I disagree with you here... I think they are both really good songwriters and have great chemistry together. Jon has written some great songs on his own. I Believe, Bed of Roses, Fear, Dry County, Blaze of Glory, Santa Fe for example. Richie hasn't written enough on his own to be judged as a solo songwriter but his influence to the Jovi songs he has cowritten is noticible. I think the more outside input that comes into this partenship when writing Jovi songs, (with the exception of Desmond Child and in some cases Billy Falcon) the weaker their material is.

They both contribute in their own way to this band. I think it's unfair to say 'Richie is the genius' when as already mentioned, he did have a fair amount of help with the writing of both his solo albums. Jon's Blaze of Glory may be arguably not as good as Stranger, but you can't really use this as an argument as to why Richie is the better songwriter.

Blaze was a soundtrack written from the perspective of a character (Billy the Kid). He did it completely on his own with no Desmond Child or Dave around to help him make every song a hit.

Their chemistry is part of what makes Jovi great. While I'm sure they are capable on their own, I'm sure its not Richie doing all the work as some people seem to believe. It's their combined talents that have created many of these songs that they are famous for.