Styx appreciation

[pg1067]

Pieces of Eight

One thing I've noticed in doing these reviews is that there's relatively little good information about the background and recording of these albums.  Is there a good Styx biography out there (other than the Behind the Music episode)?

The Grand Illusion was certified Gold on October 19, 1977 (three months after it was released) and Platinum on December 22, 1977.  According to setlist.fm, the tour in support of TGI ended in Seattle, WA on May 31, 1978.  Pieces of Eight was apparently recorded in June and July 1978, and the band hit the road again in early August, with the album being released on September 1, 1978.  About five weeks later, on October 10, 1978, it received both Gold and Platinum certifications.

The album cover is striking.  I don't believe the band or album named appeared on the cover, and the cover is dominated by the large heads of three 50-ish year old women.  One is looking right at you, and she is PISSED about something.  The women are wearing Easter Island earrings, and the front cover continues to the back cover that features a fourth head and an Easter Island statue.  The inner sleeve features similar large heads of the band members and an Easter Island background.  The band members' expressions seem to say, "yeah...we nailed it again."

Great White Hope:  The album opens not with music, but with the rhythm of a boxer hitting a speed bag.  Cheering crowd noise and the band quickly join in, followed by DDY announcing that "the #1 contender" from "the city of the big shoulders" (a nickname for the band's hometown of Chicago, taken from a Carl Sandburg poem) will compete in "a 10-round exhibition" against an unidentified opponent "for your entertainment."  The song kicks in following DDY's announcement.  JY (the sole credited writer) sings lead.  It's a high energy verse, with a return to the pulsing speed bag rhythm for the chorus.  The song breaks down with a big synth passage and a guitar solo that alternates with more synth work.  Chorus, verse, chorus to the ending fade-out.  A strong opening effort, but it's actually one of the weaker tracks on the album -- i.e., the best is yet to come.

I'm O.K.:  It's not just any rock band that can pull off a song titularly based on a self-help book!  This song again starts off with a heavy rhythmic focus -- a drum pattern by John Panozzo, followed by one of the more bizarre vocal lines I can think of (chanted gang-vocal style no less).  I don't entire know what they say, but I've always heard it as "hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, skate!  Sit around and rotate!"  I've also seem that some folks think it's "seven on the rotate!" and that seems to be what went up on the screen when they did it live in 2010, so I guess that's the real thing.  What the fuck does that mean?  Anyway, then then get a nice, mid-tempo bit with the full band, followed by...pipe organ and vocals from DDY (I'm guessing DDY heard "Awaken" by Yes and liked it).  Ok...the lyrics are consistent with the title, telling the tale of someone who's told to conform but who who comes to terms with being a bit different.  After a synth breakdown and a really good guitar solo (I always assumed it was JY, but it was apparently Tommy), the pipe organ returns in full force.  The last chorus is sung church choir style with DDY and others whooping it up in the background.  This DDY/JY contribution is a bit weird, but I quite like it.

Sing for the Day:  We get our first Tommy Shaw contribution here, and he picks up right where he left off with Fooling Yourself and Man in the Wilderness.  The song opens with acoustic guitar and a synth patch that sounds very familiar, but I can't quite place it.  There's also some mandolin in the background and eventually accordion.  But it works.  Lyrically, it's a fairly basic love song...for a woman named Hannah.  However, at the time, Tommy was married to a woman named "Cuppy" Smith.  Hmmm...  Tommy eventually had a daughter, but she wasn't born until 1987.  Anyway, this is one of the most singable songs on the album, but we'll eventually see that Tommy had much more to offer.

The Message:  The Message is simply DDY noodling around with a synthesizer for 68 seconds, and this serves as an ominous intro for the next song.

Lords of the Ring:  This is a DDY solo contribution, and I envision a discussion something like this:  DDY:  "Hey guys, I have a great idea!"  CP:  "I hope it's better than that 'let's all wear white' idea."  Everyone:  Laughter.  DDY:  "Ha ha ha, Chuck.  Anyway...you know how everyone has been writing songs about the Lord of the Rings?"  TS (rolling his eyes):  "Sure...."  DDY:  "Well...I've got this song that'll be...wait for it...'Lords' (plural) 'of the Ring' (singular)!"  JY:  "Ummm...ok, but only if you let me sing lead."  DDY:  Exactly!  JY:  "Wait...what?  I wasn't being serious."  This is a bombastic, mid-tempo rocker about exactly what the title says.  Who are these lords, and what is this ring?  No idea, but they're majestic and mysterious.  Not a terrible song, but easily the worst song on the album.

Side 2 is where this album really gets down to work.

Blue Collar Man (Long Nights):  After side 1, you're thinking, "this album is a bit of a letdown after TGI.  Not bad, but not as strong."  Then you flip over the record and are immediately hit in the face by one of the most recognizable synth (or is it Hammond organ?) intros in '70s rock.  The song quickly kicks into high gear with a rocking ode to a friend of Tommy's who was laid off from a railroad job and was pissed about standing in line at the unemployment office.  This was a guy who was going to get back to work soon.  Crunchy guitars highlight this song, with Tommy pulling off a blistering solo.  You all know this song, so what more is there to say?

