Mikele wrote:Hi , I'm a new member here at MR, and wanted to start by posting on the Survivor board, since it's clearly the most underrated band among all at this message board.
To me, and is my personal opinion, there's no Survivor without Sullivan and Droubay...I can get over a change of singer any time, but Marc is so primary for the band sound (he's also a very underrated drummer, but one of the best in rock IMO) and every time I hear THTS I realize something's missing in the groove and in the feeling. Sullivan is the trademark of Survivor: hear Live in Japan 1985, it's his guitar speaking.
Crossroad Moments had its moments, as to speak, but I can't really feel how it is recapturing the Survivor sound guys. I think it's a deja-vu from Jimi's voice. A good record, but the guitar sound and feeling is gone.
Welcome to the board, Mikele!
There's no question about it that any Survivor album is going to be much better off if Sullivan is on it. CM would have been an even better album than it was if Sullivan and Droubay were on it, just the same as Reach would have been better if Peterik had been on it.
Marc Droubay is a killer drummer! I've always felt that Droubay and Ellis were very important members of the band, and they will always be my first choice to be the rhythm section of Survivor. Although, in fairness to Gary Smith and Dennis Keith Johnson, they were also excellent fits for Survivor's early days, and are excellent players.
I agree that THTS would have been even better yet had Droubay and Ellis been on it.
One of the things that I find very disappointing about Reach is that Frankie didn't really let Droubay be Droubay on it. There are only a few songs on Reach where Droubay's drumming really jumps out at me. And Marc Droubay is way too great of a drummer to be held back like that.
