Just saw this; Nikki says she and Richie are *NOT* dating:

http://rumorfix.com/2013/07/is-richi...er-nikki-lund/

Still think it's friends w/benefits. Her benefit being the money he throws into her fashionline, his being.......getting to wear porkpie hats as a fashion statement. :D

Geeze Matt, this is exactly what I see and hear too. Listen to Destination Anywhere (the album) and you will hear what Jon likes to write. I happen to LOVE The Fighter. I don't think this style has anything to do with wanting to be Bruce, I think that is Jon at his best. Listen to Whole Lot of Leavin', some of Jon's best writing in my opinion, and one of the best tracks on Lost Highway.

I do believe that is where his heart lies "these days" and it may be why THAT album was so damn good.

How is Jon lousy when doing them? He's a better songwriter than most of them, so long as he actually writes from the heart.

True, he would never have the same success as those guys or even be successful himself as he was with Bon Jovi, if he struck with that type of music. I still think that is where his heart lies. If he could grab his guitar and just write without thinking of being the best of whatever list, then we could hear some great music.

I love the fighter. I love the vulnerability of it and that's exactly what type of songs I love from Jon. I agree with a lot of what has been said. He really can write amazing songs when it comes down to it.

He has the ability for such great lyrics, one that always stood out in my mind was that line from that DA song, "You know these love letters mix with whisky. Just don't light a match when you kiss me."

Fab writing, right there.

Bon Jovi is his "commercial" life - I have always thought that his JBJ and friends gigs that he does which are just a couple of Bon Jovi songs and a bunch of covers would have been better utilized for his own stuff. But again he's fallen to the commercial nature of it I guess.

Agree with everyone who says the solo Jon are what Jon likes to write and are his most sincere and introspective.

I would say Leonard Cohen a better lyric writer though.

JBJ's best for me is Dry County, Bed of Roses, Always, Something to Believe In & Blaze of Glory.

Recently he has penned some turds like Wildflower.

But Cohen has Everybody Knows, First We Take Manhattan, I'm Your Man, Hallelujah and hundreds more.

I suppose they just have different styles.

And exactly why David - despite being the new darling of Broadway. Is still out touring. Day job comes first - or it should.

Jon wrote a couple of nice lyrics in his life, no question. They are not spraying with originality though and if you actually listened to the people you compare him to, those lyrics aren't even that good.

To even bring up Jon Bon in the same list as Dylan, Cohen, Waits or Springsteen is just painting your own little dreamworld. And don't get me wrong - he's got his moments of magic, I absolutely agree. But as soon as he gets introspective from a more philosophical point of view, there's almost always something that is forced, unnatural, non-sensical. You know, like that sink full of dishes cringeworthy stuff.

Listen to "Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis" by Tom Waits. That song alone will bring your whole 'Ohh JBJ is sooo amazing' little groupie fits back with the feet on the ground.

Having said that - some of the best Bon Jovi songs were when Jon tried to be a bit more like these guys. As Kathleen said, Whole Lot Of Leaving is imo one of the best tracks Bon Jovi pulled out in recent years. And since I doubt that Jon is able to write proper big-chorus rockers anymore, you know, the type of rockers he was the best at writing, I'd rather he chased Springsteen and Cohen than the Killers and Matchbox 20.

Wholeheartedly agree. Whole Lot of Leavin' is one of their best tracks ever in my view. It might not work live but the honesty and vulnerability in that song is something badly lacking in the likes of WWBTF and WAN.

Not Running Anymore and The Fighter are excellent too in my view. I've said it before and I'll say it again, when Jon and Richie come together to write these days, the result is often far worse than when they write for themselves. Both of them are guilty of churning out the stuff most people agree is shite. On their own, they are still capable of writing classics.

Idea for next album (if Richie comes back) - lock both of them in different rooms for six months and when they re-appear, take the best 6 songs that both have managed to produce and there's a classic 12 song album. Hell, that idea will work even if they are still at each others throats.

I agree with you that Jon is nowhere near as good a lyricist as a Dylan or Cohen but Jon has an ability to write songs that most people can relate to in a way that those artists don't.

A lot of the songs on Destination Anywhere feel like honest songs that came from inside Jon rather than a bunch of cliches shoehorned into a wannabe anthemic tune. At various points in my life, it's felt like Jon has written about me in them. I've never felt that listening to say Blood on The Tracks which I appreciate, and love, for a whole load of different reasons.

