MR

Here is your chance to create the ultimate unlimited set list for a styx concert. Here's mine:

Blue Collar Man
Grand Illusion
Lorelei
Too Much Time
Can't Find My Way Home
Babe (Larry Vocal)
Light Up (JY Vocal)
Walrus
Doctor
Lady
All I Want For Christmas
Pieces Of Eight (Larry Vocal)
Summer In The City
Edge Of The Century (Tommy Vocal)
Love Is The Ritual (Ricky Vocal)
Killing The Thing You Love (Ricky Vocal)
A Criminal Mind
Suite Madame Blue
Haven't We Been Here Before?
Don't Let It End (Larry Vocal)
Just Be
** Intermission**
Crystal Ball
Show Me The Way (Larry Vocal)
Rockin' The Paradise
Best Of Times (Larry Vocal)
High Enough
Fooling Yourself (with chuck)
Mr. Roboto (Larry Vocal)
Ms. America
Dear John
Come Sail Away (with chuck)
**Encore**
Borrowed Time (Larry Vocal)
Renegade (with chuck)

Good choice, will it be a 3 hour gig?

Claw my eyes out if I have to hear Gowan singing some of those songs. I guess you haven't heard the boots of him crooning "Babe" and "The Best Of Times". There's a reason they don't do them, and it's not just because JY doesn't like to play them.

I like Gowan. He just sucks singing certain Styx songs.

Thenightbull wrote:Here is your chance to create the ultimate unlimited set list for a styx concert. Here's mine:

Blue Collar Man
Grand Illusion
Lorelei
Too Much Time
Can't Find My Way Home
Babe (Larry Vocal)
Light Up (JY Vocal)
Walrus
Doctor
Lady
All I Want For Christmas
Pieces Of Eight (Larry Vocal)
Summer In The City
Edge Of The Century (Tommy Vocal)
Love Is The Ritual (Ricky Vocal)
Killing The Thing You Love (Ricky Vocal)
A Criminal Mind
Suite Madame Blue
Haven't We Been Here Before?
Don't Let It End (Larry Vocal)
Just Be
** Intermission**
Crystal Ball
Show Me The Way (Larry Vocal)
Rockin' The Paradise
Best Of Times (Larry Vocal)
High Enough
Fooling Yourself (with chuck)
Mr. Roboto (Larry Vocal)
Ms. America
Dear John
Come Sail Away (with chuck)
**Encore**
Borrowed Time (Larry Vocal)
Renegade (with chuck)

First, the right line-up would have to be in place...
DDY, TS, GB, JY, CP, TS...byuh byuh Lawrence..

Grand Illusion
Foolin Yourself
Lady
Lorelei
Too Much Time On My Hands
Show Me The Way
Blue Collar Man
Babe

Acoustic Set
Boat On The River
All In A Day's Work
High Enough
Man In The Wilderness
Sing For the Day

Queen of Spades
Edge of the Century
Don't Let It End

Intermission

Mr. Roboto
Rockin The Paradise
Crystal Ball
Suite Madame Blue
Desert Moon
Love Is The Ritual
Haven't We Been Here Before?
Borrowed Time
Miss America
Pieces of Eight
Come Sail Away

Encore
Renegade
Best of Times

StyxCollector wrote:I like Gowan. He just sucks singing certain Styx songs.

Agreed. In addition to "Babe" and "Best Of Times" also didn't care for his take on "Suite Madame Blue," which I heard for the first time earlier this year. He does well on others, though, particularly "Grand Illusion."

