I go so back and forth on whether or not the solo should be played twice on the final version. Side note, this isn't a Shanks move. It was produced by Howard Benson. Debatable how much involvement Jon had in the final final version since Phil did overdubs on it a year or so before he covered for Richie and both camps say they haven't run into each other since the Aldo Nova days (I can see Jon lying about this but back when Phil said it he had nothing to gain. He easily could have said he ran into Jon in the studio once).

I've always disliked when solos just repeat the same part twice if it's not something that's truly special.

"Allergic" is probably not the best word, but I think that's a decent summary.

Jon is not a hard rock / heavy metal guy. He grew up idolizing Bruce, Southside Johnny and the Rolling Stones. Early in his career he looked up to and compared himself Bryan Adams and The Cars. These are singers-songwriters who made catchy tunes, but and were rock acts, but not big on guitar solos.

During the 2016 Eddie Trunk he said "we were lumped into the genre because we looked a certain way". Guitar solos were a big part of that genre so they followed the formula. And because the songs were so great that they became synonymous with the 80s hard rock scene, even if Jon himself did not identify with parts of that scene.

When you take that into account it's not that surprising that he decided to gradually move away from (focusing so much on) guitar solos, as they attempted to reinvent and commercialize their sound, and as Richie's influence in the band seemingly decreased.

Yeah, but Jon's not only gone away from guitar solos, but also completely gone from making rock'n'roll music and faded into a exchangable pop act sound. All of his idols have stayed more true to their roots in terms of sound.

I actually enjoy more WAN than HAND,The Circle,BB and THINFS.
For me their worst album since 2000 is The Circle.

I liked the songs on the Circle, that acoustic rendition of Superman Tonight on Valentine's Day was the best new song performance in a decade or so. But the shalalalas and the stone cold production on the album kill off every vibe there could've been. And I very much blame the two Jon's for this...

I went for a long walk last night and WAN really....I dont want to say impressed me but the songs were catchy. Lyrics weren't amazing but production was the problem. With a warmer, more organic sound, less ringy-arpeggio guitar parts it could have been a lot better. The title track I've skipped since it came out. I think I realized it's not a bad, uncatchy song, it's subject matter is just so trite and over-written about that it's white noise. Had it been an album cut without there being ten It's My Life's preceding it I'd probably like it quite a bit.

Funnily enough the Circle is probably my favourite

Mine too.......

Mine as well, maybe currently tied with Crush :D
But, to be fair, their post-2000 competition isn't that high :mrgreen:

I freaking love the circle!!! It's really atmospheric, arrangement wise it's some of the best work the band did post-2000 and John Shanks best produced album. Lyrically it's pretty good too (working man aside). I get that some of the political themes turn some people off but they're hidden really well on most songs (again working man aside). Even on Happy Now, Jon may have been writing about Obama, but for me the song is a very special and personal one. Also songwriting and guitar wise, it's the last album that had a heavy Richie presence, I see it almost like a married couple giving it one last chance, making their best effort before breaking up. Yeah it may not have worked entirely but it made something special. The only song I skip here is Live before you die, the rest awesome to me!