How important is it to you...

i totally subscribe what you've been saying.

Good performers are very important but the fact of BJ are composers as well give them a credibility that otherwise they would never have. The last Aerosmith record is full of cover songs and despite the fact that their interpretations are great their have a lot less credit than whatever album, as bad as it could possibly be, that they have recorded on their own. Despite all this , i think that cover songs or contributions of other composers can be good for any band, if not made regularly.

Colaborations are the middle term that BJ have chosen and for me that is the perfect solution since the creativity of the band can be mixed with outsider's perspectives and the result can be as diverse as the one we've been witnessing through the years.

OWN songs are very important. That's what makes a real band in my eyes.
I don't appreciate Elvis or Joe Cocker (though their brilliant in their way) not as much as bands that write their own stuff. Covers are a different subject - I love Bon Jovi doing covers. That's a tribute to their heroes and it's fun - but still I would say they don't belong on a studio album. That's where I wanna hear own songs.

I have my problems with "She don't know me" such as I have "problems" with "I don't wanna miss a Thing" and "Fly away from here" by Aerosmith - both very good songs, but to know they didn't write it on their own makes me me think someone said "hey guys, where's the commercial ballad single on the album? Take this one, it'll be a hit!"
Similar to "All about loving you".

When Crush came out and I saw those many co-writes I had my problems with that, but then I thought about what Richie said: it helps the song and he wants to to write open minded. Now I think that can be a good way not to be an egoist. I'm a songwriter myself and sometimes I just can't finnish a song although I'd like to do that on my own and then someone else in the band throws in a good idea. If it was someone outside the band - I wouldn't say "no".

Its very important that they write their own songs but as preformers they are great so i would proberbly still like them and buy their cds.For me the most important thing is to see them live.

It's definitely very important BUT I don't think it would hurt if from time to time they included a song written by someone else. Honestly, I do like She Don't Know Me...

And I'd rather have a good song written by someone out of the band than a thousand "Say it isn't so" written by Jon and Richie.

So, if it was a one off or something I wouldn't have anything against it. Totally different would be the fact that they relaxed and engaged someone to write their albums and stuff. That would be a no no for me.

I always think it's quite unfair that some great singers and performers (take Elvis as Mouse said) are looked down on just because they weren't creative enough to write their own stuff. Sometimes the fact that they are so great on stage completely makes me forget the fact that they can't write their stuff. It just depends on many things.

It is very important to me. The songs are more heartfelt and personal and you can relate to them more.

I think it important, I need to know that a band is singing songs that are personal to them and not to someone else..

IT IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO IMPORTANT TO ME!!!! There is some bj songs out there that I wouldnt liked if I knew if werent written by the band itself. Because a song sung by it's own composers always sounds different. I wouldnt like some songs because you dont perform a song the same way if you wrote it or not. Its always adding a little spark to the song when its performed by composers. I dont know if you follow me on that one, but anyway, Im understanding what im trying to say lol! Im a musician since im 7 yeras old, im a songwriter aswell, and like alot of persons said, its a part of the whole package. a musican makes his own music. if you cant, just leave it. thats what i think though.

I agree. It's very important to me that the artist/performer write the songs they are performing. As someone else said, the writing gives the singer/musician more credibility at least for me.

Deb

It's very important to me too. Perfomer isn't on the same level of the primary creator. Without the primary creator, perfomer would not exist. It's some kind of the parasitic relation, and I mean it quite seriously.

Nat

To answer my own question, it's very important to me too. I respect songwriters moreso than just performers. I can enjoy a song that was written by one person and performed by another, but it doesn't make the same connection when the performer is not also the writer. Like Mouse, I was disappointed to learn that Elvis didn't write all his own songs. No matter how good a voice or a player, there's just something more genuine when the performer is the writer.

Becky