I LOVE Whole Lotta Leavin' - and I'm not sure it's the actual songwriting that's the problem, but more the production perhaps that makes it feel less believable than many other artists in the same field.
I'm a huge country music fan - and some of the stuff there is so much more genuinely heartfelt and moving. But then I'd love to know the last time a Bon Jovi record was recorded with a full band, in a room, vibing off each other.
That's what I think's missing - a vibe. It's too polished. Even when it's "stripped back".

Sorry to immediately repost, but -

Jon is a great songwriter. Can't dispute that.

However, why oh why is he ripping off other artists when he should be carving his own niche?

WAN had 3 song rip off issues (at least) that bother me:

1- The most ridiculous, open and shut legal case:
Beautiful World = Matchbox 20's How Far We've Come

2- What About Now:
Horrendous theft of a Killers guitar melody. And the title's nicked from a Daughtry song.

3- Room At The End Of The World:
Now, maybe I'm missing a greater reference in pop culture or somewhere, but this is a word for word rip off of the Matt Nathanson song, from his 2011 album.

These guys used to write great original songs - and while plenty of lyric ideas have always been pinched from other artists (compare some of the earlier BJ stuff to Bruce's even earlier stuff, lyrically) - and they used to invent such great titles. You Give Love A Bad Name, for example.

They seem to be too occupied on staying current and being like others that they've almost forgotten what it's like to be themselves....

Agree on some of this but they have always churned out song titles that are hardly original:

I'd Die For You
I'll Be There For You
Keep The Faith
These Days
It's My Life

etc. etc.

Has anyone posted this Richies tweet yet ??

" Hey all, to those who saw that interview from the fashion show it was about my hopes. Nothing's really happening yet..."


He is looking sillier by the day. He should really really shut up and get on with things. Instead of saying something and then going to Twitter with the if's and the but's .... Jon is winning this hands down (maturity wise)

Great example. If only it wasn't a Bonnie Tyler rip-off.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...o67DtZAY#t=57s

Edit: Here's Desmond Child basically telling how he actually ripped it off with Jovi!

Kill me now....

That's just ruined my whole belief system.

Christ on a bike...never heard that before. This is as much a rip off as Beautiful World.

Really makes you wonder, even more, how much input Jon and Richie had into YGLABN and LOAP.

Yeah let's keep on topic. Richie is a ****ing idiot. "I love the fans, I love the band". Bollocks. If he did he would try to resolve with Jon whatever the problem is, but he choses to ponce around with some no good dolly bird in L.A. trying to act 30 years younger. This Richie mess strikes the guy is having a mid life crisis. Seriously every time that dickhead opens his mouth it makes me more angry and resentful of the band.

"Christ on a bike". That's made my morning! HAHA.

Having heard the early demos of LOAP, I can see why Jon wouldn't have thought it would've been a hit, to be fair!

Hah! I thought that's common knowledge really. That's why I was surprised somebody would give Bad Name as an example for originality (even if it was just the title).

Having said that - the guitar riff and the solo make that song stand out...so, getting back on topic, credit to Richie there. It's just your average pop song if it wasn't for Mr. Sambora.

Good point. And I'm sure Jon did come up with the "Shot Through The Heart" bit given the song of the same name on the first album.

Sort of makes you wonder though. The way Jon tells the story, from memory, is that he came up with that line and the song flowed from there. Doesn't he say (or am I imagining it) that Desmond just polished the songs that him and Richie wrote? If so, it sounds as big a lie as "Max Martin was just in the room when we wrote It's My Life".

Forget staying on topic btw, the Richie stuff is beyond ridiculous at this stage.

Those are all 'myths' and legends. Jon & Richie claim a lot more credit for those two songs than they deserve. They are clearly Desmond's songs. If you look at the interview, he used to be asked by record producers to make a song sound like X or like Y and he'd just do that. If anything, Jon and Richie polished up a little the songs that Desmond Child wrote. At least on Slippery. I am sure it became more of an equal partnership later on, especially with songs like Keep The Faith.

Having said that, I am not discrediting the band by any means, especially from an instrumental perspective. The bass line to prayer, the talk-box riff, the solos, hell - even the drumming. All were out of this world. A song is as much as it is, four of the same chords, a little melody and some lyrics. It really comes alive in the studio - that's why both Prayer and Bad Name are fantastic.

