I agree that the band in the box set demo sounds strange. At some backing vocals I could imagine that it is Richie however. The acoustic solo is a strange choice there, and it does not sound VERY richie to me, cause richie usually has some fast playing when soloing acoustically and here it is super slow. But it could be Richie. JBJ's voice sounds even pre-KTF at some points, meaning I could even accept 1991 as the recording year for this demo. I don't know what's happening, it's strange. Could there have been also some extra instruments/layers recorded for the box set by Obie ?? I don't think so but it is a possibility also.