I also think he really comes alive on A) the covers from BBT and B) his own tunes. It's kinda too bad that my first exposure to his voice coincided with his singing some songs that he wasn't very well-suited for -- took me longer to appreciate him on his own merits.

rajah2165 wrote:

Thenightbull wrote:Here is your chance to create the ultimate unlimited set list for a styx concert. Here's mine:

Blue Collar Man
Grand Illusion
Lorelei
Too Much Time
Can't Find My Way Home
Babe (Larry Vocal)
Light Up (JY Vocal)
Walrus
Doctor
Lady
All I Want For Christmas
Pieces Of Eight (Larry Vocal)
Summer In The City
Edge Of The Century (Tommy Vocal)
Love Is The Ritual (Ricky Vocal)
Killing The Thing You Love (Ricky Vocal)
A Criminal Mind
Suite Madame Blue
Haven't We Been Here Before?
Don't Let It End (Larry Vocal)
Just Be
** Intermission**
Crystal Ball
Show Me The Way (Larry Vocal)
Rockin' The Paradise
Best Of Times (Larry Vocal)
High Enough
Fooling Yourself (with chuck)
Mr. Roboto (Larry Vocal)
Ms. America
Dear John
Come Sail Away (with chuck)
**Encore**
Borrowed Time (Larry Vocal)
Renegade (with chuck)

First, the right line-up would have to be in place...
DDY, TS, GB, JY, CP, TS...byuh byuh Lawrence..

Grand Illusion
Foolin Yourself
Lady
Lorelei
Too Much Time On My Hands
Show Me The Way
Blue Collar Man
Babe

Acoustic Set
Boat On The River
All In A Day's Work
High Enough
Man In The Wilderness
Sing For the Day

Queen of Spades
Edge of the Century
Don't Let It End

Intermission

Mr. Roboto
Rockin The Paradise
Crystal Ball
Suite Madame Blue
Desert Moon
Love Is The Ritual
Haven't We Been Here Before?
Borrowed Time
Miss America
Pieces of Eight
Come Sail Away

Encore
Renegade
Best of Times

Desert Moon at a Styx show? You can't be serious. Some of your choices are outright ridiculous. No one wants to hear an Acoustic set, no one wants to hear Haven't We Been Here Before or Babe or Show Me The Way or a full version of Mr. Roboto or Don't Let It End. Way too many slow songs here for a ROCK show. You play 3 hrs, you want to hear some GOOD rare stuff, not sappy love songs or songs they have played in the past 20 yrs.

stabbim wrote:

StyxCollector wrote:I like Gowan. He just sucks singing certain Styx songs.

Agreed. In addition to "Babe" and "Best Of Times" also didn't care for his take on "Suite Madame Blue," which I heard for the first time earlier this year. He does well on others, though, particularly "Grand Illusion."

I also think he really comes alive on A) the covers from BBT and B) his own tunes. It's kinda too bad that my first exposure to his voice coincided with his singing some songs that he wasn't very well-suited for -- took me longer to appreciate him on his own merits.

I think we can probably ALL agree that Gowan does not sing certain songs well at all. You have to have the right voice for the right song, and in his case some of Dennis' songs just don't go with his style. So many of Dennis' songs were written to show off his ability to hold long sustained notes very well, and that is by far Gowan's weakest suit vocally. When he tries to hold those kinds of notes he tends to waver and reveal how pitchy he can be. So "Babe", "Best of Times", "Suite Madame Blue", "Queen of Spades" . . . even a song like "Rockin' The Paradise" where the pharses are really long, he has a hard time with. But he sings a lot of it well, and as you pointed out, his performances on BBT are strong. In fact, I personally think his songs are the only thing that kept BBT from being completely without merit at all. And I also liked his contributions to CYCLO, especially "More Love for the Money".

Gowan's other problem in singing Dennis' songs is that he is retaining the original key, and in some cases he would serve his own purpose better if he would just simply bring the songs down a whole step or so into his stronger range. He strains like hell for some of the higher parts, which is part of why he gets tired and then his pitch starts to wander all over the place. That is easily solved by bring the songs down into his own range and making them his own a bit more, but as it usually goes with singers who replace one another, I guess they want to show that they can sing it in the original key. A big mistake, in my opinion. Bringing covers into your own key really helps to make you comfortable singing them.

I hope all is well.


Sterling

StyxCollector wrote:Claw my eyes out if I have to hear Gowan singing some of those songs. I guess you haven't heard the boots of him crooning "Babe" and "The Best Of Times". There's a reason they don't do them, and it's not just because JY doesn't like to play them.

