Can you hear Richie's absence from THINFS?

Very true, I think I jumped the gun a bit too quick there! Maybe there'll be more "him" on some of the album tracks.

Gosh I hope so. I was gutted he only started recording with the band after the album was just about done. Would have loved his intensity on the tracks.

This is that question that goes round and round...

It's a different band, different Jon, different sound... Since Shanks, these albums are so generically made that it's basically Jon's voice with filler sounds. You can probably bring in the KOS and not notice a difference.

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I think the lack of difference between THINFS and the last couple of records says more about Richie's involvement in those than it does about the new song. Maybe him bitching about not having that much input anymore was actually true? I'd always thought that was a little cheap, given he'd co-writen 100% of The Circle, but maybe it wasn't afterall.

I've not seen anything in the writing or the music in a long time that was "stand out" for me. We don't run came close. Good but almost as if they got into a pattern, or to some a rut. From that perspective I don't miss him at all. Most professional guitarists can play what is coming out now. The way Richie seemed in Europe, just sloppy (to be kind) - not on his A game at all, so unless he finds that again....would it matter?

What I do miss and probably always will is the vocal fit he and Jon had together. The live antics that made us believe in a band of brothers. If he ever came back at this point, with so much water under the bridge I don't know if it would be the same anyway.

I think PhilX is doing a great job and he seems so appreciative to be there - look at his smile in the video, like a kid at Christmas. I hope when we hear the songs he did record we can hear his sound. He didn't write however so I'm not sure. He did start bringing out his personality later in the tour and I liked it.

Despite of all the mediocre and bad songs, I think over the last years Jon has proven that he is still very capable of writing music without Richie. And not only on his own, but with co-writers like John Shanks or Billy Falcon. So we (possibly) will still get very good Jovi-style music in the future.

As for Phil X, I agree with what you wrote. I didn't know him before he came to/joined Bon Jovi, but in the meantime I saw him at a BJ concert and listened to some of his own stuff, and I'm thrilled to hear what he played on THINFS, of course only if the Jon-John duo let him give his best Even though he clearly can't deliver the same magical vocal harmonies to Jon's voice as Richie could.
On a side-note, the 2014 Richie show I went on was very fun, but also a bit disappointing, but I'm happy seeing he seems to be getting back on track.

All the more since PhilX is a KOS too.

PhilX is first and foremost a studio musician, ie he can play music written by others the way they want him to play it, not HIS way. You can hear he didn't play on THINFS because of the lack of fluidity and dexterity in the solo but apart from that, I very much doubt that we'll get to hear his signature licks or tone in the 4 songs he did play.

Phil in NOT a KOS!!! Phil has played with the KOS, but he has his own band... The KOS is Bobby's band and you could see ALL those members playing with Bobby all over NJ... And Phil is not with them...

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I agree. Everyone is assuming he wrote the guitar parts for the songs he does play on. I am not so sure.

What do you mean the solo lacks fluidity and dexterity?

Right, Phil has a reputation as being a studio musician, a very good one though. But he is also very capable of creating his own songs, parts and stuff. So it would be quite sensible for Jon to let him have a bit of artistic freedom and give his music a fresh touch, otherwise he could just let Shanks play all the parts (like on BB). Maybe that's just wishful thinking, but I very much hope that Phil got to create his parts himself, at least to some extent.