Richie is the real Genuis

Now I'm not saying that Richie is the musical genious of the band, but when Richie is writing songs with Jon for the band, they are written for Jon's voice and strengths....that being the case, those songs will sound different than his solo work.

When he writes his solo works he writes for his musical and vocal style....pretty versatile guy, really.


Lea

Richie's a genius in his own way for being so multi talented, including his song writing. He can sing better than Jon (always has), he's an amazing guitarist when Jon gives him the space to play (Dry County, Bitter Wine demo, live versions of Wanted with Richie's guitar intros), his live shows are much more intense and his setlists beat anything Jon could come up with.

Given that he cowrites many of the songs, it's not up to Jon to "give him space to play." Funny that two of the longest guitar solos are on songs Jon wrote ALONE, yet somehow he's limitiing Richie as a guitarist. Does anyone use any logic when coming up with these arguments about Jon holding Richie back? Richie doesn't vary things up during Bon Jovi shows and he could change the entire mood of a concert with just his playing even if the setlist was exactly the same every night. He's just as content and lazy with the whole setlist monotony as the other guys. Someone needs to light a fire under all their butts to get them energized about making live music.... but that's another thread.

Becky

Exactly. And if Richie was so stifled creatively, don't you think his latest solo album wouldn't be taking a thousand years to complete??

Sure, I like Richie's solo work better, but that doesn't make him the genius of the band. If we knew exactly how much Richie contributed to the songs that he and Jon wrote together, we would know how much of a genius he is/isn't. I personally think that Bon Jovi's best songs come from them writing together- not apart.

Actually..it was my guess that Richie is behind the most cliched and cringe-inducing material. I wouldn't be surprised if lines like "don't come knocking on my back door, love ain't living 'round here no more" were Richie's idea. So many of their songs have great stuff going on but get dragged down by cliches and transparent hooks. Richie seems to be the most of "the kids'll love it" mentality based on past comments.

I'm basing this on the lack of this when Jon writes solo. Even when you consider something like Janie Don't Take Your Love To Town...the title is bad....but the lyrics aren't. He just seems to be the most progressive out of the two. It's when you put the two together..progressive (Jon) with old school (Richie) that you get the overall Bon Jovi sound. But in this day and age....I really think the old school element should be toned down..at least lyrically. It works well musically, but it's a liability lyrically that can induce the gag reflex.

I don't think that Richie feels creatively "held" back at all. I think after all these years if he did he could say so and he and Jon would deal with it, there's not much danger of it causing a permanent rift or anything. If they are guilty of anything it's of maybe being too protective of the "Bon Jovi sound". Richie is a very talented guy, no doubt about it, but I think Jon is a better solo songwriter. He is certainly better with lyrics.

Becky, do me a favour and listen one more time to WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE at the MOSCOW MUSIC PEACE FESTIVAL and notice RICHIE's intro. It contains the whole BLAZE OF GLORY RIFF in it. Does Richie have any songwriting credits for Blaze of Glory? Guess what: NO!

Let's take Dry County. Is Richie anywhere in the credits? No! On the other hand I bet he wrote the riff parts as well and the solo alone is half the song so the credits are most of the time irrlevant.

Let's take THE ANSWER... Richie wrote at that song for years. But on the credits there is that Foster guy also even if I'm 90% sure that there are BJ songs where Richie has a bigger contribution still he is not mentioned in the credits.

Well...I can't have an objective opinion. I like Richie better than Jon but on the other hand there are a whole bunch of JBJ songs that are by miles better than Richie songs so I can't decide. All I know is that the credit part on records is irrelevant.

Well, Axl Rose's new GnR album takes 2000 years to complete still I consider him a songwriting genius.

There no way to decipher. Some people will prefer Jon. Some will prefer Richie. Some will hate one or the other's solo work, some will love it.
It's like trying to determine which is better - chocolate or vanilla? There's no scientific merit to it. It's all subjetive opinion in the end. And I don't think Richie is under lock and key and miserable because the evil Jon keeps him on too tight a leash - that's a myth perpetuated by some fans who can't/won't accept that Richie, as part of a great unit, doesn't play his music the way they want him to. I like that it fits with the greater song, not some shredding guitar solo that is outdated and ill-suited to the song and this decade. But, Jon's the devil so there you go.