Queen of Spades:  For most folks, Blue Collar Man and Renegade are THE songs on Pieces of Eight, but Queen of Spades has been my favorite since high school.  This joint effort between JY and DDY starts innocently enough with clean electric and DDY singing about the warm embrace of a woman.  The synth and bass kick in quietly, and then DDY finds that this woman has left him.  He then "tries to escape," but she finds him and cannot escape.  The band kicks in hard.  Killer riff from JJY kicks things off, followed by DDY's verse about this woman who will "lock you in a duel where you [will] come out the fool."  We then get one of the best choruses in the band's catalog -- both musically and lyrically.  This woman means business, and "her love means only your death."  Shit!  Following a blistering solo from JY, the song goes into half-time before a couple choruses, but not before DDY maniacally laughs, "ha ha ha...YOU LOSE!"  GREAT FUCKING SONG!

Renegade:  This is another song that everyone knows unless you've lived in a cave for 40 years.  The song opens with the haunting vocal about the renegade who implores his mother that he is in fear for his life from the long arm of the law.  The bass drum/heart beat adds to the building of tension as DDY and JY join in for some of the best harmonies this side of a Yes album.  After chorus, verse, chorus, we get another tasty solo from JY, whom Tommy let take the spot (with JY returning the favor a couple albums later).  Following the solo and a synth interlude, the harmony vocals kick back in (the hand clap section when the song is done live).  Three killer songs in a row.

Pieces of Eight:  Man in the Wilderness and Castle Walls are the un(der)appreciated songs of TGI, and the title track serves that function on this album.  I don't know if people were just worn out from the trio of songs that start side 2, but Pieces of Eight is a practically unknown and never talked about song -- seemingly even among hardcore fans.  The song begins with DDY singing over solo piano about how he walks through life without stopping to smell the roses.  After the full band announces its presence with a prechorus, a clean guitar joins the fun for the second verse.  Another prechorus and then the heavy, majestic, four-part harmony chorus implicitly implores us to stand up with hands in the air.  The following instrumental section is both epic and simple at the same time.  The full majesty of Styx closes this one out.  Do NOT sleep on this song.  One of DDY's best compositions.

Aku-Aku:  Not really sure what the point of this nearly 3-minute instrumental is.  The album was already nearly 40 minutes, so they didn't really need any filler.  It's mostly a clean electric guitar piano.  The drums and bass join, and Tommy whispers "aku-aku."  Nothing offensive about this, but it really doesn't add anything to the album.

An absolutely worthy follow-up to TGI

[Orbert]

I never liked "Great White Hope" because JY screaming "Look at me!" always sounded exactly like "Aren't you?" and "Don't you?" from "Miss America" only one album prior.  Even the guitar riff is similar.  It's really kinda the same song with different lyrics.  I've always considered JY the weakest of the three main songwriters, and point to this as my example.

The synth patch on "Sing for the Day" always evoked a pan flute to me.  Mrs. Orbert even asked me one time if they got Zamfir to play on the album or what, though I don't think she was being serious.  But that confirmed to me that it was meant to evoke a pan flute.  But it's a synth.

I thought the intro to "Blue Collar Man" was a really heavy-ass Hammond sound, and lacking even a regular Hammond, I tried emulating it on a synth.  The results were much better.  So I think it's a synth patched to emulate a really heavy-ass Hammond sound.

Ha ha, I thought the same thing about "Lords of the Ring".  I was in high school in the late 70's, and the books were making a resurgence in popularity.  Or maybe they were always popular among junior high and high schoolers.  Anyway, "Lords of the Ring" <==> "Lord of the Rings" was pretty obvious, but the song at least took it in a different direction.

(PS: You might want to double-check the first line in the post)

[pg1067]

(PS: You might want to double-check the first line in the post)

Gaaahhh!!!

I was thinking pan flute too.  It fits with the acoustic guitar and mandolin.  And I definitely agree about JY being the weak link among the "big three" (although, when I was in high school, he was my favorite.  Never really noticed that about GWH, but it makes sense, and now I'll probably never not notice it!

[jingle.boy]

Where is the gushing over The Grand Illusion??

I got behind a little.  Consider me gushing.  What a gem of an album.  I mean, it's virtually flawless.  Fantastic opener, and it has four of their Top 10 all-time songs (imo).

Great writeup PG.  As much as Come Sail Away is horribly overplayed, it deserves all the love and accolades it gets.  It's the Tom Sawyer, the Don't Stop Believin, the Bohemian Rhapsody ... flagship songs that (usually) defy being "overplayed"

[Architeuthis]

Come Sail Away and Sweet Madame Blue are both in that category of flagship songs. 

[pg1067]

Come Sail Away and Sweet Madame Blue are both in that category of flagship songs. 

Except that SMB is UNDERplayed.

[KevShmev]

I have to think it was pretty rare back in the 70s where the top singles AND the best deep cuts were all on Side 2 of the vinyl.  Side 1 of Pieces of Eight is great, but Side 2 is just money, Aku-Aku, which I agree seems like an unnecessary add-on at the end, notwithstanding.

[jingle.boy]

Come Sail Away and Sweet Madame Blue are both in that category of flagship songs. 

Ahh... I'd put probably 3-5 other songs ahead of SMB as the alternate flagship.  The Best of Times, Babe, Crystal Ball for sure.

[Architeuthis]

Babe is too sappy, but it is a universal hit. Best of Times and Crystal Ball are good calls though.   SMB has the killer break/solo section though.   

[jingle.boy]

Babe is too sappy, but it is a universal hit. Best of Times and Crystal Ball are good calls though.   SMB has the killer break/solo section though.   

Oh, don't get me wrong, nowadays I prefer SMB over all four of those (including CSA).  Just that at a general level, I wouldn't consider SMB a 'flagship' song.  For me "flagship" would be the song that any general layperson thinks of first when you mention a band, and the one that typically gets the most airplay from Classic Rock / 70s-80s radio stations.

