MR

From your own personal point of view, what are the biggest Styx-related shockers, since the initial break up in 1983?

(I know, I know, assembly line thread . . . )

Here are mine:

1. Styx releasing an album and touring w/o Tommy.
2. Styx RTP tour: I was so excited I finally got to experience the concert I thought I would never see.
3. John Panozzo: The first I heard of him passing away was at the same 1996 show mentioned above. Huge bombshell. I was stunned, and very saddened.
4. Styx touring w/o Dennis DeYoung, in a permanent fashion. For the first year or so, I really expected to see DDY back.
5. Enjoying the first concert I saw with the new lineup. I was very skeptical to go see a Dennis-less Styx, but they won me over with a terrific show.
6. Larry Gowan's voice: I really expected someone who sounded a bit more than Dennis. This really surprised me.
7. How much I liked Cyclorama. Even though I enjoyed the new lineup in concert, they were playing tried and true material. I didn't know if that would translate into a good studio effort. I was pleasantly surprised.
8. Styx is still together and touring without Dennis SIX years later. Even though I support the new lineup, I didn't expect them to keep this rolling all this time. Unbelievable.

My one and only shocker.........

That Neither Dennis or Tommy could gain any traction whatsoever as solo artists......It? They are truly a case of the sum of the parts not equaling the whole.

I agree with most of your list. But I would add Glen leaving in 2003.

I would have to say the most "shocking" for me was seeing the Music Time video for the first time.

The second may not be what you were looking for...Getting online for the first time back in 1991-2 and looking at the Styx forum on GEnie...a forum that averaged maybe a hundred posts a day. It was filled with some of the nicest people I have known online and they mostly got along, mostly.

Sorry, l gotta go off on a tangent here....Monker, please expand on your post.

100 posts a day with Edge of the Century as the only recent release ?
What on earth were the topics? I'm asking in a seroius/sincere way, I know, very unusual for me.....

I suppose a potential future reunion with Tommy, along with people bashing Glen for not being Tommy were up there, what else ?

Also, are we 21st century posters really that bad ?

For me it is that I am still a big Styx fan even though Dennis is not in the band.

Dennis getting kicked out. Hands down. That's when it stopped being Styx for me. (Repeating here for emphasis. For ME)

Bugsy

With out a doubt for me the two biggest shockers were the deaths of both Johns.

I found out on the net that John C. had passed. When I found this out I think I listened to songs like A Day, You Better Ask, Mother Dear, The Serpent Is Rising, plus all the Wooden Nickle stuff non stop for about a month. The songs sounded so alive, but he was dead. It was weird.

Kind of the same thing with John P. I listened alot to the drums on Crystal Ball. His passing was a little different because he died and Kirby Puckett had to retire due to glacoma on the same day. That was a bad day.

The other shockers for me were. Dennis being forced out of the band. Going to a show minus Dennis and REALLY REALLY liking it.

Really Really liking the band minus Tommy on the Edge album and tour.

Loving the CD Cyclorama, and finally probably liking Glen Burtnik more than ANY other member in the band past or present.

All are really good points. I think mine wouldn't be defined as "shocking" but rather saddening. It was the discovery that this band and it's members were not the fairy tale buddies from high school and college that I thought them to be. Made me realize that I longed for that Grand Illusion to be a reality.

The day I signed on here and found people like post-Dennis Styx.

yogi wrote: finally probably liking Glen Burtnik more than ANY other member in the band past or present.

Let me get this straight, you're a Styx fan?

ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!

Ive seen EVERY tour since Pieces Of Eight with the exception of the Grand Decathlon and The Return To Paradise tour. I did see the Grand Illusion ll tour so I did see them reunited but minus their drummer. Ive seen Tommy and Dennis both solo and generally will drive up to 300 miles ( one way ) to see them.

I own EVERY release they have EVER put out on CD( group & solo) including an orginal Desert Moon & Girls with Guns CD. I also own MANY bootleg CD's and VHS tapes of the band.

I have a collection of over a dozen NEVER been worn Styx T shirts that I purchased myself at various Styx concerts. I have kept in mint condition programs from Kilroy, Paradise & The Main Event.

Since I now have a family almost every cent I make goes toward my family. Styx and its members is basically the ONLY thing I spend money on outside of caring for my family.

