Did John Shanks ruin Bon Jovi?

He actually can since I'm almost certain that the solos on Fingerprints were from him. Why he doesn't show that more is beyond me. His guitar work on THINFS is uninspired and bland.

The solo on Living With The Ghost is one of the best solos the band has had in forever, but I agree. The solos on the album are either non existent or meh at best. That being said, he has the ABILITY to make memorable solos, it's just not the sound Jon wants sadly. The idea he sucks at guitar should be nipped in the bud though.

He's a competent guitarist. He deffo doesn't suck.

Got to disagree about LWTG solo though - it's too similar to the verse/chorus riff. And the ending is buried in the mix. It's not bad - but it's very safe. It goes nowhere for me.


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Aw man, I really really really dig that solo, the way it builds and goes higher and higher without doing the usual Bon Jovi solo (solo riff played on lower frets, then an octave above, then stock noodling).

I think his playing falls into the territory of him playing what Jon wants the sound to be rather then not being able to play great, the solos on Burning Bridges kind of proves that. His guitar playing background vastly outdates his producing background in length.

Fingerprints has a fantastic solo. The guy can play.


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A lot of the guitar work on Burning Bridges was excellent, the best we've had on a BJ record for a while! Which makes the lack of decent solos on THINFS even more disappointing...

My thoughts exactly!

For me, the short answer to this question is yes.

I suspect Shank's increasing influence on the sound of the band was one major factor in Richie leaving. The fact that he went from producer to de facto lead guitarist on Burning Bridges was one thing, but the fact he continued to take on lead on 13 songs on THINFS and has become a live member of the band and even plays on videos is too much for me. They didn't have Bobby on promotional videos so why do we now have John Shanks and his back to front baseball cap?

The quality of the bands output has decreased considerably since he first came on the scene.

JBJ is just as much to blame for sticking with him all this time. The sad thing is I suspect he will continue to produce the rest of the bands music for however long they have left.

Shanks becoming the band's studio guitarist after Richie left made all the sense in the world though.

a) He's played on every record since HAND
b) They're not going to bring someone new into the fold this late in the game. If Phil wanted to completely commit and become the actual physical new lead guitarist for the band he would. Or maybe he wasn't offered it.

Him being the videos when Bobby wasn't is a separate entity. Bobby had no input on the songs he played live, Shanks did. But obviously it comes down to how Jon wants the band to sound. He's using Shanks to help steer the ship creatively and if he didn't like the output he'd get someone else and the same would happen.

I really doubt he was offered that. It simply wouldn't make sense, he's already playing with the band full time, had they offered it he would have accepted having a larger part to play creatively on the songs he's gonna be playing on tour. No doubt Jon and the whole band love the guy, but Richie's true creative replacement was always Shanks. And the dude can play so, even though I would have loved to have Phil's input play a larger role on the new record I doubt the thought even crossed Jon's mind....