[Architeuthis]

Babe is too sappy, but it is a universal hit. Best of Times and Crystal Ball are good calls though.   SMB has the killer break/solo section though.   

Oh, don't get me wrong, nowadays I prefer SMB over all four of those (including CSA).  Just that at a general level, I wouldn't consider SMB a 'flagship' song.  For me "flagship" would be the song that any general layperson thinks of first when you mention a band, and the one that typically gets the most airplay from Classic Rock / 70s-80s radio stations.

Yeah I see what you're saying.   Kind of like Tom Sawyer, Don't Stop Believing,  More Than a Feeling, etc.

[pg1067]

I have to think it was pretty rare back in the 70s where the top singles AND the best deep cuts were all on Side 2 of the vinyl.  Side 1 of Pieces of Eight is great, but Side 2 is just money, Aku-Aku, which I agree seems like an unnecessary add-on at the end, notwithstanding.

Yeah...not at all common.  If I had to rank the songs on POE, I'd probably go with:

1. Queen of Spades
2. Blue Collar Man
3. Renegade
4. Pieces of Eight
5. Sing for the Day
6. I'm OK
7. Great White Hope
8. Lords of the Ring
9. The Message
10. Aku-Aku

There is basically zero margin between 2-4, and I could easily rank them in any order, and the margin between 4 and 5 isn't all that great either.


I need to listen to Cornerstone a couple more times to really get my bearings on some of the songs.  There's actually a lot to say about the album.

[King Postwhore]

What brought me back to the those 2 albums was the Blu Ray of the newer lineup playing both albums.

I have fond memories of my friends band playing Crystal Ball in battle of the bands.  They slayed it.

[Orbert]

We did a killer version of Come Sail Away, if I do say so myself.  It was our "big finish" song for a while.  We did a decent Babe as well.  Back home with the guys, I've done Come Sail Away plus Renegade and Blue Collar Man.  All great tunes to play, great fun.

[KevShmev]

I need to listen to Cornerstone a couple more times to really get my bearings on some of the songs.  There's actually a lot to say about the album.

It's a drop-off from the four that preceded it, but it's still a good album, one with several outstanding tunes (Love in the Midnight, Boat on the River) and most of the rest is good.  Eddie and The First Time are the only misfires.

[pg1067]

Cornerstone

Back in the day, I bought Cornerstone, but I never gave it much thought.  It had Babe, and everyone knew that song, and it was fine, but it was not well-regarded among my peer group, so it mostly went on the shelf.  Because of that, I've listened to it about a half dozen times over the past week to make sure I can give it a fair and reasonable discussion.

The Pieces of Eight tour that started in August 1978 wrapped up in early April 1979.  Setlist.fm says the Cornerstone tour began on August 23, 1979, but the set list from that show doesn't contain any material from the album.  Regardless, after a four month "break," during which Cornerstone was presumably recorded, Styx returned to the road in late August, and Cornerstone was released on October 19, 1979 (didn't realize when I started this that it was the anniversary of its release).  After the success of TGI and Pieces, Cornerstone basically shipped Platinum.  It received its Gold and Platinum certifications in early February 1980.

Cornerstone is prominently featured in the early 2000s episode of Behind the Music.  It's the album that nearly tore the band apart.  Styx always had that narrative of the fire burning beneath the surface that was carefully controlled.  That was a great description of the prior four albums, but this time things changed.

If I had to pick one word to describe Cornerstone, it would be "wimpy."  Not that Wikipedia is the be all and end all, but when you look at the entries for Equinox through Pieces of Eight, the genres are listed as progressive rock and hard rock.  I don't know if that's totally accurate.  Styx has never been a prog band or a hard rock band.  "Progressive hard rock" is the term I always used for Rush (at least up to the synth era), but it's never a term I would have used for Styx.  Styx has always been a rock band that occasionally was proggy and occasionally rocked hard.  However, When you get to Cornerstone, the genres listed are pop rock and soft rock, and those are spot on for 90% of the album.

James Young had one song on the album and was otherwise mostly absent -- both overtly and in spirit.  Of the other eight songs on the album, three are credited to Tommy Shaw, and three are credited to DDY, and the other two are Shaw/DeYoung and DeYoung/Shaw.  While I've never heard this said, I have to believe that not having had a significant time break in years was getting to the band.  Onto the songs...

Lights:  The album starts promisingly.  Lights is a Shaw/DeYoung composition.  Nice synth intro into a verse that's primarily Tommy singing with n acoustic guitar.  JY and DDY enter with some accent vocals, and there's a slight build to the chorus that is pure Styx harmony vocals.  And then the middle section is....hmmm...what is happening here?  DDY got himself a new toy -- a Fender Rhodes electric piano.  This is a great instrument to use if you want your song to sound like it was written and recorded in the late '70s.  There's sort of a guitar solo in there, but I'm pretty sure there's also some saxophone.  Not sure about that.  We return to the excellent chorus, which fades out the song.  Lights is a really good song -- sort of in the same vein as Sing for the Day -- but that middle section is a bit of a head scratcher.  By the way, please enjoy this video -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdlDuMU7sMY -- which appears to be from some German "Top of the Pops" type show.  Chuck apparently got the "all white" message, but this time, JY said "fuck that," and Tommy apparently decided he should look like an 8-year old boy fromt he '50s in a sailor outfit.