Am I fan??????? DAMN STRAIGHT I AM!!!!

classicstyxfan wrote:100 posts a day with Edge of the Century as the only recent release ?
What on earth were the topics? I'm asking in a seroius/sincere way, I know, very unusual for me.....

Well, the album, the tour...DY and their album and their tour. The entire Tommy/Glen thing. Being new, all of Glen's solo albums. The videos, the video package from DY. All of the interviews and TV appearences. All kinds of news and rumors. I remember a bit of talk about 976-STYX, which I had no clue what that was at the time. Everybody mostly got along so we strayed a little offtopic, but the sysop's wanted it to stay ontopic.

I suppose a potential future reunion with Tommy, along with people bashing Glen for not being Tommy were up there, what else ?

Not very true at all. There was not a lot of 'bashing Glen for 'not being Tommy'. Sure, that road would be traveled once in a while...but to be honest, people were a lot more mature then then they are now. There was more 'bashing' of certain posters on Prodigy then bashing of Glen. Also, those who prefered Tommy had DY to talk about. I don't remember any reunion talk at all, since Tommy was in DY.

Also, are we 21st century posters really that bad ?

I have always said that Windows allowed stupid people to use a PC...and AOL allowed stupid people to get online. Combine those together and you have the internet of today's world.

Not that EVERYONE who uses Windows and AOL is 'stupid'...but one bad apples spoils the entire experience because there are those who simply don't want to deal with those bad apples - at all. Those are the people that forums like this one are missing.

Bad Medicine,

I have a BETTER question for you.

ARE YOU A STYX FAN??????? I think you are NOT a Styx fan, but you are a Dennis Deyoung fan.

You believe there is NO Styx without Dennis Deyoung. You feel like Dennis Deyoung IS Styx. So you NEVER REALLY were a Styx fan. You were just a Dennis Deyoung fan hiding in a Kilroy Was Here T shirt. It is High Time that you admit that!!!

Monker,

Interesting take.......I was late to the table as far as owning a PC, and yes, I started on AOL ..........

I find it very surprising that there is still this much devotion/passion for a band like Styx.

Thanks for sharing.

-Classic



classicstyxfan wrote:

100 posts a day with Edge of the Century as the only recent release ?
What on earth were the topics? I'm asking in a seroius/sincere way, I know, very unusual for me.....

Well, the album, the tour...DY and their album and their tour. The entire Tommy/Glen thing. Being new, all of Glen's solo albums. The videos, the video package from DY. All of the interviews and TV appearences. All kinds of news and rumors. I remember a bit of talk about 976-STYX, which I had no clue what that was at the time. Everybody mostly got along so we strayed a little offtopic, but the sysop's wanted it to stay ontopic.

Quote:

I suppose a potential future reunion with Tommy, along with people bashing Glen for not being Tommy were up there, what else ?



Not very true at all. There was not a lot of 'bashing Glen for 'not being Tommy'. Sure, that road would be traveled once in a while...but to be honest, people were a lot more mature then then they are now. There was more 'bashing' of certain posters on Prodigy then bashing of Glen. Also, those who prefered Tommy had DY to talk about. I don't remember any reunion talk at all, since Tommy was in DY.

Quote:

Also, are we 21st century posters really that bad ?


I have always said that Windows allowed stupid people to use a PC...and AOL allowed stupid people to get online. Combine those together and you have the internet of today's world.

Not that EVERYONE who uses Windows and AOL is 'stupid'...but one bad apples spoils the entire experience because there are those who simply don't want to deal with those bad apples - at all. Those are the people that forums like this one are missing.

classicstyxfan wrote:I find it very surprising that there is still this much devotion/passion for a band like Styx.

Bands that touch our lives in special ways tend to make loyal fans out of those that love them. One thing that's for sure is that between all the varying opinions on what is and what should never have been, etc., just about every single one of us has some real, deep attachment to this band. (Which is why it burns my ass when someone's 'fandom' is called to question because they don't have a speciific opinion or outlook.)

Wow, I almost posted a bunch of other sappy sh*t, but I had to walk away from the computer, and I must have came to my senses by the time I got back because I nearly made myself puke when I read it! I'll leave it at the statement above and call it a day!

yogi wrote:Bad Medicine,

I have a BETTER question for you.

ARE YOU A STYX FAN??????? I think you are NOT a Styx fan, but you are a Dennis Deyoung fan.

Nope, I am a STYX fan... I grew up listening to the classic stuff as I've recounted here before. I own no Dennis solo material other than his recent Symphony stuff.