Leonard Cohen is a lyricist, poet, author.... He is a genious when it comes to the written and spoken word.... He is a on a completely different universe to Jon when it comes to songwriting... So much so that they shouldn't even be conpared... And I honestly think Jon would be first to admit this ;)

I'm wondering if Richie knows how disappointed his fans are with him (me included)

I'd include the entire Destination Anywhere on that "the best of list". Very good and deep lyrics on that album.

It certainly has it's moments, but while I'm a fan of Dave Stewart's work, I tend to think the production style on DA let's it down. One too many over-processed drum beats ;)

I'm seeing them live tonight and I don't really mind seeing Phil X, but I am very infuriated with the whole situation. At least it's not like what going on with Stone Temple Pilots though.

Many people dislike the album because of that, I understand why. I'm not a fan of such genre but Destination (along with These Days) is my all time fav album.

STP is heartbreaking.

Just catching up here so this may be out of sequence.

The above quote says a lot to me. Both Dylan and Cohen (and to a lesser extent Springsteen) tend to be a bit above everyone. They are relating stories, experience and heartbreak. Jon at his best makes you FEEL those emotions.

Years ago I read something and I don't remember who said it or where it came from. But it stuck. Bruce appeals to your head and Jon appeals to your heart. I think that sums it up well. And it may explain why some of us are still loyal to this guy even when he puts out mediocre stuff.

So, Richie's ''developing a TV show'' now according to the latest interview? Not going to hunt back through this thread, so can anyone give me the low-down on this? Fashion brands, TV shows.. he'll be on Big Brother next :/

That's all we know/has been said about this. You're not missing anything. I guess we just have to wait and see what this TV show is all about.



So anyway... It's not really on topic, but in a way it is or could be, and this thread has become the unofficial Bon Jovi Bar anyway, so I'm gonna post this here.

From what I gathered, it should be new stuff. Ally Sheedy, Richie's old flame, spills (a lot of) beans about Richie, and time doesn't seem to have softened her bad feelings one tiny bit.

These are only the parts about Richie. As usual, you can find the entire interview at the link below.



( http://www.amysohn.com/articles/new-...y-by-amy-sohn/ )

imo, Phil will not miss the birth of his child. Don't know how he will work it out, but he will be there for the birth and 4 a bit later, if not - forever.

Watching him, onstage, he does not seem that "comfortable" to me, a lot of the time. It's like he's so afraid he's going to do something "wrong" in Jon's eyes. It doesn't appear that he's all that crazy about most of Bon Jovi's music repertoire, either. Can't blame the guy for taking the leap for this tour, though. But, he's had an extremely long bachelor's party and I think it's growing old, especially with him being in his late 40s and expecting his first child.

Also, I think his band mates from "The Drills" are not happy with his extended absence. Phil seems to be a man of loyalty so he must be feeling extremely torn, but has made his choice because it could advance his career AND that of "The Drills" not to mention make a nice nest egg for his new baby and wife/family.

No, definitely, not an easy decision to make...

So, will money win, at the end of the day or will Phil pull out the loyalty card, both to his old "family" (The Drills) and to his "new family" (including baby Phil)? I'm betting on the loyalty card by the time the baby is due...

At the end of the day, it will all come down to how Phil decides to play that hand.

That sums it up really perfectly. But it would make it worse if Jon would pretend rather than actually mean it.

How many decades has it been? And she still carries all that hate. I think she cared more for him than he did for her and it still pisses her off.

Or maybe she is telling the truth. Certainly seems possible given what we know of Richie and some of the stuff he has said in interviews. This is a fella who turned up to gigs absolutely steaming drunk and who drove his daughter around pissed. The fella clearly has demons.

That's an old interview. It crawls out of the woodwork every couple of years, though, through Google searches or alerts. I saw it several years ago, but according to the introduction it's probably about 16 years old. Ally is 51 now and the intro to the interview says she's 35.

wow! what an article! didn't know all this stuff she said about Richie! is that a recent interview? I know she accused Richie for her drug addiction and Richie denied it. interesting though! thanks for posting!
btw I answered you in another thread about Milan earlier but never saw a response maybe cause that thread was deleted since I don't see it anymore here, sorry I missed it if you answered to me.. I'd love to know your answer though :) maybe you can post it again. :-)