I don’t know where it stems from, though it’s very difficult for bands who have played through the cockrock and spandex era to reinvent themselves, and remain “cool” in the eyes of the general public. If you weren’t a Jovi fan I guess the only enduring images you would have of them are from the Prayer video or Jon puffing about with his hair in “Always”.

That’s a really blanket statement you are making about metal fans though… I’d consider myself an (old style) metal fan and have never really thought of Jovi as a particularly weak sounding band… although Richie’s playing has definitely had the rougher edges knocked off since the first album (in a style sense as opposed to technical ability). As for the G&R group I have found the exact opposite, I expected Jovi to be ripped on the board with the whole Sambora/slash rivalry going on but I’ve generally come across mostly positive comments about them and a number of their tracks.

At the end of the day stand tall, wear your Bounce tour t-shirt and tell everyone who has a problem with you that they can stick their “cool” techno-grunge-goth-goat abusing-numetal-funk sideways up their arse.