Realistically, what would Richie have brought to THINFS?

That's not the point. You said he looked sober after leaving the band, and the last time he looked sober in a solo pic was when he was still in the band.

Bobby is gone after he had a row with Jon.

As I said, you do not understand alcoholism. If you have any experience with it, you do not yet recognize it for what it is. What you are doing is being an enabler.

Cleveland was simply an example of the cycle. Alcoholics don't just stay drunk all the time. They give false hope..... Good times that give way to nightmares. Talk to children of alcoholics about that one.

They always have a reason to drink. "I drink because Dad died." "I drink because Heather divorced me." "I drink because Jon is holding me back from being the star I should be." "I drink because no one has it as hard as I do." "Boo hoo, me."

Then it's "See! I'm not drinking! I told you it was Jon that made me drink. See how happy I am!"

Then the drinking starts again.... because they never face the fact that they drink because they want to. They literally look for excuses to justify their drinking to avoid taking responsibility for it.

What's this row you speak of?

He was gone for most of 2015 due to personal stuff like his divorce. Hence Matt O'Ree filling in for him on the Asian tour last fall. We all remember around Christmas time when Bobby not only had the beard, but was also in the shape of Santa Claus. Jon told him to radically lose weight for this upcoming album/tour cycle, to which Bobby flipped him the finger.

All I can say about THINFS, is that I miss Richie backing vocals on Scars. It would amazing. This song has potential to reach higher in the country charts, I guess.

Anyway, we all know that Richie had and has problem with alcohol. But let's back in end of 2012 and early 2013...

In that time, Richie was not appearing be lost in alcohol. The Craig Ferguson week, for example. It was in december of 2012. He was better than ever in that time. Remember how much we talked about this "wanted dead or alive" version??
Add, in the begin of What About Now tour, I remember clearly that we were talking about how Jon looked tired and didn't move on stage, doing the most of the set lists with songs that he plays guitar, just to stay behind the mic, etc. And almost all of us, were praising Richie, that he was in a very good shape, innovating (remeber the flying-v and the outro on Keep The Faith??)...I even remember this topic: http://www.drycounty.com/jovitalk/ar...p/t-54977.html

So, at that time, he was not drunk, we can't say this. Maybe he had a relapse during the tour break, but we don't know. And we'll never know.

They are still people, are not perfect, but they are still human beings, and still has the talent to do great things.

Since he was replaced with the chubby John Shanks, I'm not too sure about this. Source?

Yeah, you're being an enabler. Looking for excuses is not doing Richie any favors.

I could hear Richie's absence all over the album. There's barely any backing vocals and the guitar work is uninspired.

I suppose it all depends on what you want from a Bon Jovi album. I always gravitated towards Richie's input.

The talent yes....so does every other rock star who got smashed on drink and drugs and had very erratic performances, some awesome, some not. Someone like Scott Weiland for example.

But onto the point of the thread...from the songs I've heard in the studio versions so far there's actually very little Richie could have added, as the band sounds extremely tight and the backing vocals have been used in a way that covers Jon's weaker vocals.

Even a great guitar solo - I'm not sure it would even have that as the last few Jovi albums didn't have it, and before someone starts the "because Jon wouldn't let him" I still believe that's utter bollocks, unless the reasons he wasn't allowed was because of the same erratic behaviour. Richie became a lazy player even live and just played the same licks over and over, and probably the last really good creative solo he did was Any Other Day. Someone mentioned the guitars in Aftermath and yes there's a lot of guitar...but quantity doesn't count for quality. Most of it sounds like a chaotic mess.

On the 2013 tour Richie's backing vocals were desperately missed...I think the band have now found a way to work around that, though it'll be interesting to hear how they do Wanted and I'll Be There For You live which were the two where Richie's absence was felt the most.

Let's hope Richie and Ori's album shows some sparks when it's released because the Bon Jovi ship has sailed.