is a lie. Thats what they are. Outside of HAND (the Song), LH (The song) and maybe WWBTF - nobody wants to hear anything post 2000 at the shows. Most of the crowd just goes along with it because JBJ is bouncing all over the stage. (Which he doesnt even do anymore).

If this band wanted to protect its legacy they would have taken the break as planned. Make people wonder where they've been and come back with something somewhat fresh. Its my opinion that JBJ doesnt care about that either anymore and he would rather ride the marketing machine to the bank.

Its such a weird feeling to have such strong feelings towards JBJ himself but love the band and the music for what it is.

At the end of the day, none of this surprises me. Ive been wondering how the band puts up with him and his attitude/actions, and i really think that this time someone finally stepped up and did something about it.

Of course i could be completely wrong and that wouldnt change my feelings one bit, but when you think of it (if you want to believe it) the signs have been there for some time.

I would have written exactly the same if i wasn's sick. You read my mind.

this is one of the best posts i have read in a long, long, time....

for me it really started to turn when he would walk back out at the end after the band all held hands for his own personal encore....disgusting and a deep sign of personal/personnel issues...

it seems so much more a corporate machine now, maybe i am just different, i always realized there was some part of that but was able to believe that it wasnt most of it and now it seems it is almost all of it.....

such a shame....

As a 17 years-old male who's been fan for years now, I'll travel from Holland to London to see them live for the first time in my life, this summer. If Richie won't be there, it just won't be the same... I really hope he'll join the band again soon and am desperately waiting for an official statement from the band. Damnit. :(

Sadly, Capt. Crash is pretty much spot on, from what we can tell. I mean, who the hell knows what really goes on behind the scenes? But from what we see of Jon, the music the band has put out, the live performances, the assholish tweets of Matt, the lack of information coming from the band on this latest scenario, it all appears to make sense.

I'm torn. Bon Jovi is not the same without Richie, but the fact is, Phil X can play circles around him. If Jon lets him off his leash, we could see some serious kick ass guitar playing for the first time in a while. I think Jon needs to wake up to what's going on with the band.

BTW - Anyone been keeping tabs on the Queensryche fiasco? Makes this look like a jump rope game.

Like others have stated already, this post is absolutely precious because, in my opinion, hitting the nail right into the head ...I am going to save this post ... it sums it all

Thank you for this post. It sums up what I've been thinking, but I couldn't find the right
words.

Is Phil X arrogant? I don't know the guy, I had never heard of him before this, and looking up youtube with him and Bon jovi, but he tweeted this:

Phil X ‏@TheRealPhilX 33m

it's like answering the BATphone only every 2 years.

Doesn't seem a particularly arrogant tweet to me?

It made me laugh!

such a GREAT POST.. one more observation i have.. every time we had new record before the band stated how much they were proud of it. Have you heard anything like this this time ? Instead Richie said in one of the recent interviews (chat with some girls through skype) that "personally he thought the final mix of WAN will have louder guitars". It means that he's not happy about the way it sounds..

Then Jon admitted "that he called Tico last year and told him to come to the studio and he said no.. you told us we have a break till the ende of the year - he answered".

Then we had the words from the stage - when Jon said "that Richie didn't come to their rehersal beacuse he watched a game on tv".. at the same show - when richie's amps failed - i had a feeling he was kinda hostile.. he tried to be funny but it seemed like he's mad..

so.. i tend to believe that there are some tensions within the band.. I'm tired to see unhappy and grumpy jon which he is lately.. listen to the interviews.. there's a lack of passion and belief in the record he promotes. HE used to be charming few years back.. watching the interviews with him used to make my day better.. he was such a charmer.. happy.. smiling.. he enjoyed his life.. Now I think he gained some weight, looks older - which brings him down i think.. also he has family problems (daughter) - all of this combines and i believe there's some sort of midlife crisis.. if so.. why did he decided to put out a record and go for another tour ? I think it's his another "dark period" like the one in the early 90's.. i'm afraid that is what's wrong whith the band right now..

Like I said I don't know they guy, or anything about him, the way I read t was like, Here I go again, they are calling me to cover.......maybe arrogant wasn't the right word.

Which is exactly what happened. I fail to see how that is an arrogant assumption?

That's why I said maybe arrogant was not the correct word

To answer your question, no he doesn't seem particularly arrogant. Maybe a little cocky at times but he is a good guitarist and successful in his own right so I guess he can be. He is pretty funny too judging by some past tweets so while I understand where you're coming from , I don't think his tweet was meant that way.

Aloha !

I think you're spot on with everything you've said. Great post, and even if this isn't the reason for Richie leaving I do think it's bound to happen some day, considering what an utter wanker Jon Bon Jovi is.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

Found the Phil tweet extremely funny! Don't think arrogant at all.

Im in Ireland at the moment with only limited internet connection, and since the very first piece of news there seem to be nothing new really.... Still waiting... sigh :/

Phil X is not arrogant he simply doesn't give a damn about *Bon Jovi* the legend ..he answers the calls for the good money but he doesn't feel like entering the jovi cult. So his tone is very spontaneous and on the verge to be rude because he doesn't feel any form of respect - yeah the women thinking he is handsome and cool and asking him for a photo or greeting him at the band hotel is nice but I feel the dude would rather have a beer with his real friends... I read that in his tweets :cool: