Styx appreciation

[KevShmev]

I like that description.  Sometimes they were really subtle about it, and I think that's an indication that they really knew what they're doing.  Fooling Yourself is all over the place with time signatures and does it in a really clever way, but has a much wider appeal than most songs  that play around with that sort of thing.

As a non-musician, I am terrible at figuring out what time signatures are what , but Styx in their prime always seem to have that bit of extra bit of artiness, like they were channeling the prog rock vibe, but without going too far with it, hence my "prog lite" definition.  Their standing among the all-time greats in rock would be more secure if they hadn't been the punching bags of critics for so long.  Not that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame means diddly squat, but is there another classic rock band who still has this many songs regularly played on the radio that hasn't gotten any consideration? 

[pg1067]

I like that description.  Sometimes they were really subtle about it, and I think that's an indication that they really knew what they're doing.  Fooling Yourself is all over the place with time signatures and does it in a really clever way, but has a much wider appeal than most songs  that play around with that sort of thing.

As a non-musician, I am terrible at figuring out what time signatures are what , but Styx in their prime always seem to have that bit of extra bit of artiness, like they were channeling the prog rock vibe, but without going too far with it, hence my "prog lite" definition.  Their standing among the all-time greats in rock would be more secure if they hadn't been the punching bags of critics for so long.  Not that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame means diddly squat, but is there another classic rock band who still has this many songs regularly played on the radio that hasn't gotten any consideration? 

Can't disagree with any of that.  Also doesn't help that they've positioned themselves as a "nostalgia band" for the better part of the 21st Century.

[KevShmev]

Can't disagree with any of that.  Also doesn't help that they've positioned themselves as a "nostalgia band" for the better part of the 21st Century.

Perhaps not, but they are at least still out there touring on a regular basis, and while many may mock it, Mr. Roboto has had a bit of resurgence in the last few years, to the point where the band is now playing it live (something they had never done since DeYoung's departure). 

I hope the rumors of them planning to release a new album are true, as The Mission was pretty excellent, and I'd love to see a follow-up.

[King Postwhore]

From what I've read they are in the writing phase for the new album. 

[KevShmev]

That means by the time they finish writing, recording it, and getting it mixed and ready for release, it will be 2023.

[King Postwhore]

 

They sound energetic about making a new album.  I've always felt bands are better live when releasing new music to tour with.

[KevShmev]

For sure, as it gives them some new stuff to play, if nothing else.  Sure, they are great songs and classics, but it can't be easy to get up to play Renegade, Blue Collar Man and Come Sail Away for the millionth time (and counting) every night.

[King Postwhore]

I think it breathes life into the older songs.  At least in my experience it seemed like it.

[KevShmev]

I hear ya.

To continue the Styx chatter, even though the making of it was a mess and there are some major duds on it, Brave New World does have a handful of nice tunes that are nice to have as part of the Styx legacy. 

In other news, I see that DDY is releasing a solo album this spring.  I don't have a single song of his, so I can't say I am excited, but if the feedback is positive from the right places, maybe I will give it a whirl.

[Harmony]

For the former/current band and choir nerds out there:

I like Styx (but don't own any) and enjoyed the music played on the radio in my formative years.  That said, and knowing very little about the band per se, someone directed me to this clip today.  With the shitstorm all around us, it made me feel good to watch.  The young musicians are simply awesome.  I hope you like it as much as I did.  If anyone knows the backstory (why it was filmed or was it made for a benefit, etc) I'd love to know.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpYHgbjOIq0&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR19LgiE7iURDY3OUH0L_BQxXJOnYuIsoyQdYfB-kha7qQyRvZ3tmLdwsBU

[Cool Chris]

Thought it was going to be this show, which I saw on TV a while back, and also highly enjoyed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9lPOq-LOcY

[Harmony]

Thought it was going to be this show, which I saw on TV a while back, and also highly enjoyed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9lPOq-LOcY

Nice!  So is playing with youth orchestras a 'thing' for these guys?

[Cool Chris]

I don't know, I have no idea the background or history of that concert I linked, I was just flipping channels one day and saw Styx and stopped to check it out. I thought "I'll just listen to a song or two and watched the whole darn thing."

[pg1067]

For the former/current band and choir nerds out there:

I like Styx (but don't own any) and enjoyed the music played on the radio in my formative years.  That said, and knowing very little about the band per se, someone directed me to this clip today.  With the shitstorm all around us, it made me feel good to watch.  The young musicians are simply awesome.  I hope you like it as much as I did.  If anyone knows the backstory (why it was filmed or was it made for a benefit, etc) I'd love to know.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpYHgbjOIq0&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR19LgiE7iURDY3OUH0L_BQxXJOnYuIsoyQdYfB-kha7qQyRvZ3tmLdwsBU

In May 2006, Styx played a show with the Contemporary Youth Orchestra, under the direction of Liza Grossman at the Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland.  Going back to 2003, the group has done a "Rock the Orchestra" series with artists, including Jon Anderson, Pat Benatar, Bootsy Collins and Graham Nash.  The 2006 concert was released on CD and DVD under the title One with Everything: Styx and the Contemporary Youth Orchestra.  In 2016, Tommy Shaw returned by himself to do Sing for the Day! which is where the video you linked came from (some of Tommy's vamping suggested that he and Liza Grossman became friends following the 2006 show).  Apparently, that was released as a live album, and both shows get played with some frequency on AXS-TV.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_with_Everything:_Styx_and_the_Contemporary_Youth_Orchestra


P.S.  Since you enjoyed this, and if you like Yes, you should check out Symphonic Live.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphonic_Live

[Harmony]

Great info - thanks pg1067.  And I will definitely check that clip out. 

