5/17/2023 0 Comments Tico torres“Richie was a big entity of this group - not only writing, but his voice and guitar playing,” Torres says. Indeed, there are people out there who have been saying for years that the band should be called Sambora. The six-stringer co-wrote songs for Bon Jovi and played pretty much all of the band’s more recognizable licks. Still, you lose a character as big as Sambora, and you’re going to feel it. All playing at once, recording that way, working off each other with a lot of feel.” John Shanks was in the studio recording with us, and that process was more organic for us. We had Phil X play on the record, and we also had John Shanks, the producer who took that Clint Eastwood-type role, where he would direct the film and also act in it. “Richie has to find his own path we’re finding ours. “Phil X filled in and did the last tour with us, and it’s like anything - you have to move on,” he says. Regarding Sambora, Torres says that the band has been able to use the past three years to transition Phil X in, which helped the group get over losing a key member. Our message it to always try and be positive.” And try to do something a bit positive, as well. Except our gut feel, which has always been our mainstay. We’re not reverting back to anything that we did in the ’80s or ’90s. “The wonderful thing is to be able to create something that’s very current, enough where people can relate to it. “We’ve gone through different members, and gone through a lot of time, trials and tribulations,” Torres says. Bassist Such was effectively replaced by Hugh McDonald back in 1994, though his inclusion was only made official last year (perhaps because he always looked a little out of place with his Dad hair, until the rest of the band caught up). The band Bon Jovi is more than three decades old and has now seen two original members leave. Subsequently, we’ve been blessed that the fans really love it.” As long as we’re happy with it, then we put it out there, and it becomes its own embryo and grows with the fans. More like we did with Slippery, New Jersey and stuff like that. “We went backwards and recorded everything, then put the album together inside the studio. “I think we approach it the same way we always have,” Torres says. So how does the band approach making an album in this decade? Multimillion-dollar deals and glitzy video shoots led to an era of rock-and-roll excess and storied debauchery. Back when Bon Jovi was dropping albums in the ’80s, the money coming in (and going out) was almost obscene, certainly by today’s standards. He’s not kidding when he says that things are different now. These days it’s different, but we’re so happy to see our fans enjoy the music, because you have no idea when you put out a record.” “To be able to have something that’s so popular - it came out at number one. “It seems like people really like it,” he says. Drummer and OG member Tico Torres has been ecstatic with the reaction. Still, there are anthems on the latest album that will please longtime fans, not least the title track. The band has spent much of the past decade or so transforming from a nostalgia-heavy pop-rock group to something more akin to the home state that also birthed Springsteen: blue-collar, Mellencamp-esque hard rock. This House Is Not for Sale, from 2016, was the first album recorded without Sambora, and while he’s clearly missed, new player Phil X is a badass. The group had a mega-smash in 1986, Slippery when Wet, followed by an arguably even better record in ’88, New Jersey. In truth, the group has struggled to match that level of mania since, but Keep the Faith and These Days in the ’90s were better than decent, as was 2005’s Have a Nice Day. There was a point in the mid- to late ’80s when Bon Jovi was pretty much the biggest band in the world. So original drummer Tico Torres and keyboardist David Bryan are still in there, and that’s not a bad level of turnover for a band that formed in 1983. That’s not actually fair, though in fact, until Sambora flew the coop, the only previous departure from the group had been bassist Alec John Such, back in 1994. After all, without his right-hand man, wasn’t this just Jon Bon Jovi’s solo gig now? When charismatic Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora left the band in 2013, many guessed that would be the end for the Jersey hard rockers.
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