CornerstoneBack 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