I like all of these, too! But I'm just not hearing what either excites OR disappoints people so much, for several reasons.

First, it's 30 second clips. Someone (I think it was steel_horse) acknowledged that he had initially misjudged Teardrop from the snippet, because after he heard the whole song it turned out that he loved it. I honestly don't think I've ever seen a group of people who are so quick to jump to hard fast conclusions with little or no information. I just don't get why the need to make a judgment about anything (or anyone!) is so urgent that it has to be done immediately, even when the information is incomplete.

Second, just like with the songs we've already heard, these snippets really don't sound all that different from the rest of the Bon Jovi catalog to me.

Third, some of you seem to have a hard time making up your minds. On one hand, you're "tired of the same old shit" and want Bon Jovi to do something different. On the other hand, you don't like something if it veers too far from the sound you're familiar with, because it "doesn't sound like Bon Jovi". You want something current or relevant, something that doesn't sound dated. But if it has a "newer" sound, comparisons are instantly made to some other group or artist, which, of course, Jon must have copied!

It seems to me that Bon Jovi simply can't win with some of you guys!!

Personally, I miss the distinct sound of Richie's vocals in places, but in some of the songs, especially WDR, I would almost swear that I hear him, especially in "Hey! Hey! Hey!", "Ru-u-n", and "We! Don't! Run!" I even thought that he could have been playing, right before the guitar solo takes over. I'm not talking about the "heavy (handed) meaty shredding lead". They clearly stated that Shanks was playing that! (But you notice they DIDN'T say, at anytime I can recall, that Richie ISN'T playing at all. They've just said Shanks was playing lead and let us draw our own conclusions - just like Jonny did at the end of the Q&A. )

There's something 'clunky' about the transition to the solo. It's in the tone and clarity from the electric at the end of the chorus right before the heavier lead in the solo takes over. At best, I'm a guitarist-wannabe, so I don't know how to describe what I'm hearing. Maybe one of the real guitarists here could better explain what I'm trying to say?

Is it wishful thinking on my part? Perhaps. But it wouldn't surprise me if we learn down the road that Richie was involved with this on some level. And I'll just put this out there while I'm at it - recognizing fully that it's nothing more than conjecture - but I think the reason they "gotta sit on" a completed album until April or May may be so that Richie can do whatever he's going to do with his album and then join them. Then they can add "He's BAA-A-AACK!" to whatever marketing strategy they have planned.

As I said, maybe I'm reaching; but there is just too much weirdness associated with this album, not to mention the delay in releasing the "next" new one. As it sits right now, I'm looking forward to hearing their "latest" album and the "next" one, too. I expect that I'll like both of them, with the same varying favorite and not-so-favorite songs that I've had for all their previous releases.