Why do you want Richie back so bad?

I'm just going to see two things:

1) Is people on this board out of their ****ing mind? Wanting another singer in Bon Jovi? For god's sake. Is Bon Jovi. Bon Jovi doesn't exist without Jon, he CAN'T be replaced.
2) Never going to get why people here seem to think that playing as it is on the CD is bad. To me is great, it's a compliment to a band to say to them "you sound like on the CD".

I have a few reasons why I want Richie back, just like a lot of people.

For me, the main thing is the backing vocals. I just think the songs sound even more flat without Richie being there and when he is there, they do sound more like a band. Even if they didn't sound too great when he was performing at the start of this tour.

Secondly, I think he has so much more charisma than Phil X. Whether Phil X looks like he is having fun up there or not, he just isn't Richie. You can say he's bored etc.. but he still has more up there for me. I genuinely do think that.

I prefer Richie as a guitarist, by a mile. Yeah, Phil X may be quick and can shred, but I prefer Richie's sound much more than Phil X's. I don't think the solos in songs sound the same when Richie isn't there and again, that is why I want him back ASAP. I want Bon Jovi to sound like Bon Jovi. A lot have said they haven't for a while, and they're right, but they sound even worse with Phil X and that's not his fault. It's just a totally different sound when it comes down to Phil X or Richie.

Phil is a fantastic guitar player and he does bring out the more energetic Jon because he is out of his comfort zone. I haven't really moaned about going to any of my shows because I'm not dreading them. I will go and have fun, I know that. Whether it's the concerts or not, I know I will have a good day or two when I see them in Manchester and Slane. I do want Richie back for them shows, though. I did originally pay to see the FULL band. It doesn't matter if they work for Jon or not because they have for a long time, they are still a band.

Bullshit, no, but I can understand that you're angry for not being included. I know I am a pretty good guitarist, I know Thierry is, I know Rumen is, I know Jim is. And it's not about being good, it's knowing what playing guitar takes, what it's like and what is worth appreciating and what is not. If you don't play, you don't know.

There are good and bad players, but the order of "goodness" is a matter of opinion. If you don't know classical music, you can have an opinion, but it's just your opinion. If ten people who know about classical music disagree with you, it's likely that your opinion isn't the opinion of the majority or the opinion "experts" would share. You're entitled to your opinion, but if people who know more than you about something, share an opinion, it's worth exploring why they agree.

And like it's been stated here before, Phil X does a good job. He's a session player and a "style" is a bad thing for a session player. You need to be a chameleon, play how the producer wants. If you have a distinctive style, it lowers the amount of your potential gigs.

I haven't heard Phil X play real blues, but Bon Jovi doesn't have any blues songs. Everything i've heard Phil X play live with Bon Jovi so far I like. He might not be Richie in his prime, but he's a hell of a lot better guitarist for Bon Jovi than what Richie has been rhe last few years. And I still rate Richie in the top three on my top guitarists list. But the Richie of the 80's and the 90's. Not the one of the 2010's.

Ice

A band is a band. Anyone is just as replacable as the next guy. And Jon can't sing worth shit these days. Someone who could could lift the band to totally different heights.

No, it isn't. If you want CD-sound, stay home and listen to the albums. Rock and roll needs to be live. It needs to live and breathe, to ebb and flow. You need to know anything can happen. You need blood and sweat. You need the mistakes and successes. Or it isn't a rock concert. Bon Jovi used to be like that, a bar band that plays big bars. Not any more.

And at the risk of sounding like a moron, pick up an instrument and learn to play. If after that you still think copying a CD note for note is great playing, we'll talk again. But you won't.

Ice

And it turns in one of those joke bands where everyone: singer, drummers, bassist and guitar players are replaced at some point. You can't replace the frontman, main songwriter and the dude that's called as the band; it's beyond idiotic. "All men are created equal but some are more equal than others", the same applies to the members of a band.

Yeah, I agree partialy. I love an improvised 9 minutes Blood on Blood with the jamming in the middle, but that's one thing and other is changing the only solo of a song. Is like Jon starts singing a song with completely different lyrics, I want the song to sound as close as the CD.

And the "stay home and listen to the albums" is really stupid, you must know more than anyone that there's no comparison between one thing and another.

Never said that that was great playing, I just said that it was a compliment. I'd write more but above I explained myself better.

Jon said years ago there was no way he'd ever let the band continue on in the band using that name without him. It's his name on the contract. So in that sense, he is absolutely the only one that can't be replaced.

Because he is the king of swing , the master of disaster and my partner in crime ....Mr Richie Sambora on the guitar !!

Apart from the trademark, the name and the company, that's what they said to AC/DC, Van Halen, Iron Maiden before Dickinson came in, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath... The only reason Jon can't be replaced is because he is the CEO.

Jon can't sing anymore, that's a fact, no matter how much you would want to disagree with it. Replace him with a better singer and the band could do wonders. It's not the band holding Jon back, it's the other way around.

Ice

Never took you for someone with their head up their ass, but maybe you should try listening to Jon's singing. It's nowhere close to where it should be. With a decent singer the band could be fantastic.

Do I think it would ever happen? No. Would I pay to see the band perform with a different singer? Hell, yes.

Ice