[cfmoran13]

In other news, I see that DDY is releasing a solo album this spring.  I don't have a single song of his, so I can't say I am excited, but if the feedback is positive from the right places, maybe I will give it a whirl.

Dennis is definitely making the rounds promoting this new album.  Whether it's all lip service or not, but everyone who's talked to him about it has said that it's really good and that it would be a welcome listen for anyone who is a fan of the classic Styx sound.  I think I'm gonna have to give it a listen.  He has Julian Lennon singing with him on a song paying tribute to The Beatles.

[KevShmev]

Speaking of DDY, check out a recent interview he did with Rolling Stone (link below).  It's long and he talks about a lot of different things.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/dennis-deyoung-interview-styx-interview-solo-album-mr-roboto-968709/

[KevShmev]

In other news, I see that DDY is releasing a solo album this spring.  I don't have a single song of his, so I can't say I am excited, but if the feedback is positive from the right places, maybe I will give it a whirl.

Dennis is definitely making the rounds promoting this new album.  Whether it's all lip service or not, but everyone who's talked to him about it has said that it's really good and that it would be a welcome listen for anyone who is a fan of the classic Styx sound.  I think I'm gonna have to give it a listen.  He has Julian Lennon singing with him on a song paying tribute to The Beatles.

The lead single, East of Midnight, is a good song (below); I love the vibe in the verses.  The song with Julian Lennon sounded pretty good;  I will have to listen to it again.  I checked out the samples of the rest of the songs and they all sounded okay; nothing really grabbed me at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ezG38Iirqg

[Orbert]

I have Dennis' 1986 album Back to the World.  I like it.  I've listened to it a few times.

[pg1067]

Didn't feel like digging through the thread to see if this has already been addressed...

I was listening to Mr. Roboto at lunch and wondered:

1. What do the Japanese lines at the beginning of the song mean?  I know that domo arigato is thank you very much, but what about the other stuff?  I've seen conflicting things online.

2. Is there any known reason (other than Dennis being Dennis) why, at one (maybe more?) point, but not always, he sings "modren man" instead of "modern man"?

[Orbert]

I've wondered both of those things before.  But never enough to look them up, I guess.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

I found these quotes:

Here is a translation of the Japanese:

Doomo arigato, Mr. Roboto [Thank you very much, Mr. Robot]

Mata au hi made [Until the day we meet again...]

Himitsu wo shiritai [I want to know your/the secret]

And this:

A Comment About the Word "MODREN"

The movie "Westworld" was released in 1973.
Mr. Roboto was recorded by Styx in 1982.

Westworld was a movie about a futuristic, adult-themed amusement park, populated by extremely lifelike robots, where you could live out your fantasies, by role playing amongst these robots. In the movie, they bounced between a "Medieval World" (Western European life during Medieval times), a "Roman World" (life in Rome during the Roman Empire), and Westworld (life in in the Old West of the United States). Although very lifelike, the robots weren't entirely perfect. The robots are programmed not to hurt any of the vacationers, but by the end of the movie, all the robots are malfunctioning and killing everyone.

The tagline from the movie was "Westworld...where nothing can possibly go worng!" (Note, the word "wrong" is misspelled "worng".)

The word "modern" in Mr. Roboto is deliberately misspelled "modren" as a tip of the hat to the movie Westworld. It also hints that our alter-egos, although employed to shield the inner-self, are still fallible and subject to malfunction.

[Orbert]

I remember the original Westworld movie, and the tagline from the movie posters, but intentionally misspelling and mispronouncing "modern" as some kind of homage to Westworld is really bizarre.  I never made the connection, and I'm pretty sure no one would unless it's pointed out.  It's in no way obvious, and basically it's just like a weird mistake that DDY insists on making, like maybe he pronounces that word oddly sometimes and that's how it is.

[pg1067]

I remember the original Westworld movie, and the tagline from the movie posters, but intentionally misspelling and mispronouncing "modern" as some kind of homage to Westworld is really bizarre.  I never made the connection, and I'm pretty sure no one would unless it's pointed out.  It's in no way obvious, and basically it's just like a weird mistake that DDY insists on making, like maybe he pronounces that word oddly sometimes and that's how it is.

Yeah...I'd never heard of the movie before, but if you're going to pay homage to something, there ought to be at least SOME way for people to figure that out.

