Fascination/Repulsion with Styx

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A few years ago I saw the Styx behind the music. I knew nothing about the band before seeing it and its my favorite episode of the series hands down, mainly because I couldn't recall witnessing such heights of dorkiness and also the cinematic formalist in me was slightly awed by the wealth of archive film and video footage of the band, uncommon for the series. The band in-fighting was also interesting; rockers Tommy Shaw and JY Young vs. Broadway dork Deyoung and his seemingly co-dependent love for his wife.

Their videos on VH1 classic always kinda creeped me out when I had cable, something about their facial expressions. Does anyone know what I'm referring to? Isn't their something...I don't know, this might be quite cruel and inexplicable, but isn't their something child molester-like about their camera mugging?

Well after the recent 5$ purchase of a greatest hits collection, I've finally heard their songs outside the context of a television documentary. Surprisingly, I think I need more Styx and I don't know where to turn next. I like some of the Shaw songs (Blue Collar Man, Too much Time on My Hands) but Deyoung's hyper-sentimentalism fascinates me a bit more. The Best of Times and Don't Let it End are what I listen to the most. It's bizarre to consider that Mr. Roboto was a #3 hit. I can't imagine hearing a single often on the radio which concludes with Deyoung shouting "I'M KILROY! KILROY! KILROY!". Deyoung's vocal enthusiasm on "Roboto" reveals his awareness/perception that he's singing a showstopper.

Where shall I go from here? What about the apparent movie that was based on "Kilroy was Here." What are the most interesting stand alone records (visual or audio) of the band's existence from the pervert's viewpoint?

― theodore fogelsanger, Monday, 31 May 2004 21:14 (8 years ago) Permalink

"...its my favorite episode of the series hands down"

yeah, my favorite ep besides the motley crue one. almost funnier than spinal tap.

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Monday, 31 May 2004 21:27 (8 years ago) Permalink

paradise theater is the one you want.

― stockholm cindy (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 31 May 2004 21:33 (8 years ago) Permalink

"Renegade" on Pieces of Eight is far and away their finest hour.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 31 May 2004 21:33 (8 years ago) Permalink

Styx pre-Tommy Shaw was a pretty good hard rock band, not as frequently cornpone, Tin Pan Alley and overwrought as later. But overwrought and Tin Pan Alley are stengths in the American market,
so one could say they were simply developing their chops re these things.

"Equinox" is a pretty heavy album and a contains a fair share of loud & fast rockers stuck between hard rock and pomp metal. Styx II was also good. All you need to do is skip "Lady" and the rest of it falls into place.

"Equinox" is the only one in print anymore that's reasonably priced. The previous albums for Wooden Nickel and A&M, which are worth a listen, are being hoarded by dirtbag CD resellers. This has driven up the prices. Check Amazon for a laugh -- $60.00 and up for the
early band releases is just evidence of pure avarice.
The records are fair to good, though, and the greed now on display concerning them makes me recommend some enterprising soul rip them off, from old vinyl if necessary, and post them on the net for downloading.

― George Smith, Monday, 31 May 2004 23:01 (8 years ago) Permalink

If you can play vinyl, the original Paradise Theater (and I'd be amazed if you can't find a copy for fifty cents) has a neat laser etching on the actual record. It's a great album pretty much all the way through.

― dlp9001, Monday, 31 May 2004 23:31 (8 years ago) Permalink

Recast the one line in Roboto as "I am a maudlin man" and it all makes sense.

― Joseph McCombs, Monday, 31 May 2004 23:34 (8 years ago) Permalink

I don't really care for this band all that much. It's amazing to me to think that the first record I ever bought with my own money, was a cassette of Kilroy Was Here. Ah well. I did love that darn "Mr. Roboto" song so.

I really liked "Too Much Time On My Hands" as a kid, too. I liked the line about having "a bottle of cold brew".

I guess "JY" is a White Sox fan, though. So that makes him A-OK in my book.

― Broheems (diamond), Monday, 31 May 2004 23:49 (8 years ago) Permalink

i think ultimately they were probably better than fellow down-staters Head East, but not as good as REO.

