STYX

this isn't even styx. this is dennis deyoung...and friends. or something. he's got a raging shredder on guitar. and a snazzy gal singer to duet with. singers really love styx, don't they? other singers. "amateur singers". they are as broadway as anyone who has ever broadwayed.

You ain't lying:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se7uRGUaMTs

Styx was my next favorite band after KISS as a kid. I pulled out Grand Illusion and Pieces of Eight the other day, both still great. I love the conceit of arena rock bands telling kids The Truth, Illusion is like some new age self-help book, vaguely Xtian but then the angels turn out to be aliens so who knows? should probably pick up Equinox and Crystal Ball at some point, it'll probably be the same day I get those early ELO records too.

not sure which Styx albums are which, but i love some styx singles.

singers really love styx, don't they?

yes they do. big, sweeping, cheesy choruses.

Paradise Theater, on vinyl with lasar etching on the record. Does anyone even do lasar etching anymore?

http://www.aziomediablog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/Styx-Paradise-Theater-vinyl-record-1.JPG

laser. And it's still an amazing record. Much more deserving of a Broadway production than Green Day...

i propose a rule that, going forward, anyone posting in this thread *must* refer to James Young as "J.Y." You cannot type out his full name. he is simply "J.Y."

Favourite Panozzo brother? I say Chuck. Maybe needs a poll.

I've put this up elsewhere, but I swear they beat Cheap Trick for "weird looking band rocking out at Budokan." I really wish I could have seen this live:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DQBMzlXpdA

'Kilroy Was Here' was the first full-length album I ever bought with my own money. on cassette.

(it wasn't the first full-length I ever owned though, that would have been Men At Work's 'Business As Usual', given to me an xmas present some months before)

thanks for bringing up styx, scott, i plan to listen to paradise theatre again for the first time since i was like 14...can anyone tell me, in the studio with redbeard seems to have many fewer interviews on it than when i went there previously...do they only have a selection at any one time? there were lots i wanted to listen to, now they're gone. if anyone knows, thanks!

i owned that Paradise Theater on vinyl with the lasar etching on the record. don't think i have it any longer but never thought that record was great, only a few good songs. that record was a mess but might have been one of the first i ever owned.

at least two acts performing as styx (one w t shaw, one w d deyoung) can be found in county fairs across america all summer long, i'm sort of annoyed i've never seen either of them.

favorite album: "grand illusion" -- title track, "fooling yourself," "come sail away" are the apotheosis of rock of this kind. favorite when i was a kid: "come sail away" but "rockin' the paradise" was very very close. tragically underrated track: "mr. roboto."

they need to settle their differences, reunite, and do a sequel to kilroy was here.

It seems as if lasar might actually be an alternate spelling of laser. You never know!

haha, i copied from the above post and didn't even notice.

I like Pieces of Eight and still kind of love "Suite Madame Blue". Fun to sing along to when drunk.

Styx varied a lot, obv. But their best moments were quite ace. I reckon their most consistent albums are "The Grand Illusion" and "Crystal Ball". I know "Kilroy Was Here" is ILM fave of sorts, but I find that album somewhat patchy. "Mr. Roboto" is a great song though.

I don't like any of their later stuff, but I have their first four albums (Styx, Styx II, The Serpent is Rising and Man of Miracles) in my iPod and there's some really good early '70s progressive hard rock on 'em, along with a whole bunch of weird experiments and something-for-everybody side trips.

The Styx episode of Behind The Music is one of the most entertaining hours of TV you'll ever see.

I've spoken many times about my non-ironic Styx appreciation, those fruity harmonies and keyboard pomp and guitar heaviosity. Styx II is my favourite, followed by the rest of the '70s stuff in roughtly direct proportion to its commercial popularity.

Never heard any of the '80s albums aside from the big (or not so big) radio hits.

(I even get a kick out of the cod-calypso "Plexiglass Toilet", about which they were apparently too embarrassed to even list on Serpent's album cover)

Paradise Theater, on vinyl with lasar etching on the record. Does anyone even do lasar etching anymore?

