I don't know the in depth history of the band Styx. In fact, I'd be lying if I said I knew many songs from them at all. What I do know is that they were a massively successful 70's group who took their popularity, and flushed it straight down the toilet in the early 80's with a series of concept rock opera albums, and outlandish theatrical shows.
Right, so let's see if we can abridge this.
Though they formed in 1961, it wouldn't be until 1972 that Styx would release their self-titled debut, comprising of original line-up, Dennis DeYoung, James "J.Y." Young, John "J.C." Curulewski and brothers Chuck and John Panozzo. From there, they released albums annually all the way through 1979. During this time, they often had top ten hits, most notably, Lady (from 1973's Styx II), Lorelei (from 1975's Equinox), Come Sail Away (from 1977's The Grand Illusion), both Renegade and Blue Color Man (Long Nights) (from 1978's Pieces Of Eight), and Babe (from 1979's Cornerstone).
Just before embarking on their 1975 tour, John Curulewski suddenly left the band, leaving them scrambling to find a replacement. They found this in Tommy Shaw, who would not only take on the role as guitarist, and co-vocals, but also serve as one of the major contributors to the writing of material from that point.
Things would pick up for Styx when they scored their first number one hit, Babe, as noted as being from the album, Cornerstone. The album itself would reach number two on the Billboard 200, and help the band win a People's Choice Award for Best New Song in 1980. Though they would be nominated for the 22nd Grammy Awards in multiple categories, they wouldn't win any. However, they would be voted Most Popular Rock Band in the USA on the 1980 year end Gallup Poll.
Turmoil began to brew in the band at this point. Enjoying the success of his penned single, DeYoung pushed Styx to release more mainstream music, while Shaw and Young favored a more rock oriented approach. Things came to a head when objection's rose against releasing First Time as the group's next single, resulting in the brief firing of DeYoung. The irony is that the single became a huge hit in the Philippines, where it was actually released.
Despite the cracks that would begin to show, and ultimately lead to their demise, there's no doubt that DeYoung's vision of concept albums was a good idea at the time. Their 1981 follow-up, Paradise Theatre, would go on to become the band's best album of all time, spawning multiple top ten hits. The band embarked on a massive tour in support of the album, making it one of the top grossing tours of the year.
This would also be the start of the over the top theatrics which Styx incorporated into their shows. Each one would showcase numerous Broadway and movie infused elements, including a dramatic opening featuring a theatre sweep and DeYoung by himself next to a player piano and the show ending with traditional movie credits. Though it paid off (literally) in a big way, other members of the band would soon begin to hate the theatrics of it all, leading to Styx imploding.
But stop. Before we can get to the end, we first have to go back, and actually have a listen to Paradise Theatre.
There may be something to Styx that I've been missing out on. As I played through the album, I was treated to song after song that resonated on the "good" chart.
What stood out as the pros for me was the fine tuned instrumentation. I'll use Toto IV as an example. That album was so acutely produced, making every note sound just right, balancing out all the instruments. Professional in every sense of the word. That's what I got from Paradise Theatre.
As for the biggest con that stood out to me, I didn't particularly care for the harmonization of the members when they sang. It came off as screechy, almost obnoxious. It's like when Queen does it, but not as good. Additionally, the album features a gratuitous use of the word "paradise" from song to song, as if to really drive home the record's title and / or theme. Maybe the latter is nitpicking.
With that said, I did enjoy several songs, and added them all to my shuffle list. These included, A.D. 1928, Rockin' The Paradise, Too Much Time On My Hands, The Best Of Times, Half Penny Two Penny, and since it led into it, A.D. 1958.
Overall, I'm a bit excited to jump into their 1983 follow-up, Kilroy Was Here. I'm digging what I'm hearing, and I definitely want some more. Like I said, I feel like I may have missed out on Styx, and I'm down with rectifying that. I may even have to dust off the several 70's albums I have from them, and check those out too.
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS September 18, 1982 |
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