Why Me:  Now we're really scratching our heads.  I can't make up my mind about this song.  It starts with DDY on vocals accompanied by his Fender Rhodes.  The full band jumps in with a fairly heavy riff, but it ultimately seems that DDY decided Styx should stop being Styx and, instead, be Supertramp, who was, at that time, in the full glow of it's highly successful Breakfast in America album.  Ok...well...the song isn't so bad, but then.  Rubelator!  Beg pardon?  Right before the break in the middle of the song, we hear Dennis utter this nonsense word.  Back in the day, I thought he said "boogelator," which doesn't make any more sense.  But the internet tells me its "rubelator," which is a reference to a Rube Goldberg machine.  Ummm...ok.  Solo time...bring on that guit...err...saxophone?  I didn't know Styx had a sax player.  Oh...it doesn't, and this is a guest musician.  Yup, we get a sax solo...oh, but it's ok because it goes back and forth with electric guitar, and eventually the two harmonize.  A verse and a chorus and a fade out with some more sax over the top gets us to the end of this one.  Not a bad song, but...doesn't really feel like Styx.

Babe:  Not much to say about this one.  A very saccharin love song written by DDY for his wife.  Supposedly, it wasn't intended to be on this album (or any other Styx album).  However, depending on which story you believe, either Tommy and DDY JY heard it and begged DDY to let it be on the album.  OR the record company magically heard it and smelled hit single money and demanded that it go on the album.  Either way, this song -- which is almost entirely DDY and the Panozzo brothers (with a short "guitar solo" in the middle breakdown section -- is one of songs most associated with Styx.  For what it is, it's a REALLY good song.  The chorus harmonies are excellent, and it was my #2 go to karaoke song back in the early '90s.  But it's hella wimpy.

Never Say Never:  Isn't it about time we got something heavier or proggy?  Bite your tongue!  The opening guitar chord suggests something more, but we quickly get a good ol' late '70s sing along song.  This time, Tommy is singing about love.  Want to wimp up your song?  Take the title of the song and repeat it in the chorus and then repeat it again in French...oh, and talk about smelling the roses.  This song, minus the electric guitar chords, wouldn't be out of place on an America album.

Boat on the River:  Hey...you know what Styx has never done?  Eastern European folk music.  Well...let's remedy that!  Umm...what?  We'll get Chuck an upright bass, which he can both bow and finger pick, and Tommy can get a mandolin...and hey, didn't the band start when DDY brought his accordion over the the Panozzos' house?  Do you still have that?  Of course he does!  Not sure what the motivation was for this song, and it's actually pretty good.  It became the band's biggest European hit.  In this video -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9Qs8-BkiLw -- they all have a bit of a "what the fuck are we doing?" look on their faces.

Maybe all the Styxish stuff is on side 2!

Ha ha ha ha...you lose!

Borrowed Time:  This is a DDY/Shaw composition, and it starts with a bunch of arpeggios on the Fender Rhodes before we get some seriously heavy guitar chords!  Yeah!  Not so fast, pal.  The song quickly turns into a very standard late '70s rock song.  Verse, verse chorus and a very weird exchange of "yes" and "no" between DDY/Chuck and JY/Tommy.  A perfectly serviceable guitar solo from Tommy, another verse and chorus, and another fade out.  Another song about which the best thing I can say is that it's "not bad."

First Time:  Is it time for the heavy and proggy stuff yet?  Fuck no!  First Time is the song for those who think Babe is just too damn heavy and rockin'.  Barry Manilow would reject First Time for being too wimpy.  But the record company wanted this as the follow up single to Babe.  This led to Tommy threatening to quit the band and Why Me being used instead.

Eddie:  Hey...JY is still in the band!  Eddie is as typical a JY song as you can get.  Apparently, it was a plea to Edward "Ted" Kennedy not to run for president in 1980.  Ya know...no offense, but when I think of politically astute rockers, James Young is not the guy who comes to mind.  As with many of the songs on this album, this one is just fine.  Aside from the lyrics, it sounds like something leftover from the Wooden Nickel era.

Love in the Midnight:  Ok...fuck it...I give up.  ANOTHER love song.  Ha ha...fooled you again!  The song starts innocently enough with Tommy singing over an acoustic guitar (a la Crystal Ball).  Apparently, they decided that there would be no intros on the songs on this album.  Some keyboard and guitar and harmony vocal accents come in on the second verse, and then the full band kicks in with a slightly heavy, thumping chorus with call and response vocals.  OK...now we're talking.  The Panozzo heavy breakdown section is reminiscent of Castle Walls.  The chant vocals are kinda funky but kinda cool.  DDY then kicks in with an excellent synth solo, followed by an electric guitar solo.  Very cool vibe through this section.  The vocals come back in with another verse and chorus and then a reprise of the middle section to the fade out.  This song would not have been at all out of place on TGI.

All in all, Cornerstone was a disappointing follow up to TGI and Pieces.  But it's not without merit.  Unfortunately, the best songs are all but unknown to most folks.

1a. Love in the Midnight
1b. Lights



3. Babe
4. Boat on the River

5. Why Me
6. Never Say Never
7. Borrowed Time
8. Eddie








9 First Time

[Orbert]

Another nice writeup!

This is where they lost me.  I'd been a fan since we spent hours listening to The Grand Illusion and smoking things that were illegal at the time, went through the back catalog, and I stayed with them through Pieces of Eight, but Cornerstone felt like the "sellout" album.  We knew it was coming; it happened to most bands at some point.  They hit it big with a love song, got the girls all hot and bothered, and decided that that was the future of the band.