I only knew of two that had it, both on A&M, the other one being Split Enz's True Colors.

ah such fond memories of walking down the street in Virginia Beach during the summer, age 14, blasting "Renegade" on a battery-powered boombox.

I listened to a lot of Styx when I was in high school, back in the early '90s. A few favorite deep cuts: "The Grove Of Eglantine," "Winner Takes All," "Put Me On." The between-track banter on "Caught In The Act Live" is pretty good; my brothers and I like to quote it almost as much as "Budokan."

Art:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp2eRYT-xG0

Possibly better than Mr. Roboto. It's funny: the scenes of burning the heavy metal albums are most reminiscent of the disco demolition in Chicago. Now I'm kind of wondering if "Lorelie" is about Lorelie Shark...

The Denver Day of Rock 2011 Headliner! Dennis DeYoung: The Music of Styx! Yessss.

Useless/awesome Styx trivia:

- Chart singles from the period 1980-84 include "Borrowed Time", "High Time", "Music Time", "Too Much Time On My Hands" and "The Best Of Times". Also in that time frame, A&M wanted to release "First Time" but Tommy Shaw vetoed it.

I just finished reading The Grand Illusion, an autobiography by Chuck Panozzo, the AIDS-infected gay bassist. I don't think much at all of the writing but his story is kind of fascinating to me: it's interesting to read of how he simultaneously felt alienated from the 1970s rock world as a (closeted) gay man and, as a rocker, from the 1970s gay community. While he tried to hide his orientation from his bandmates and fans, he wouldn't get noticed in gay bars even if he tried. He provides some tragic recollections of the early days of the AIDS epidemic and his early experiences with HIV/AIDS when he was still somewhat in denial and e.g. still trying to perform while his fingers were too weak to strike the strings hard enough.

Maybe because I never watched the Behind the Music, I didn't actually know how much infighting there was over the artistic direction of the band in the early 80s. He still seems to resent deYoung. I also didn't know that they'd started playing together as teenagers (with deYoung on accordion!) or that two of the original members have music degrees and worked as schoolteachers.

i'm worried cuz i stuck myself on Chuck Panozzo, the AIDS-infected gay bassist

i had a dream last night that a new band sounded like styx and when the critics made fun of them for not aping the velvet underground / stooges / black sabbath / new york dolls / ramones / joy division instead, there was a mass boycott of rock journalism until the critics apologized

I read the panozzo autobio too, I'm not sure why. When I'm in a certain mood I'll read any rock book. Like sund4r I found it pretty fascinating

That video of half penny two penny up there is the first time I've seen JY singing lead.

Wonder if he ever got frustrated he couldn't do that more and what he thought once Metallica hit the scene.

I'm in O'Hare and "Mademoiselle" is playing over the PA. It sounds great and I appreciate the nod to a great Chicago act.

i had a dream last night that a new band sounded like styx and when the critics made fun of them for not aping the velvet underground / stooges / black sabbath / new york dolls / ramones / joy division instead, there was a mass boycott of rock journalism until the critics apologized

If I ever gave an "I have a dream" speech, this would be the dream, btw

my god is 'kilroy was here' awful on every possible level

embarrassed that my 11yo self bought this

Don't be...the things kids don't forgive themselves for!

My brother was a huge Styx fan because he liked "classical" rock.

I was more "punk" & thought Styx were massively uncool but sometimes I put the records on, even Paradise Theater because the records just sound nice and it's like an escape from myself.

I don't think the songs are great but I like Tommy Shaw's voice and JY's guitar.

Mr Roboto is so fun though! They took themselves less seriously by then.

Styx is so 11 year old kid in the burbs.

My favorite lately is "Lights" which they never play on classic rock radio.

Huh, I never heard that one before. It's pretty good.

"Come Sail Away" is kind of tricky on piano (for me). He varies the figuration of the chords every time he comes back to them, p much. I sort of feel like I can see his accordion background.