― Broheems (diamond), Monday, 31 May 2004 23:51 (8 years ago) Permalink

"renegade" so ruled
our junior-high football team:
locker sing-along*

*most of us were gay
as you might have imagined
we didn't know it

― Begs2Differ (Begs2Differ), Monday, 31 May 2004 23:54 (8 years ago) Permalink

Apparently, Tommy Shaw was the best songwriter of the bunch. It would appear.

He did "Renegade", "Blue Collar Man", "Too Much Time on My Hands", and "Fooling Yourself (Angry Young Man)". I like all of those songs well enough. So he had talent, I think.

TS: "Snowblind" by Styx vs. "Snowblind" by Black Sabbath" vs "Snowblind" by Ace Frehley

― Broheems (diamond), Tuesday, 1 June 2004 00:05 (8 years ago) Permalink

'Pieces of Eight' was the last rockin' album, they went totally Manhattan Transfer after that

― dave q, Tuesday, 1 June 2004 02:50 (8 years ago) Permalink

hmmm, i always thought that the only remotely "cool one"* in styx was tommy shaw -- "girls w/ guns" was kind of a nice song, and he was like the only one who seemed to acknowledge that there was something called PUNK/NEW WAVE going on outside styx's orbit?

dennis deyoung always struck me as being something of a douchebag.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Tuesday, 1 June 2004 02:55 (8 years ago) Permalink

Depending on the prevailing critical consensus, I've vacillated between sheepish embarrassment and unselfconscious enthusiasm at the pleasure Styx (or, at least 25-30 of their songs) give me. Dennis DeYoung and James Young contributed a handful, but Tommy Shaw's were surely the best songs. Lester Bangs once panned Pieces Of Eight based opon what he preceived as arrogance ("What Styx [say] is this: We Are Hot Shit.") That may (MAY) have been true about DeYoung's songs, but not Shaw's - his best songs were usually optimistic and uplifting, if occasionally kinda..."twee". (That's the first time I've ever used that word; hope I used it correctly!) The only one I currently own is the greatest hits, and it could be better. (A few greats are missing, the re-recorded "Lady" is inferior, and the post-Kilroy stuff is awful. (And yes, I do like the irresistably goofy "Mr. Roboto"!) But a completely satisfying C-80 could be compiled, no problem. My favourite: "Lorelei". Love "Sing For The Day"'s mandolin, the way JY declaims "You're the new..!" in "Miss America", the bolero beats in "Lady", "Renegade"'s dramatic "Go-o-o-o-o!" and sudden heavy metal burst, etc...

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Tuesday, 1 June 2004 05:15 (8 years ago) Permalink

np: "The Worst Band in the World," 10cc

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Tuesday, 1 June 2004 06:18 (8 years ago) Permalink

"Lady" is pretty short for a bolero. Nudge nudge, wink wink.

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Tuesday, 1 June 2004 06:19 (8 years ago) Permalink

11 months pass...

"Borrowed Time" now that was fucking genius!!!!!!!!!

"YES! NO! YES! NO!!!
NO! YES! NO! YES!"

― ZionTrain (ZionTrain), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 17:55 (8 years ago) Permalink

I actually dug Styx for a while. "Grand Illusion" and "Pieces Of Eight" had their moments as did Side 1 of "Cornerstone." After that, the whole thing just broke down. For my tastes (and many others) the tunes were getting sprinkled with way too much fairy dust and the few good tracks on each record just hurts the Styx name now. And the lineup changes?? A nail in their coffin of cred. Lawrence Gowan. Glen Burtnik. Schemmehorn? WTF!

The reunion tour of 1996 was fantastic. I was REALLY surprised how good they were. But then to put out an album where it was FAR too obvious that Dennis De Young and Tommy Shaw recorded their own tracks- in separate cities- without each other's input and called it the band Styx, just cancelled out everything the reunion stood for.

Tommy Shaw trucks on playing State Fairs with JY and the rest of the latest incarnation of Styx while Dennis sings one-off gigs on Chicago stages, recorded for enjoyment on public television.

With all due respect, these guys blew it. GREAT Behind The Music for sure but man, they have to know they blew it. Chalk this one up next to Foreigner, Van Halen and Journey in the sad demise of the classic rock outfits.

The sad reality is there will be a few people in that audience this summer when Lawrence Gowan sings "Lady" that will have no idea. They'll just the singer just dyed his hair as compared to the old videos. PLAY CRYSTAL BALL!!!!!!!!!!!!