It wasn't quite like that, of course, but between the overall feel of the album being a bit lighter, and the huge success of "Babe", they turned the corner(stone) with this album.  I thought the original LP packaging was pretty cool, and played with putting the record in in various orientations because that was kinda fun, but the album spent most of its time on the shelf.

I'm a sax player myself, and I kinda like the sax work, but it does feel out of place on a Styx album.  But you can't blame them for trying new things.

[pg1067]

I'm a sax player myself, and I kinda like the sax work, but it does feel out of place on a Styx album.  But you can't blame them for trying new things.

Pretty sure the only rock song that has sax that I really like is Long, Long Way from Home by Foreigner (which I think is mostly bari sax, except for the solo, which is very short).

[KevShmev]

Even though it was quite a drop from the first albums that preceded it, Cornerstone is still a good album.  Not great, but good. 

I always chuckle any time JY bags on Babe considering the only song he brought to this album was the crappy ass Eddie.  Maybe do better yourself, JY, before you start ragging on the actual good songwriters in the band.

Boat on the River is a killer song, one of my favorites of Tommy's back in that era, and Love in the Midnight is pretty damn good as well.  Most of the rest is good, with First Time being a bit too shmaltzy.  Babe, for all of the heat it takes, is a very well written ballad.  First Time just sounds limp.

[pg1067]

Paradise Theatre

After a steady stream of one album per year -- actually nine albums over a span of 7 years and 2 months -- Styx finally took a bit of a break before releasing Paradise Theatre.  The Cornerstone tour wrapped up with a handful of dates in Germany in June 1980.  I'm not sure exactly when PT was recorded, but the band took the rest of 1980 for down time and recording PT, which was released on January 19, 1981.  The tour in support of PT started three days before the album was released and didn't end until February 28, 1982, by which time the band had played 130 shows

Paradise Theatre is ostensibly a concept album -- a fictional account of Chicago's Paradise theatre, which opened in 1928 as theater that was "built to stand forever."  Despite that loft goal, the theater was closed in 1956 and was finally demolished in 1958.  Although Cornerstone had taken some heat from critics and fans, Paradise Theatre still shipped Platinum, earning both its Gold and Platinum certifications two months after release, on March 19, 1981 (with a 3x Platinum certification coming in November 1984).

A.D. 1928:  A.D. 1928 is a 68 second intro piece that features DDY playing piano (sort of an old-timey player piano sound) and singing.  "Tonight's the night we'll make history."  Cool!  "As sure as dogs can fly."  Huh?  Not so much an "overture," but the theme from this song is used throughout the album.  Tommy or JY lends a more modern feel to the song with (I think) a vocoder.  And hey...1928?  Didn't someone else have a concept album that used 1928 as the starting point?  Hmmm...

Rockin' the Paradise:  A.D. 1928 ends with the line, "here at the Par...a...DISE!!!!" with the last syllable essentially being the start of this song.  This is a song where the title fits to a T.  A straight-ahead rocker.  The song is credited jointly to DDY, JY and Tommy, and JY really makes a return on this album.  A bit of an early rock feel with DDY in the background on piano.  Tommy with an excellent solo.  NOTHING like this on Cornerstone.  And, to boot, this was the 10th video ever played on MTV:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuREpab44Kk.  I really think JY doesn't get enough credit in the fashion world for pioneering the jacket with shoulder pad look!

Too Much Time on My Hands:  This is the first of Tommy's two solo writing credits on the album.  As with the prior track, it was made into a video that got fairly heavy airplay on early MTV (but didn't make the cut for the first day):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XcKBmdfpWs.  The "live" portion of the video was obviously recorded at the same time as Paradise, but this time we get some cheesy video of the members of Styx sitting around in a bar.  As for the song, it's a bit funky and largely based on a repeating riff played on the synth and bass.  It's a super catchy song with an infectious chorus.  It was released as the second single from the album and reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Nothing Ever Goes as Planned:  DDY takes over the rest of side 1.  This song follow in the vein as Why Me from Cornerstone, but it's got a lot more in terms of Styxish rock elements.  But DDY hams it up with his Fender Rhodes and vocals about a working man having his vacation spoiled.  We also amp up the guest musician spots on this song.  Steve Eisen makes a return on sax and brings no fewer than five horn players with him.  These folks are credited in the liner notes as the "Hanglator Horn Section" (whatever that means.  Not a bad song, but they probably should have left this sort of thing to Chicago.

Best of Times:  The original -- and much better -- TBOT starts with the same musical theme as A.D. 1928.  This time, it's a more modern sounding piano.  The vocals talk about a rumor that "it's the end of Paradise."  The band enters with a soft/pop rock prechorus with all three of DDY, JY and Tommy harmonizing in traditional Styx fashion.  This is followed by a chorus that features a bit of call and response between DDY and JY and Tommy.  TBOT was the first single released from the album and hit #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.  We also got another video shot the same day as the first two:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fzJGxpcenc.  This one was the 33rd video played on the first day of MTV and got two more first day plays.

Lonely People:  It was not until I started to write this that I saw the connection between this song and the "concept" of the album.  At the start, you can hear city street sounds with someone playing the saxophone.  Someone is banging on a door and yelling to cut it out.  I figured this was just two neighbors in an apartment building, but apparently the last thing the guy says is, "I tell ya Irma, I can't wait 'til next week when they start to tear that damn old theater down."  This is DDY's lament about the closing of the Paradise Theatre.  Musically, the song starts with big horns, guitar, bass and drums.  The verses are a bit jazzy with mostly electric piano, bass and drums.  Tommy (I assume) adds some guitar fills with a wah pedal.  The full band then jumps in, and this song is reminiscent of some of DDY's earlier compositions that mixed the sound of Broadway tunes with rock -- but this one adds the jazz horns.  We get a bit of an odd, synth-based section with a guitar solo, then a second guitar solo over a more traditional bed of electric piano, bass and drums.  The horns continue throughout and to the end with a final chorus.  Not a bad song, but the horns are too heavy for my taste.

