Nah. 10 years from now Jon considers WAN their finest hour. While lots of "us" will consider it "the day the music died." It is not about public opinion, it's about being stubborn.

Richie is major piece of the Bon Jovi puzzle no matter what Jon may think, "Seven Years Gone" and "Every Road Leads You Home" are better than the whole of "What About Now" IMO. The songs are lyrically and musically much more passionate and sophisticated.

Jon runs the whole "machine" now, which negates them ever being a band/team/family ever again. Jon can run his Soul Kitchen, run the tour system and whatever else he does, but when it comes to the music, its needs to be a band collaboration or at least him and Richie. Jon has lost that connection with his band and has lost the magic they once had.

Think about how many interviews theres been with the whole band or just 2 members together in recent years ??? There's been very few. Things are not well in the camp no matter how well Jon thinks he can run this thing.

What annoys me the most about interviews is that constant "me" and "my" -crap.

Have to disagree with that one. I've been a Foo's fan since the early days but Wasting Light is a triumph for a band who've been around as long as they have.

I truly cannot think of many bands to have released songs of that calibre after 20 years of making music. The difference is, they make music that they are comfortable with, without sticking in their comfort zone. In ten years time, when one of the Foo's watches Thor and WALK comes on, he'll still be able to appreciate it as a good tune AND be able to look himself in the mirror because they weren't chasing a fad. Now, if Army of One or Because We Can was over the closing credits of Iron Man 3, I imagine Richie would turn it off before the credits started to roll and stick Aftermath on to make himself feel better.

Was thinking this exact thing earlier (less the curse more the mistake). We could be witnessing one of those ones where in a few years Jon comes clean and says "We shouldn't have gone back in the studio and out on the road".

They were all embarking on their own solo endeavors, Tico enjoying Semi-Retirement, David on Broadway, Richie doing his thing and then BAM! Jon pulls them back in, seemingly against their will.

Even if they limp across the finish line of this tour fully intact as a band, one thing is for sure. We ain't gonna see them for a while. No one knows for sure why Sambo's gone AWOL so this is pure speculation but I truly believe its a sign that the short term future (next 10 years) of the band is hanging in the balance.

Your missing the point though - we're talking about nostalgia not how good the record is - and no-one goes to see the Foo's because of any song on wasting light, and Bon Jovi twenty years into their career released Crush which brought them a lot of new fans. I'm sure they'd be happy to look at It's My Life and be proud.

I hate that everybody is speaking as fact. We take a line from an interview, sometimes just a few words and formulate a whole story from it and think we know the personal lives of these people.

I would suggest that not one theory put out here regarding how these guys operate behind the scenes is true. Jon puts himself out there to be the target no doubt, but perhaps he does that on purpose. Everyone here who is passing off statements like Richie is unhappy as if it is a fact must actually know the guy, so if you do ask him when he will be back please.

I am all for the speculation, if nothing else it passes the time, but in truth we are all talking utter shit.

Jon is a prick: BULLSHIT
Jon is a nice guy: BULLSHIT
Richie hates the new output: BULLSHIT
Richie loves the new output: BULLSHIT
The band has no say: BULLSHIT
The band is hugely involved: BULLSHIT
Jon said something that suggests...: BULLSHIT
The band not saying something suggests......: BULLSHIT

It is all bullshit because none of us know. The only thing I will guess is that the band will be together in the next few years, they will release another album, and will tour again.

And in terms of the band being in decline, they have been for years, but only to us. We are a very select demo of the Bon Jovi audience; one that picks over every detail. I am not fond of anything post Bounce at all but there are certainly plenty of people who are, as much as can be expected from the band's current position in the music industry. They are not One Direction, the flavour of the month, but neither are they washed up has been's like their former peers.

We think they are here because we like to think we know everything. We can see that the songs are not as good because we have different reference points. I go to a lot of rock concerts and have been to loads over the years, and no rock, heavy metal, thrash, or other rock genre band has such a mix of age and type of fans. Bon Jovi does something right in this modern era whether we like it or not, personally I would prefer they did it with music I really enjoyed, but the truth is they have been doing it with music other people have enjoyed. Perhaps for many of us Bon Jovi is dead, but for millions of others it most certainly isn't.

Sure the album tanked but I would think even the stunning These Days would have sold similar if released today. It is simply the climate except for a few acts.

Edit: I want to clarify that What About Now is terrible in my opinion, but that is not the reason it didn't sell well out the gates, although it is the reason it will have no staying power.

We don't know the the ins and outs of the band behind the scenes but we can make intelligent (sometimes) observations on certain things. Also its called a discussion board for a reason.

How can you say that post Bounce is popular with millions of others outside this forum. Those albums with exception of a few singles were duds. My sister knows very little of the band, she heard WWBTF on X Factor and said "wow, why are they trying to do the same again", brother had same reactiom. The general public's last memory of Bon Jovi is "Its My Life" or possibly "Have A Nice Day".

No, I got your point, I just don't agree... I went to see them because of songs from that album. I think Wasting Light is possibly their best work as a whole.

Comparing it to Crush is a non-starter for me. Commercially, Crush did very well but it was a one-man team. It's My Life was a perfect storm moment for the band and the last time they were relevant. The rest of the album, bar the lyrics to Just Older, tails off into a Jon solo album and gave me my first glimpse at how horribly weak and bland this band could be.

I did not go to see Bon Jovi for any of the songs from Crush. However, Bon Jovi were still the best live band in the world for me in 2000, so I could even put up with the over indulgence of I Got The Girl and the general anaesthetic that was Two Story Town for the sake of seeing them get an entire stadium bouncing along like a small bar on a Friday night...

I clearly said that the discussion passes time so is understandable, and the fact I am participating in that discussion sort of shows that, so I am not sure what you are even talking about with that. In fact me saying you are all talking bullshit is still a part of the discussion.

Not intelligent observations, intelligent guesses maybe, but still a pure guess unless you know the people involved.

I am not talking about millions who have no interest in Bon Jovi, I am talking about others who are not on this board. Or do you think it is only this community that goes to Bon Jovi show, or buys an album? Again not sure what you are talking about but you seem to be in a bubble on here, I would not expect your sister to know them, but I would expect someone who buys and album and attends a show to at least know who the band is, outrageous I know. However, I do accept that now your sister and brother have passed comment that the world has spoken.

The truth is that they do sell tickets and do sell albums. WAN has tanked as I said, but I would imagine Have A Nice Day, Lost Highway, and the Circle together done between 7 and 10 million in sales, which is not bad at all considering the way the music biz has gone since 2006. And of course they have had several successful tours in that time. Do you think if every one of us here stopped going to the shows that the band would crumble? It would not, my point is and clearly was that we look at the band from a unique place, a place the rest of its fan base does not.

They could tour off the back of Backstager's who think they can do no wrong and casuals who go for the hits easily. Selling albums is another matter, but I suspect it would be an issue even if they made a masterpiece.