Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain_jovi
Just so we're clear, I'm in no way agreeing with Jon's assessment of Richie's playing or his place in the band. I'm just giving my thoughts on U2 and Van Halen both having guitar players that are integral to the band and it's sound. I think BJ is capable of playing without Richie but it took a decade plus of ho-hum easy-to-digest songs to get to that point. Had Richie split in the middle of the hey day when you can hear him pouring his heart out into the music and playing it'd be a different argument.
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I agree that The Edge and EVH are integral to their respective bands' sound and identity. Just like Brian May, Joe Perry, Jimmy Page or anybody else. I just don't see how Jon can truly believe that it isn't just as true of Richie. If that's evident only in Bon Jovi's hey day, then Jon surely has no room to talk. That's the legacy
he's riding on these days; and God knows he isn't the performer he was back in the day, either.
Please don't get me wrong. I know that from a marketing standpoint, Jon can't say the band sucks without Richie; and I don't expect him to. But why bring him up at all? He's been gone over six years! Everybody who cares knows he's gone; and they've all heard Jon's take on
why he's gone. If Jon really wants to close that chapter, then he should move on. Instead, for someone who seems hellbent on convincing people that Richie was that insignificant, Jon seems to be the one who's having one helluva time letting him go.