She Cares:  You can almost think of this song as part of a Tommy Shaw trilogy:  Sing for the Day, Never Say Never, and She Cares.  Unfortunately, this is the worst of the bunch.  It's a VERY generic, early '80s song.  You could picture someone like Billy Joel doing this song and doing a much better job of it.  Lyrically, it seems to be Tommy's ode to a woman who really cares about him, and he can't understand why.  For me, this is easily the worst song on the album, although the guitar solo is very well done.  Unfortunately, the guitar gives way to the saxophone.

Snowblind:  This is a JY/DDY composition that got some publicity in the early '80s when a California legislator decided there were "backward satanic messages" (supposedly, "Oh, Satan, move in our voices").  Yeah...sure thing buddy.  The song begins with a repeating keyboard pattern, some bass/drum accents and JY singing in a sinister manner about cocaine.  The full band comes in with a shuffle feel and Tommy takes over the lead vocals.  Verse, chorus, verse chorus, and JY gives us a ripping good guitar solo.  Another chorus, and the outro mimics the intro with a final chorus.

Half-Penny, Two-Penny:  This song is credited to JY and Ray Brandle.  Who is Ray Brandle?  Fuck if I know (I searched and couldn't find anything), but he's also credited with co-writing "Witch Wolf" (from The Serpent Is Rising) and "Southern Woman" and "Man of Miracles" (from Man of Miracles).  Anyway, this song is a rocker with a bit of a bunk touch.  The main riff serves as both the intro riff and the bed for the verses, sung by JY.  Lyrically, the song seems to be about economic inequity between rich and poor.  The verse has a very Styxish harmony vocal feel that reminds me slightly of the Suite Madame Blue chorus.  We get a mid-section that seems to be hinting at the demolition of the Paradise Theatre, followed by a blistering guitar solo from Tommy (this is the return of the favor for JY taking the solo on Renegade).  DDY provides piano backup, and the song eventually fades into the two closing tracks.  This song is the hidden gem of this album, and this video illustrates why, with the band absolutely on fire:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DQBMzlXpdA.

A.D. 1958:  This is the bookend piece with the album's intro, following the same basic structure, and being almost exactly the same length.

State Street Sadie:  Barely even a song, running only 28 seconds, this is DDY noodling on the piano in a 1920sish style.

Paradise Theatre is not without its faults, but it was an excellent return to form following Cornerstone.

1. The Best of Times
2. Half-Penny, Two Penny/A.D. 1958/State Street Sadie
3. Too Much Time on My Hands
4. A.D. 1928/Rockin' the Paradise
5. Snowblind
6. Lonely People
7. Nothing Ever Goes as Planned
8. She Cares

[Orbert]

I realize that concept albums tend to have recurring themes, both musical and lyrical, but since this isn't a "proper" concept album IMO, to me it's just the one where a bunch of tracks start off the same and you never know which song it's gonna be.  I never noticed that the piano sounds are different.

[KevShmev]

I have to admit that Too Much Time on My Hands has become one of those songs I am good with never hearing again ever.  Good song, but I've just heard it too much.

I've always thought the Half-Penny, Two-Penny/A.D. 1958 combo to basically end the album was pretty bad ass.  I was excited beyond belief on the 1996 tour when they closed with The Best of Times and then attached A.D. 1958 to the end of it.  I never though I would hear that glorious melody played live. 

[pg1067]

I realize that concept albums tend to have recurring themes, both musical and lyrical, but since this isn't a "proper" concept album IMO, to me it's just the one where a bunch of tracks start off the same and you never know which song it's gonna be.  I never noticed that the piano sounds are different.

Yeah...obviously, AD1928/Rockin' the Paradise, TBOT and AD1958/SSS tie into the theme.  Lonely People has the connection I mentioned, and the DDY sections of HP-2P are musically similar, but I'm not sure what Snowblind, Too Much Time and She Cares have to do with the "concept."  As for the pianos, I assume he did it to illustrate the passage of time.  Kind of a cool little "nugget."

I have to admit that Too Much Time on My Hands has become one of those songs I am good with never hearing again ever.  Good song, but I've just heard it too much.

I've always thought the Half-Penny, Two-Penny/A.D. 1958 combo to basically end the album was pretty bad ass.  I was excited beyond belief on the 1996 tour when they closed with The Best of Times and then attached A.D. 1958 to the end of it.  I never though I would hear that glorious melody played live. 

I only saw Styx once -- in 1991 (Edge of the Century).  They opened with Rockin' the Paradise and also played TBOT.  Good show, although Tommy's absence was glaring.

[Orbert]

I'm not sure what Snowblind, Too Much Time and She Cares have to do with the "concept."  As for the pianos, I assume he did it to illustrate the passage of time.  Kind of a cool little "nugget."

That's all I meant.  A "proper" concept album would have every track be part of the story, or concept, or whatever.  Here, there's the bookending pieces, and some connections scattered throughout, so there's definitely some cohesion.  But then you have the "regular" songs that aren't part of the grand concept, so they basically fit them into the track order in a way that isn't too disruptive.  What's the prog-bash saying?  "Every album is a concept album if you overanalyze it enough."  You could make it work, but you're stretching.  I'll listen for the piano stuff next time.

