[TwinFan]

So pretty much a full 2 years now (right after the release of What About Now if I'm not mistaken), I've payed pretty much no attention to Bon Jovi. I've had a multitude of other artists at the forefront of my musical interests. In the couple weeks or so, I have been getting back into the band somewhat (nowhere near my total diehard status of before), and naturally, I've been thinking about the band and their future.

I suppose I should preface this by saying that I think what Richie did was inexcusable. I think he's completely at fault for that entire fiasco, and Jon did the best he could in a shitty situation. The entire year of 2013, between the album and the tour, was literally the single most forgettable time period in the history of this band. I can understand where Richie is coming from when referring to his lack of artistic freedom on more recent records. That said, bailing out with the tour under way is inexcusable. He had a commitment and should've lived up to it. It would've sucked if he would've called it quits prior to the album/tour cycle, but at least it would've been a MUCH more dignified exit (unless he burned bridges on his way out).

But enough hypotheticals and rambling.

The point I'm trying to make here is that despite my disappointment with Richie and how he handled the situation, I will have absolutely zero interest in what Bon Jovi (or however it is decided to market the group of Jon, Tico, and Dave) has in store for the future. For me, Richie was what set the band apart from other bands in their era, and even though his playing style has gotten more and more complacent over the years, I will still miss what was left in the future of the band.

Richie's creative input (and this is strictly limited to guitarwork, not lyrical contributions) has been my favorite part of the band. As the amount/quality of his creative input has deteriorated, so has the quality of the music in my opinion. Since 2000, my ranking of albums has been a perfect regression with time, with Crush being at the top, What About Now being at the bottom (and at the bottom of all Bon Jovi albums put together), and everything else falling in between in chronological order.

The last real hope that I'd seen from Richie (in Bon Jovi at least, Aftermath of the Lowdown had a couple highlights) was probably in either Thorn in My Side or Love's the Only Rule. Those songs seem to have a certain (relative) uniqueness when it comes to what Richie's doing, and it makes those songs far and away the best on their album. Take a look at the Greatest Hits tracks as well as all of What About Now, and you'll see play-it-safe Richie-by-the-numbers. Now I'm not getting into the argument that it was Jon that made Richie play like this, I'm just saying that for whatever reason it happened, Richie's lack of creativity is a HUGE factor of why What About Now is the worst Bon Jovi record (awful lyrics and painful production complete my reasoning).

For me, if recent Bon Jovi output has sucked WITH Richie, I can't imagine how mediocre to awful it will be without Richie.

tl;dr I'm frustrated with Richie not only because he bailed the way he did, but because his departure marks the end of a truly phenomenal musical group.

[nikos greece]

nicely said...i agree. without richie there cant be bj...and jon will make a huge mistake if he ll release a bj album and not a solo one...
ps.maybe after some time they get back together and finish bj together on stage...wishful thinking perhaps but after all these years together this was not an ending they deserved.

[KSantaFe]

Originally Posted by TwinFan

For me, Richie was what set the band apart from other bands in their era, and even though his playing style has gotten more and more complacent over the years, I will still miss what was left in the future of the band.

I agree that Richie will be missed. He was, up until the events of 2013, my favourite member of the band - but he has absolutely fallen from grace for me. But I have to disagree with your above point. I think that Jon's musical background and work ethic is what REALLY set Bon Jovi apart from the glam metal bands. I mean, just look at BOG and DA - totally different to anything that your Motley's, Poisons, Leppards or even Roses could or would do.

[TwinFan]

Originally Posted by KSantaFe

I mean, just look at BOG and DA - totally different to anything that your Motley's, Poisons, Leppards or even Roses could or would do.

See, it's just my opinion, but Blaze of Glory and Destination Anywhere don't do much for me. Only the title tracks of each album are real standouts for me.

I think what will happen on a future Jon solo record is a similar series of events that happened with Aftermath of the Lowdown. People will expect excellent songwriting and an album totally akin to previous solo output, but an average record with slightly less cliches is what will really happen. Jon had nearly 4 years between the release of The Circle and What About Now to come up with some good songs... he didn't. If there is a solo record in 2015/16, I don't think it will feature that quality songwriting that was on those albums in the 90's.

As much as we'd love to think so, nothing about Jon, Richie, or any aspect of Bon Jovi will EVER be like the 80's/early 90's again. It hasn't been like that for 25 years, why would it happen now?

[CharlieShipley]

Being a diehard fan since "Crush" (and that, really, being my definitive BJ album) despite enjoying the other post 2000 output immensely, I think I may look at the whole thing with a different lens. For me, it was as much learning about the personalities of the guys as much as hearing the music. Richie was a Spaz on the Crush Tour DVD interview, he seemed like he could be me, if I were better looking, coordinated, had guitar skills and was married to Heather Locklear. He was touchingly honest when on Behind The Music he said he'd hope he'd be Jon's VP. Learning about the raw machine o' awesome that is Tico Torres, and the unsung hero Hugh....all that made it exciting for me. The music was almost ALMOST an afterthought. Also, BJTV, the Daily Grind, the original website, etc etc...I felt included, and in on something others werent.

Which is what made What About Now so depressing. It actually started I think with Bounce and the aborted InAXCESS special "vault" features. They kept doing all this fringe crap to stay relevant and get sponsorships (although I will say, when Sprint sponsored the HAND tour, and I saw a Samsung phone in the video, I gave a crap about Sprint, and my phone was a Samsung)....but I digress. What About Now seemed like the entire band was splintering apart (which now seems correct) and only Jon (just barely) cared about where it went. Honestly, I loved "Old Habits" and "Not Running" and "The Fighter" more than the supposedly anthemic stuff, because those seemed the most genuine.....

Im not sure what I'm trying to say, and forgive the rambling, but I think Jon still has some good stuff in him, WHATEVER banner he chooses to release it under, and I hope Richie finds his way, because I'd like to see my good natured spaz of a guitar hero in the spotlight again.