I googled "styx mr. roboto modren westworld," and it seems like the idea of this being an homage to the movie is nothing but rank speculation of some random internet dweller.  However, I did see one thing that suggested that "modren" might be a Britishism, which is something that Dennis has used in other lyrics (when I first was getting into Styx in my early teens, I thought they were British).  In fact, there's a published book called Reflections essays on Modren Theatre.  So maybe it's more Dennis trying to be British.  On the other hand, I did see something that suggested that "modren" is used in Westworld somewhere, but I don't know if that's accurate.

[jingle.boy]

Is this where we start discussing Triumph now?

[TAC]

Tommy Shaw is awesome!

[jingle.boy]

Tommy Shaw is awesome!

So is Damn Yankees!

[TAC]

Tommy Shaw is awesome!

So is Damn Yankees!

And Power Windows!

[jingle.boy]

Tommy Shaw is awesome!

So is Damn Yankees!

And Power Windows!

Now you're doing it right!   

[pg1067]

Tommy Shaw is awesome!

Rik Emmett >>> Tommy Shaw!

[King Postwhore]

Tommy Shaw is awesome!

Rik Emmett >>> Tommy Shaw!

 

You devil.

[pg1067]

Copied from the Triumph thread:

It never occurred to me until just now that Pieces of Eight had exactly zero DDY singles.

I wonder if that had something to do with the paradigm shift on Cornerstone?

But yes...we should take this to the proper Styx thread.

Styx was my second favorite band (meaning the Beatles were initially my favorite band, and then Styx took that place), but I never did much exploration of the band's history beyond what we got on Behind the Music (and, more recently, on the Dan Rather interview with TS and JY).  Is there a particular biography that is considered "seminal"?

Pieces of Eight is probably my favorite Styx album, and Queen of Spades might be my favorite song.  It's probably the heaviest song DDY sang, and it is credited to "Young, DeYoung," but I don't know what to make of how the credits are done.  I would have assumed it was a single, but it wasn't.  I've also read (probably here at DTF) that Renegade was originally a much mellower song and that DDY convinced TS to make it heavier (but DDY got no writing credit on the song).

Not really sure what happened to cause the stylistic shift on Cornerstone.  JY and TS objected big time to First Time, but it's not like either of them brought anything exceptional to the table.  JY is almost completely absent from the album.  Lights and Babe are really the only songs I go to on that album.

[kirksnosehair]

I love Styx, they're the only band I've seen live as many times as Iron Maiden 

[kirksnosehair]

From the Triumph thread post I moved it here

Well, Damn Yankees blows. And sure DDY has done shit. I don't think he really cared about being a rock band singer guy.I did see DDY at (fucking) EPCOT (of all places) a few years ago and he was great. The Tommy Shaw dude he had in his band was fantastic.

I seen the both - actual Styx with DDY and Styx with Lawrence Gowan and DDY with August Zadra and they were equally good musically, but the Styx stage setup was quite a bit more elaborate.  I've heard rumors that Dennis Deyoung wants back in with Styx, and he is right that the fans would love to see a reunion tour.  But Tommy's rationale sounds quite reasonable for why he won't do it:

Shaw went on to say that he is content to let the past remain in the past, choosing instead to surround himself with positivity as he enters the next part of his career. He continued: "Personality-wise, at this stage in my life, I want to be happy. I want to be around people who love me and that have my best interest at heart, and I don't have to fight with. There's just not enough years left that I would want to risk not having that again."

Tommy is 67 and as a dude who is rapidly approaching 60 I *totally* get this.  It's the exact reason why I've stayed at the same job for just short of 21 years.  Everything is great for me here and I'll be retiring in less than 10 years if all goes according to plan.  Why risk my happiness with a different job at this point in my career?  I can see DDY's side of it, though, and I admit I'd love to see them work something out for maybe a quick US reunion tour.   I'd pay good money for a seat at one of those shows, that's for sure.That said, I don't see it happening nor do I really care all that much.  Styx's latest album "The Mission" is awesome and from what I understand they are working on new material right now.

[KevShmev]

DDY voiced their biggest hits.

Crystal Ball - Shaw
Come Sail Away - DeYoung
Fooling Yourself - Shaw
Blue Collar Man - Shaw
Sing for the Day - Shaw
Renegade - Shaw
Babe - DeYoung
Best of Times - DeYoung
Too Much Time on My Hands - Shaw
Mr. Roboto - DeYoung

That's a 6:4 ratio in Shaw's favor (I intentionally didn't include Lady since that was before Shaw joined).

Eh, including Sing for the Day, which didn't crack the top 40 here, and leaving off DDY's Don't Let It End, which was a top 10 hit, skews the numbers.  No, Tommy was not in the band for Lady or Show Me the Way, but those were two more top 10 hits that DDY wrote.  Throw in classic rock mainstays like Light Up, The Grand Illusion and Suite Madame Blue, all of which were written by Dennis, and DDY has the big edge overall.