Originally Posted by semigoodlooking

Yeah, but Richie is in many ways the rock glue of the band. There's a reason why haters - who usually come from the hard rock/metal community - say "I only like Sambora". Jon is rock and roll, but not hard rock and he never was. What he has always been is incredibly driven to be at the top of the pile, which is why he was happy enough to change with the musical times.

Because he was not in love with the hard rock scene or the lifestyle, it was much easier for him to break free from it. Access All Areas shows he was different and an outsider in that scene. All Bon Jovi albums have been contrived and even though we like to look back on the good old days, those first four albums are just as manipulated as the last four.

Jon was Aerosmith as long as he needed to be, he was Motley Crue as long as he needed to be, Def Leppard, Springsteen, Imagine Dragons or whatever. Jon and by extension Bon Jovi are incredibly unoriginal, there is no point denying that. They also made amazing music and are criminally overlooked for their four album run from Slippery to These Days. Despite his approach, Jon was able to encapsulate, define, and mainstream that 80s rock scene in a way perhaps only two other bands were able to.