Genesis did a similar thing with their Duke album.  The opening three tracks, closing two, and midpoint ("Turn It On Again") were originally a 30-minute piece of music.  But they didn't want to invite comparison to their famous epic "Supper's Ready" so they spread the pieces around, and the other songs actually fit rather well into the concept, even if they weren't originally written that way.  When Styx did something similar with Paradise Theater, but IMO not quite as well, I took it as one more thing to bash them about.  But I was already losing interest at that point.  I never bought Paradise Theater, but listened to it a few times at friends' houses.  That was all I needed to hear.

[DragonAttack]

Late to this thread.  Loving the write ups, with some disagreements here and there, but overall enjoyed the read.

When I moved 20 years ago, I donated around 1000 vinyls to Goodwill because we just didn't have room in our temporary apartment (I had most recorded onto cassettes or had the CD).  I kept around 200.  The donation did make for a fair tax write off. 

An album that I stupidly donated was Paradise Theater. 



Just thought I'd also mention from a post eons ago that both Orbert and myself were at the old Lansing Metro Ice Arena for a 'Grand Illusion' show.  There was such a torrential downpour that they opened the doors for everyone, ticket in hand or not (my friend and I did not).  Still remember DeYoung 'skating' on the damp stage.  No wonder that building didn't last much longer.

[Orbert]

My wife has that vinyl!

[KevShmev]

I only saw Styx once -- in 1991 (Edge of the Century).  They opened with Rockin' the Paradise and also played TBOT.  Good show, although Tommy's absence was glaring.

I saw them in '91 as well, but it was only my 3rd concert ever, so the euphoria made me not care about Tommy not being there. 

[pg1067]

My wife has that vinyl!

I used to have it.  I always wondered if that marking on the playing surface impacted the sound.  But then I got the CD and trashed the vinyl, so it didn't matter.

[Orbert]

We still have all of our original vinyl from the good old days, easily a couple hundred from each of us.  The ones from my collection are almost all in mint or near-mint condition.  My wife's... not so much.  We have two copies of a lot of albums, and three of some.  But we are both collectors and have trouble just dumping anything that we've acquired that still has value.

[pg1067]

As I started to buy CDs in the late '80s and replace vinyl records, I dumped the records.  By '97 or '98, I had replaced everything I was going to replace and had about 50-75 vinyl albums remaining.  I wasn't going to buy another copy of Motley Crue's Theatre of Pain or Dokken's Under Lock and Key on CD, and I never listened to them, so I took the turntable and the vinyl to the dumpster at our apartment complex, and in they went.  I suppose I would have kept them if my wife hadn't urged me to do it in the interest of de-cluttering, but I don't regret it.  I did keep a few inner and outer sleeves for autographed stuff, covers that I thought were cool, and lyric sheets where the CD didn't have lyrics.

[pg1067]

Kilroy is proving harder to get through than I expected.  Maybe later today or tomorrow.

[KevShmev]

Kilroy is proving harder to get through than I expected.  Maybe later today or tomorrow.

Your better option is to bypass it and move on to the next.

Oh wait, the next is Edge of the Century.  Skip that one, too. 

[King Postwhore]

No wait!....

[pg1067]

Your better option is to bypass it and move on to the next.

You're not wrong, but here we are anyway...


Kilroy Was Here

According to setlist.fm, Styx wrapped up the tour in support of Paradise Theatre on December 6, 1981.  They presumably took the holidays off and then played two dates in Japan in mid-January 1982.  setlist.fm also shows a random show in Albuquerque on February 28, 1982, but I have a feeling that was entered in error.  Assuming I'm right about that, the Japanese dates were the only Styx shows in 1982.

When I first got into popular/rock music, the Beatles were my favorite band.  I relatively quickly moved on to Styx, who was eventually replaced by Rush.  Kilroy Was Here was my first "new" Styx album, and Grace Under Pressure was my first new Rush album.  Both were big disappointments for a lot of the same reasons.

One thing that immediately stands out when looking at the credits is that Kilroy is the first Styx album since The Serpent Is Rising without ANY collaboration among the songwriting members of the band.  Given the amount of time the band took off after the Paradise Theatre tour, this seems surprising.

Kilroy was a concept album that was a mocking response to the Christian anti-rock activists who were becoming prominent in the early '80s.  The story is that a guy named Dr. Everett Righteous has gained power in the U.S. and has outlawed all rock music.  The protagonist is Robert Orin Charles Kilroy.*  Kilroy has been imprisoned after violence erupted at a concert and a pro-Righteous protestor was killed.  The killing was actually perpetrated by Righteous's henchmen (Col. Hyde and Lt. Vanish) but was pinned on Kilroy.  The prison in which Kilroy is held is patrolled by Robotos (Japanese robots).  Kilroy manages to subdue one and disguise himself to appear as a Roboto.  He eventually encounters young Jonathan Chance, a "rock activist," and together, they do something and live happily ever after.

* - Back in the day, I somehow missed that Kilroy's initials were an acronym that spelled "ROCK."

Styx went so far as to create a short movie (10 minutes).  They began the tour in 1983 playing small, intimate theaters and would play the movie leading into the opening song of the concert, Mr. Roboto.  They lost massive amounts of money on these shows and moved into larger arenas.

Onto the songs...

