It's time to tune down a hole tone Jon

tuning down half a step is considered 'easier to sing along to' some bands might do it to preserve their lead singers vocals. i dunno, personally i always tune my acoustics down half a step anyway

It is considered a little easier, yah. It's not EVERY band that does it. Some do, some don't.

String-wise, Richie's quoted as saying he uses 9s in the studio when it's more of a finesse deal and 10s live for a little bit of extra fight what with all the adrenaline flowing.

Funnily enough, as far as I'm aware, Richie never tunes his solo material down a half-step (unless he's playing something like Stranger at a Jovi show).

I've kept quiet and not responded to most of the stuff I've read on here for a while. I ve got to say honestly that most people on here at least are happy to critize Bon Jovi and not treat them as gods.
Jon is one of my heroes and will always be so. But no one is perfect and to say he is a great biz man and workaholic it is very bizarre is behaviour towards his voice. Don't get me wrong I'm happy for him not to be sreaming high register stuff out all the time and to be honest generally that 80's style has gone ....
BUT - when you ve made a career (80's/90's) been known as a great rock vocalist you don't throw it away. What most people forget is that singers like Bruce Springsteen and several others were smoking their entire careers. Who know s what Bruce would/could sound like without cigs. So comparing singers is veruy hard sometimes.From 1996 onwards Jons voice has become weaker and much more gravelled with much less control. . .
Smoking without doubt is the main cause which was made more serious by the fact the band took off 3/4 yrs at this time - less touring and like any muscle - less exercise..... Working with Dave Stewart and others who just don't have Jon s voice may not have helped. I could imagine well known people saying - 'man why sing in them high registers??' - simple answer is because Jon could do it and they could n't.
I'm going on but IF he were to stop smoking there would be a serious serious improvement over several months - within 3-6 months power and range would increase. Yes he's nearly 50 and age will not help but with some coaching and vocal exercises and the over time the removal off the chest and throat of cig tar then his chords would vibrate more freely producing the open sound we once loved and a much easier feeling and ability to reach higher notes ..... (by the way listen to Joe Elliot and David Coverdale who both smoke and again have destroyed their top registers or the opposite Brandon Flowers from The Killers who has now atopped and said how much better his range and vocal is - a wise guy!)
If like me 3 weeks in to the Circle your starting to realize it's not amazing and really shows how weak Jon is becoming then maybe others may join together and try and do what was done with the lack of solo on We weren't born to follow...
A massive petition asking Jon to stop smoking and give the fans the real Jon Bon Jovi voice back - the fans deserve it!!
If enough people would join and was passed to Obie and press coverage I think he would take note - it can't be long before he really will have problems big style ...
As for tuning down a whole step - the guitar strings would be nearly falling off the guitar - awful to play like that and also the songs would sound much much darker - that tuning is sometimes used by heavy metal bands ....
So anyone going to start the above ??? lol
kj

lol a petition to get jon to give up the fags?

yeah that's going to work.

Brandon flowers is in his mid 20s, see if he can make the same notes (which aren't particularly high) as he does 20 years down the line even when he's clean living.

FACT - AGE doesn't help the voice past forty - BUT if you look after it and treat it well most singers lose very little (Hagar,Tyler,Eric Martin etc ...) - Smoking is the worst thing you can do to a voice especially when you made a career singing in higher registers and becoming well known for that - To then start smoking as a serious habit and lose the amazing ability he had (which he mainly caused through smoking!) is plain daft. If people are expected to pay high ticket prices you expect to see a fully fit Jon! - It's like Richie only having 3 fingers to play guitar or an athlete going to a competition not fit ....
As for a petition - the more people who complain and make the powers that be aware know we know how weak it is the more chance things may change ... Remember Joe Public who listen to Jovi occasionally may not - key changing past songs - missing high parts live and lower new songs hide most things ....
kj

I'm quite aware what smoking does to the voice. I was pointing out how stupid it is to think Jon would give up something he obviously knows affects his voice too just because people sign a petition asking him to.

It's unlikely but stranger things have happened.

You may have noticed that Jon's deteriorating vocals is something that the band try very hard to hide. It is a taboo subject at interviews and all. So if the fanbase can make enough noise about it and it starts getting enough publicity "Jon's bad singing" then you never know what might happen.

At the very least it will be good to let everyone know how dissapointed the fanbase is with Jon's singing.

I do indeed get what you're saying. It's all gravy dude.

Dave

FACT - Jon hates bad press and is a great business man - he wants to put bums on seats and make a load of money .... Albums to him will and do make very little compared to the live shows etc ....... Been the CEO of Bon Jovi Enterprises he seems to forget what got him to the top great songs/image with a great voice. He is and as thrown it away by smoking (by the way a lot of red wine like he drinks is also bad!) - this is a fact not an opinion - smoking causes serious vocal damage in range and power/control. If he stopped he would n't improve overnight it would take weeks and months for tar etc to leave his body/cords but if you guys ever want to hear a great Jon vocal again that's what he must do. As every year passes he will become worse and with getting older aswell this will make this speed up ....
IF A FEW COMPLAINTS ON THE NET CAN GET A GUITAR SOLO PUT ON A TRACK THEN AT LEAST A PETITION AND NUMEROUS EMAILS TO OBIE AND MANAGEMENT/PRESS MAY MAKE JON AWARE THAT A VAST MAJORITY OF FANS ARE NOW BECOMING MORE AWARE OF THIS ISSUE. . HE'S A PROFESSIONAL AND MAYBE A SENSE OF PROFESSIONALISM MAY PREVAIL AND HE'LL REALISE AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. ... ANYONE UP FOR IT??
By the way aren't I right in saying that on BJTV for the recording of Bounce he kept a drink with a straw in his mouth and kept saying he had it as it stopped him wanting a fag.
I know Toby Jepson WHO USED TO FRONT The Little Angels in the nineties who toured with Bon Jovi. He shared with me that on one occassion Jon found him smoking and gave him a right telling off that he should n't smoke as Toby's voice was his instrument and pay check - Toby stopped and totally agrees that cigs destroys voices. And before anyone starts - yes there are many singers who smoke - but most have smoked all their careers and/or don't use high registers ......
kj