My Review of 26 East Volume 1

[ChicagoSTYX]

East of Midnight, is a good song and may be the only song DDY didn’t write to ever make to one of his solo albums. (I could be wrong) I feel this is the best song on the album and the most Styx sounding. A good choice to open the album. Here is a link to the original.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/ur ... 2cOpIG8&e=

With All Due Respect, should have been broken into to 2 tracks. The beginning talking part should have been its own track like Styx did with all systems stable. After one listen to the talking part I find myself wanting to skip that part. This song is a little corny in the vain of Music Time………. Piehole…… really? LOL

A Kingdom Ablaze, another good song. Could have been on a Crystal Ball. Has a Castle Walls sound to it.

You My Love, typical DDY balled. Thats not a bad thing, just not my cup of tea. I’m sure many here will like this song. This one sounds like it could have been written in the late 50s or been in Grease.

Run for The Roses, another slow one that tries to sound like The Best of Times at the guitar break. Not a bad song but nothing that will stick in my head. Nice ending to the song.

Damn That Dream, this one sounds like a rewrite of This Time Next Year from his last album. I like that song, and I like this one. Another one that has a Styx sound to it. My second favorite on the album.

Unbroken, this one has me wondering if it was something he wrote around the Boom Child time. It has an 80’s move theme sound to it. Not a bad song, just a bit dated. I like the little keyboard break toward the end.

The Promise of This Land, this sounds like it was ripped right from a Broadway stage. It would be a great song for a play and may have been a rewrite of a song intended for Hunchback. I can literally see actors on a stage preforming this in my mind when listening to it. I don’t like the way it goes into double time at the end. It doesn’t fit the song.

To the Good Old days, if we never get volume 2, this is a good way to bring his career to an end. Best slow song he has written in years.

A.D. 2020, what can I say, a classic revisited. Great ending to the album.

Overall a decent album. Had he included Proof of Heaven and removed With All Due Respect, I would have felt it was as good as One Hundred Years From Now. His voice has held up well considering he is 73 but you can definitely hear a difference between One Hundred Years and this album. I like this much more than I did the new Steve Perry album from last year. We are lucky to be getting anything new from the artists we grew up with. For that reason alone, I enjoyed listening to this album.

[Abitaman]

Yes, we are lucky indeed!

[StyxGuy]

... aaaand the Japanese CD has a bonus track, a live version of Babe!

Looks like I'll have to get myself a copy of that!

https://www.discogs.com/Dennis-DeYoung- ... e/15354778

[Abitaman]

After listening to it several times, I think it maybe my favorite Dennis CD. Will have to listen to them all to be sure. Anyone notice how Dennis point of view has shifted from follow that dream to more or less be careful of that dream. With that has gone on with him and Styx I can understand that. Plus at 73 he has seen and heard a lot. Really a spot on look at the world we live in now.

[ztyxlynne]

So far love the album. Man cant wait for Vol2 . I can't even imagine what that album is gonna bring. Did anyone notice the liner notes where he thanks Chuck,John,JC,JY, and Tommy? Dennis is such a class act.

[FormerDJMike]

... aaaand the Japanese CD has a bonus track, a live version of Babe!

Looks like I'll have to get myself a copy of that!

https://www.discogs.com/Dennis-DeYoung- ... e/15354778

before buying you should know it is not new. It is the version from "The Music Of Styx: Live With Symphony Orchestra" from 2004.

[Jodes]

I have only listened to it once.. but will give it a few more spins most definitely.

Dennis's voice is awesome, the songs are solid, but it's the background vocals/choruses.

Whoever the female vocalist/s are (Suzanne?) just grate on me.. I want to like it, so far the harmonies. Oi vey.

Was really pumped for it's release but as I was listening to it yesterday I just couldn't get into it 100%.

That though is 100% on me - I haven't really found time to balance my life out since this whole covid thing happened and life went on hold here in Alberta on March 16th.

Everything is just been blah.

[StyxGuy]

... aaaand the Japanese CD has a bonus track, a live version of Babe!

Looks like I'll have to get myself a copy of that!

https://www.discogs.com/Dennis-DeYoung- ... e/15354778

before buying you should know it is not new. It is the version from "The Music Of Styx: Live With Symphony Orchestra" from 2004.

That's alright. I'll get the Japanese CD via a friend living there right now and am planning to get the vinyl too once it's available (So far just U.S. sellers on Amazon Canada wanting $45+ CAD for it)