Mr. Roboto:  This song starts with the trademark Styx swirling synth, albeit more modern sounding.  A robotic voice then says, "Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto," and the song bursts into the BIG, BIG chorus.  OK...let's go!  Not so fast, buddy.  The song has become iconic and now has an appeal based on nostalgia, but the first thing you think is, "wher are the guitars?"  You then wonder about the Japanese lyrics.  The band sings, "Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto" (or, if Wikipedia is believed, "misuta robotto," followed by another line in Japanese.  The line is said another time followed by more Japanese words.  Supposedly:  "Thank you ver much, Mr. Roboto, until the day we meet again.  Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto, I want to know your secret."  At least it sounds better in Japanese.  Everyone knows this song.  It's probably best described as "synth pop," there's nary a guitar to be found (or, if there are guitars there, they're BURIED under mountains of synths).  Apparently, the song structure is fairly complex from a music theory perspective, but whatever.  Unfortunately, it's actually one of the better songs on the album.

Cold War:  Alright!  It's 1983 and we're in the height of nuclear fear.  The Soviets are going to drop the bomb any day and end the Cold War.  This should be a rocker!  Like Roboto, the song opens with the chorus, and it's pretty rockin'.  At least there are guitars.  Then we get to the chorus and a bunch of wimpy synth patches and Tommy doing something at sounds vaguely like rap.  It's got a bit of melody, but what do these lyrics have to do with the Cold War (or the concept of the album)?  In the Behind the Music episode, Tommy says prominently that he didn't want to do a concept album and, "try as I might, I just couldn't think of any songs about robots."  Apparently, you couldn't think of any good songs, period.  But this comment also illustrates either a post hoc desire to poke fun at DDY and the album or a blatant lack of understanding of the album's concept.  Anyway, it's a really flaccid attempt at a rock song.

Don't Let It End:  Babe, Pt. 2.  With wimpy synths.  Not terrible, but....

High Time:  When I listened to the album last week, it was probably the first time in 35 years I had heard this song.  It was apparently the third single released from the album (after Roboto and Don't Let It End), and the unsourced Wikipedia article says its "poor performance killed momentum on the 'Kilroy' album."  Ya think?  This is just an awful song.  It starts with a drum figure - either on electronic drums or heavily produced drums - then add some doo-wop vocals and wimpy synths and overly Broadway-esque DDY vocals talking about the rising rebellion against Righteous.  It's high time to start a revolution.  DDY's Broadway style theatrics were always tempered with a rock edge, and this time they forgot the rock.

Let's hope side 2 is better.

Heavy Metal Poisoning:  After the Kilroy tour, Styx released a live album with one studio track, called Music Time.  At that time, one of the rock magazines had a section where they'd have a band or individual listen to new songs and give a critique.  In one issue, Saxon (I think) was doing the reviewing, and one of the songs presented was Music Time.  Instead of talking about the song, they talked about how Styx had once written that heavy metal was poison, so they hated anything Styx.  Ummm...not quite guys (although Music Time was probably worse than High Time).  Heavy Metal Poisoning is the first of two JY songs, and it's probably the best song on the album.  When the best song on a Styx album is a JY song, you know you've got problems.  It starts off with a pretty kick ass riff, and the synth stays way down in the mix.  JY's lead vocals (as Dr. Righteous) are a bit theatric, but that's not too unusual.  There's a bit of a synth section before the guitar solo starts.  If this were an ordinary Styx album and this song had better lyrics not based on the album's concept, this would be a pretty decent JY song.

Just Get Through This Night:  The first 95 seconds of this 6:09 song is a bunch of quiet, Japanese instruments, which I guess is a nod to the album's theme (although it doesn't otherwise seem to relate).  It then turns into Tommy's best effort to out-wimp DDY.  A very lame, soft, pop-rock song.

Double Life:  JY returns with a song whose lyrics sound exactly like what the title says.  Given that JY's character is Dr. Righteous, it's not really clear what this has to do with the concept of the album.  Musically, it starts off with a low synth bed and then a very synthy rhythm section.  There's some muted guitar in the reasonably catchy chorus.  It sounds like about a dozen other early '80s synth-rock songs, and most of the others are better, although this isn't a horrible song.  It might have benefitted from some collaboration with 1977-78 DDY.

Haven't We Been Here Before:  Tommy's third song on the album starts off with the wimpy synths that are the hallmark of this album.  Tommy sings very nicely.  Tommy and DDY harmonize on the chorus.  It seemingly relates to the theme of the album in that it talks about learning from the past.  Interestingly, a video was made for this song that has nothing to do with the Kilroy concept and in which only Tommy appears.  The video was never played on MTV.

Don't Let It End (Reprise):  This means it's almost over!  Yay!!  This is 2:22 of filler, starting with a vague reprise of the namesake track and ending with a bunch of vocal masturbation by DDY that resolves into him just yelling the names of early rock musicians.

This was the album that killed Styx.  DDY has admitted that this happened because of the shear power of his will (or something like that).  JY and Tommy have rightly talked a lot of smack about the album and, while JY brought some decent songs, Tommy did not.

At this point, I'm going to go back and do the first three albums, which I didn't have when I started this.

[DragonAttack]

"I'm schizophrenic, and so am I"  JY, 'Double Life

I've used this line hundreds of times since the album's release, for various things I've done that might be 'out of character' (good and bad).

'Don't Let It End', 'High Time' were OK, 'Heavy Metal Poisoning' by far the best cut (always sounds like Cheech & Chong during the kids fade out). 

I recall reading that they were often booed during this tour for the outfits and various other Kilroy related stuff.  They did break up during the tour.  A shame that a band that released superb albums from 'Equinox' through 'Paradise Theater' (stumbling with 'Cornerstone') would crash and burn in such a way.