― ZionTrain (ZionTrain), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 18:21 (8 years ago) Permalink

I really hate Styx, but in their defense, they kept their career going pretty well. Making a gold record well into the '90s is nothing to sneeze at for a band like this.

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 20:22 (8 years ago) Permalink

Aquarius Records has been talking up reissues of the early albums a little bit.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 20:27 (8 years ago) Permalink

The first four on Wooden Nickel are all now in a double CD, value priced, thereby thwarting the Amazon/eBay/used CD ripoff men. Very much more hard rock, on the average, than the material that resulted when Shaw entered the band. "Lady" is about the worst thing from the second record on Wooden Nickel. There's a good amount of boogie present plus stuff that might be called American-ized Uriah Heep which is what Kansas was also doing early on.

― George Smith, Thursday, 19 May 2005 00:42 (8 years ago) Permalink

The Styx episode was totally the best episode of That 70s Show. Do they mark an exact point where prog became formula?

I wonder if it was "Great White Hope" that pushed Bangs over the edge. Is his review in that Psychotic Reactions book or available online? "Aku-Aku" has some nice guitar harmonies.

What do you think of the synth break in "Come Sail Away"? I used to think it was a bad "Baba O'Riley" rip but sometimes I actually find it kind of, um, trippy.

― Sundar (sundar), Thursday, 19 May 2005 01:27 (8 years ago) Permalink

They're not that far away from this:

http://he.fi/video/apache.mpg

― Sundar (sundar), Thursday, 19 May 2005 01:31 (8 years ago) Permalink

Good lord, that was incredible.

― dlp9001, Thursday, 19 May 2005 01:43 (8 years ago) Permalink

2 years pass...

Ha, I had totally forgotten about the above video. It's still pretty funny.

Anyway, I've bought about two physical CDs this year, and one of them was Paradise Theater which just arrived today. Last time I bought this album was in 1981 I guess, at Sears, first and only lasar-etched album that I owned.

Still a ridiculously good album. I'm up to The Best of Times right now, and eagerly anticipating the Snowbling/Half-Penny, Two-Penny combo coming up (which I've somewhat forgotten as they don't get played on the radio and aren't on Greatest Hits).

Good times. (Any why isn't this available via iTunes/Amazon? They didn't have it at Borders either...I had to mail order from half.com. It can't be out of print, can it?)

― dlp9001, Monday, 28 April 2008 20:11 (5 years ago) Permalink

Just finished. Holds up awfully well. Half-Penny was even better than I recalled...WE ALL WANT TO BE FREE!!! Almost sounds like a Joe Walsh (?) track at the start w/the guitar riff, and the vocals on the verses are way less mannered than I remembered. The suspended harmony on the chorus: brilliant. The bridge w/construction noises, piano, bells tolling: brilliant. The guitar solo coming out of the bridge: brilliant. Transition into A.D. 1958 and State Street Sadie still surprisingly moving. In a weird way this song puts me in mind of Bowie's Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing bit on Diamond Dogs.

So glad I'm giving in and re-buying things like this.

― dlp9001, Monday, 28 April 2008 20:40 (5 years ago) Permalink

8 months pass...

Fascination/Repulsion/Revulsion, repeat.

― The Horror of Glam Rock (Bimble), Sunday, 18 January 2009 00:04 (4 years ago) Permalink

God that song sucks.

― Matt #2, Sunday, 18 January 2009 00:43 (4 years ago) Permalink

Yeah. I like Pieces of Eight though.

― Sundar, Sunday, 18 January 2009 00:46 (4 years ago) Permalink

What's amazing about that song is how much it sounds like Oingo Boingo.

― unperson, Sunday, 18 January 2009 03:17 (4 years ago) Permalink

dennis deyoung always struck me as being something of a douchebag.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Monday, May 31, 2004 10:55 PM (4 years ago) Bookmark

― Ein kluges Äpfelchen (Eisbaer), Sunday, 18 January 2009 04:01 (4 years ago) Permalink

Best part of the Behind The Music: remembering their stadium show in Texas with Ted Nugent, Shaw says, "The audience was beer, quaaludes and 'show us your tits,' and I have to walk out there and say, 'But Kilroy, what about the children of the world?'"

