Do you think richie

I know one thing i wish i could play aswell as him.

I feel the same.
Having said that, I do not think Richie has been quite as superb as the 80s to mid-90s period. I mean, watching the Live in London DVD he blows me away, that kind of sound/style was unbelievable.

he doesnt even bother to play the tricky bits of some solos anymore either

like prayer-whens the last time he done it properly at the end instead of crappy bluesly wandering

He's a blues guitarist at heart. Most guitarists have a "default" that often wander into. Mine, like Richie's, is in the blues scale.

He plays the LoaP solo on or around the original; but he's said himself playing live allows for messing around a little, going into how you feel like playing it.

Although I do partly agree, he does that G-E string 3 note per string run all the time.

i m alll for the blues-he s awesome at it

like me-i m a pentatonic bluesman-nowhere near as good at the blues as richie but i vary things at times...some classical some blues folk