While I understand the preference, this just doesn't make sense to me. Richie used more gain than Phil ever has, hence the songs sounded heavier with Richie playing them. What I really miss about Richie (apart from the vocal harmonies) is the little things he did when he played the songs, like in Bad Name, when he played the chorus and he picked the strings as he strummed the chords, that added so much texture to the song. He did that on a lot of songs and I guess I just got used to hearing them that way that I almost humm his parts whenever I hear them lol ....