Getting booed off the stage AT YOUR OWN HEADLINING STADIUM SHOW? Classic.

― Sara Sara Sara, Sunday, 18 January 2009 06:58 (4 years ago) Permalink

sooooo broadway (and i love it)

― bro fratriani (get bent), Sunday, 18 January 2009 07:23 (4 years ago) Permalink

OK WAHT

ned, explain this

― bro fratriani (get bent), Sunday, 18 January 2009 07:45 (4 years ago) Permalink

"Despite all my rage, I'm still just a Kilroy in a cage."

― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Sunday, 18 January 2009 09:01 (4 years ago) Permalink

Gotta say, Lurch is looking good there.

― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Sunday, 18 January 2009 09:02 (4 years ago) Permalink

3 years pass...

"Dennis DeYoung is the Brian Wilson of Styx" - I cannot get this phrase out of my brain today.

And always a nice surprise to see some of Timi Yuro's posts popping up.

― pplains, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 15:13 (7 months ago) Permalink

besides hating all their songs, a real problem with styxx is that dennis has one volume: belting it out. zero dynamics. the music just gets quieter or louder around him. it's infuriating.

― andrew m., Wednesday, 26 September 2012 15:30 (7 months ago) Permalink

I fucking love 'Mr Roboto'.

― emil.y, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 15:46 (7 months ago) Permalink

'Blue Collar Man' and 'Renegade' both get me every single time, somehow.

― QUOTE sampling at a higher rate UNQUOTE (Jon Lewis), Wednesday, 26 September 2012 15:52 (7 months ago) Permalink

The lyrics of both so hilar as to become profound.

KEEPIN MY EYE TO THE KEYHOLE

― QUOTE sampling at a higher rate UNQUOTE (Jon Lewis), Wednesday, 26 September 2012 15:52 (7 months ago) Permalink

"Too Much Time On My Hands" is a jam fuiud

― a shark with a rippling six pack (Phil D.), Wednesday, 26 September 2012 15:53 (7 months ago) Permalink

Dennis DeYoung's scream just before the band kicks in in "Renegade" is all-time. As good as Daltrey in "Baba O'Riley."

― a shark with a rippling six pack (Phil D.), Wednesday, 26 September 2012 15:54 (7 months ago) Permalink

^ YES.

― QUOTE sampling at a higher rate UNQUOTE (Jon Lewis), Wednesday, 26 September 2012 15:57 (7 months ago) Permalink

wait-- do you mean "Won't Get Fooled Again"?

― Poliopolice, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 17:30 (7 months ago) Permalink

gotta echo the sentiment itt one more time that these guys really had maybe the best episode of Behind The Music

― Algeddie Trunkeeper (some dude), Wednesday, 26 September 2012 17:34 (7 months ago) Permalink

Dennis DeYoung's scream just before the band kicks in in "Renegade" is all-time.

YES

As good as Daltrey in "Baba O'Riley."

― 5-Hour Enmity (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, 26 September 2012 17:42 (7 months ago) Permalink

xxp Yes, yes I do

― a shark with a rippling six pack (Phil D.), Wednesday, 26 September 2012 17:51 (7 months ago) Permalink

I like J.Y.'s guitar.

― โตเกียวเหมียวเหมียว aka Italo Night at Some Gay Club (Mount Cleaners), Wednesday, 26 September 2012 18:00 (7 months ago) Permalink

The Brian Wilson of Styx

The James "J.Y." Young of the Beach Boys

― pplains, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 18:12 (7 months ago) Permalink

Too Much Time On My Hands and Renegade are irresistible to me, I cannot not love them

― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 26 September 2012 18:20 (7 months ago) Permalink

― 5-Hour Enmity (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, 26 September 2012 18:22 (7 months ago) Permalink

And always a nice surprise to see some of Timi Yuro's posts popping up.

Bimble too...

― Faster than food (Myonga Vön Bontee), Wednesday, 26 September 2012 22:30 (7 months ago) Permalink

5 months pass...

I fucking love 'Mr Roboto'.

― emil.y, Wednesday, September 26, 2012 11:46 AM (5 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

― darf ich bitte mit Poppage spielen?!? (Eisbaer), Monday, 18 March 2013 16:12 (2 months ago) Permalink

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