To me, Dennis was the main ingredient. The other guys definitely added to what made the band special, though.

As I've said before, regardless of what happens now Styx will be remembered for what they did from 1975-1983. They will NEVER come close to touching that, it's their legacy.

yogi wrote:You believe there is NO Styx without Dennis Deyoung.

Yes, sue me.

BTW, I had to Google this name. She posted more to GEnie then anybody else...If you're a cat lover and a Styx fan, you'll love it:

http://www.cherylleigh.com/

Monker wrote:BTW, I had to Google this name. She posted more to GEnie then anybody else...If you're a cat lover and a Styx fan, you'll love it:

http://www.cherylleigh.com/

I was briefly on GEnie at one point. I don't think I discovered the Styx area though.

As I've said before, regardless of what happens now Styx will be remembered for what they did from 1975-1983. They will NEVER come close to touching that, it's their legacy.

I agree. And I would agree with this even if Dennis and both Panozzos were still in the band.

That neither Dennis or Tommy could gain any traction whatsoever as solo artists.

That is surprising, especially considering how big the Styx fan base was at the time their first solo albums were released (not to mention the recent MTV exposure). Any speculation as to why? Were the albums that bad, relatively speaking? Was it lack of promotion? Did the Kilroy album lower the interest level of old school fans?

That is surprising, especially considering how big the Styx fan base was at the time their first solo albums were released (not to mention the recent MTV exposure). Any speculation as to why? Were the albums that bad, relatively speaking? Was it lack of promotion? Did the Kilroy album lower the interest level of old school fans?

I cannot speak for either, and I do not know what the deal was in Tommy's case. As for Dennis, he did not tour to promote his solo work. I don't think Kilroy played a role in how the albums were received, but that's my opinion.

I think Dennis didn't view his solo album as a "career" move, rather something different. ANd then he took time off to stay home with the family. Just my take.

ek88 wrote:

As I've said before, regardless of what happens now Styx will be remembered for what they did from 1975-1983. They will NEVER come close to touching that, it's their legacy.

I agree. And I would agree with this even if Dennis and both Panozzos were still in the band.

That neither Dennis or Tommy could gain any traction whatsoever as solo artists.

That is surprising, especially considering how big the Styx fan base was at the time their first solo albums were released (not to mention the recent MTV exposure). Any speculation as to why? Were the albums that bad, relatively speaking? Was it lack of promotion? Did the Kilroy album lower the interest level of old school fans?

Don't forget that A&M was pissed that they had unofficially broke up, not gone on a hiatus. Especially seeing they still had 1 new material album remaining in their contract with no end in site when or if they would ever make it. I also remember reading long ago that EOC only came about because A&M was going to take them to court for not forefilling the contract. As a result, ther wasn't much support from the record companies.

Tommy did get a pretty big push from MTV, but his solo material was pretty different sounding than his Styx material and never really grabbed hold. He did do some opening act dates with major acts, (I saw him with the Kinks in the Boston Garden) but he really never was able to break through. It was also a time where 70's rock was starting to be overtaken by 80's pop, a shift in music styles at the time. (more dance, less rock)

I also think that both Dennis and Tommy started their solo careers at a time where solo albums/careers of artists from successful groups were just starting to be a regular thing and the expectation from fans was to hear similar style music of the bands they came from, and Tommy's was not quite the same or similar.

Dennis should have toured, his albums were meant to be toured.

But the problems they all faced solo is some of the issues the band still faces. With three lead singers, each has their devoted fans. Some of these fans won't follow the other members. So even if you believed that Dennis had 40% of the fans, Tommy had 40% of the fans and JY had 20% of the fans (assign your own percentages) as a solo act, they only pull their own fans with a small overlap of fans that supported the other lead singers.

Just my opinion on the latter haf.

I am going back to my cave.

That is surprising, especially considering how big the Styx fan base was at the time their first solo albums were released (not to mention the recent MTV exposure). Any speculation as to why? Were the albums that bad, relatively speaking? Was it lack of promotion? Did the Kilroy album lower the interest level of old school fans?

IMO, the bottom line is that their solo albums were not as good as the pre-Kilroy Styx albums. They both had some success with their debuts, even MTV exposure....Tommy had a couple video concerts/documentaries ("solo" and "Live at Notre Dame"). But, by their third album, neither had much success at all solo. They may as well have been JY