Sorry to immediately repost, but -

Jon is a great songwriter. Can't dispute that.

However, why oh why is he ripping off other artists when he should be carving his own niche?

WAN had 3 song rip off issues (at least) that bother me:

1- The most ridiculous, open and shut legal case:
Beautiful World = Matchbox 20's How Far We've Come

2- What About Now:
Horrendous theft of a Killers guitar melody. And the title's nicked from a Daughtry song.

3- Room At The End Of The World:
Now, maybe I'm missing a greater reference in pop culture or somewhere, but this is a word for word rip off of the Matt Nathanson song, from his 2011 album.

These guys used to write great original songs - and while plenty of lyric ideas have always been pinched from other artists (compare some of the earlier BJ stuff to Bruce's even earlier stuff, lyrically) - and they used to invent such great titles. You Give Love A Bad Name, for example.

They seem to be too occupied on staying current and being like others that they've almost forgotten what it's like to be themselves....