Here's a fun band name I thought of...

Your Mom's Favorite Band

Now when guys tease each other as such:

"You listen to Starland Vocal Band?!?  Isn't that your mom's favorite band?"

The answer will be no... because Your Mom's Favorite Band will be a band in and of itself.

I think they need to abandon the slow stuff though.  Stick with uptempo and melodic mid-tempo.  They haven't done any "slow" stuff that has grabbed my attention since Falling Into Infinity (where the slow stuff was actually the best stuff on the album-- Hollow Years, Take Away My Pain, and Anna Lee... even Speak to Me which was recorded during those sessions but didn't make it onto the album was pretty damn good!)  

From a lyrical standpoint I don't think they've ever fully recovered from Kevin Moore's departure after the Awake album.  He was a great lyricist and I think he inadvertantly challenged the other guys in the band to be better songwriters as their material was better when he was in the band as well.

While they never enjoyed success in the US, Kiwi band Dragon were largely popular in their adopted homeland of Australia?  Enjoy these 4 very unique and interesting arrangements of the same song!

The 90s version was a studio version.  Sometime around 96 or 97 Geoff Downes decided to re-record some of the band's earlier hits with his 90s line-up of the band (of which he was the only remaining original member).  So there was a different drummer, guitarist, and vocalist (John Payne).  The material with Payne was more progressive and less pop oriented.  Payne has a good voice and I really like some of the original material Asia recorded when Payne was their lead singer but I'm not a fan of Payne singing the old John Wetton material. 

Asia's best album was their debut.  imho their best album with John Payne was 2001's Aura.

The Rock Lobsters version is actually from that CD. :-)

Pink Floyd is one of the most covered bands out there.  Give your ears a gander at this small handful of Floyd covers and pick the cover version you feel is best and comment on why you believe that cover is the best.

The original version would win any poll I'd put it in against any cover version.  So leaving the original version out-- which of these 3 cover versions do you think is the best and why?

Which version of Heat of the Moment do you prefer?

I included links with each selection to listen to each version.

1 song, 3 different performers-- which do you prefer?

Often a drummer leaves and is replaced no big deal because the drummer is rarely a focal point in the band.  Portnoy was largely the spokesman for the band.  He kept a library in his basement featuring soundboard recordings of nearly every concert they ever performed.  He was integral in forming the "Ytsejamrecords.com" site and giving fans access to rare demo versions of songs and some of the band's better live performances over the years. 

I don't know whether or not the band will be crap without him yet as the new album won't be released for a few more months yet.  I guess you could say I fall into the "curiously skeptical" category when it comes to this.  I think the band has milked it a bit too much though.  They picked the new drummer back in October and have already completed their first album with him... yet still haven't announced/confirmed who he is. 

I thought their last album, Black Clouds & Silver Linings was a real return to form and was their best album since 2003's Train of Thought.  Other than the nearly 30 minute long title cut and perhaps 1 other song, I didn't care for their Octavarium (2005) release.  2007's Systematic Chaos was a step back in the right direction but wasn't quite "there" yet. 

My favorite DT albums though were 1994's Awake (the last album with their original keyboard player, Kevin Moore.  He was also a great songwriter.  His replacement is a better keyboard player but isn't much of a lyricist.  The quality of their lyrics have never quite matched the ones Moore wrote when he was in the band) and 2003's Train of Thought (other than a short 2 and a half minute long ballad in the middle of the album, it's a full speed ahead full on crunchy metal delight). 

The latest rumor regarding Portnoy's replacement in Dream Theater is Mike Mangini.  Mangini is an award winning and in demand session drummer and I believe he even holds some Guinness Records for speed drumming.  He recently left his job as an instructor at Berklee School of Music.  The band has been refusing to comment on this rumor and the non-denial coupled with Mangini's recent departure from his teaching position at Berklee has only served to further fuel the rumors. 

I just read that Dream Theater has a new drummer and they've been working with him exclusively since about October.  They've been able to keep his name under wraps thus far.  They wanted to hold off on announcing him to make sure he's "the guy" before letting the fans know.  I believe this stems from some of the difficulties they had when replacing Charlie Domenici who was fired shortly after the recording of their 1989 debut album, When Dream & Day Unite.  There was one guy they announced as their new lead singer around 1990 or 1991.  His first (and only) gig was so bad the rest of the band came out and apologized following that performance and he never performed with the band again.  OUCH!

As such I can see the band's reticence with the announcement of their new drummer's name.

If it's as good as Like Drawing Blood I plan on getting it.

The Outfield had killer vocal harmonies and are a joy to listen to.  I recommend checking out Big Innings: The Best of the Outfield if you enjoy Your Love a lot of their other songs are just as good.  I find them amusing too, a British band named after a reference to American baseball (the original band name actually was "Baseball")... Kind of like the Bay City Rollers back in the 70s... A Scottish Band who randomly pointed at a map of the USA to come up with their name.  The finger randomly landed on Bay City, MI.