I like Gowan. He just sucks singing certain Styx songs.

There are boots of Gowan's version of Babe and Best of Times? At which concerts did they sing these songs?

StyxCollector wrote: Gowan's other problem in singing Dennis' songs is that he is retaining the original key, and in some cases he would serve his own purpose better if he would just simply bring the songs down a whole step or so into his stronger range. He strains like hell for some of the higher parts, which is part of why he gets tired and then his pitch starts to wander all over the place. That is easily solved by bring the songs down into his own range and making them his own a bit more, but as it usually goes with singers who replace one another, I guess they want to show that they can sing it in the original key. A big mistake, in my opinion. Bringing covers into your own key really helps to make you comfortable singing them.

Dunno if it's the singer's pride at stake as much as the band's convenience. Especially with songs they've been playing for decades, they probably don't want to have to learn them in another key, &/or have to start tuning down for certain songs, necessitating extra guitar swap-outs which interrupt the flow and run down the clock.

In any case, I'm not sure that certain songs being "too high" are really that big of a deal. Gowan's voice is more or less in the same natural range, and he goes quite a bit higher on some of the non-DDY songs. (Most of DDY's signature tunes are actually lower than they sound, anyway -- a baritone with decent control could sing "Suite Madame Blue") It's just an unfortunate combination of key, style, and phrasing that trips him up on occasion. Never understood why the other guys didn't take on more of those old tunes, a la JY doing "Lorelei."

blt man wrote:

StyxCollector wrote:Claw my eyes out if I have to hear Gowan singing some of those songs. I guess you haven't heard the boots of him crooning "Babe" and "The Best Of Times". There's a reason they don't do them, and it's not just because JY doesn't like to play them.

I like Gowan. He just sucks singing certain Styx songs.

There are boots of Gowan's version of Babe and Best of Times? At which concerts did they sing these songs?

"Best Of Times" was played for most of the BNW tour. Thankfully, at some point they stopped.

Grotelul wrote:
Desert Moon at a Styx show? You can't be serious. Some of your choices are outright ridiculous. No one wants to hear an Acoustic set, no one wants to hear Haven't We Been Here Before or Babe or Show Me The Way or a full version of Mr. Roboto or Don't Let It End. Way too many slow songs here for a ROCK show. You play 3 hrs, you want to hear some GOOD rare stuff, not sappy love songs or songs they have played in the past 20 yrs.

Heyyyy, it's the "sweeping generalities" guy again! Again... how can you claim "no one wants to hear..." this that or the other thing? Have you really been appointed by the masses to speak for us all? Heck, even if I'm the ONLY one who disagrees, I guess ya can't say "no one" anymore, can ya? And why is it you balk at "Desert Moon" at a Styx show? Because it's not a Styx song? Because it's a ballad? I noticed you didn't have any adverse feelings about "High Enough," so what's the excuse there?
Do you actually have to call someone else's preferences to hear Mr. Roboto or anything else "ridiculous" simply beacuse they are not YOUR choices? Hitler? Do ya?

Some of us are Styx fans, not just selective-Styx fans...

stabbim wrote:

blt man wrote:

StyxCollector wrote:Claw my eyes out if I have to hear Gowan singing some of those songs. I guess you haven't heard the boots of him crooning "Babe" and "The Best Of Times". There's a reason they don't do them, and it's not just because JY doesn't like to play them.

I like Gowan. He just sucks singing certain Styx songs.

There are boots of Gowan's version of Babe and Best of Times? At which concerts did they sing these songs?

"Best Of Times" was played for most of the BNW tour. Thankfully, at some point they stopped.

Amen to that! As bad as "Babe" was, "Best of Times' was hands-down the worst of the lot. As for "Babe", there's really only one or two bootlegs that I know of from when the band toured Japan. The promoter there insisted that they do "Babe", and it sounded like exactly what it was - a bunch of guys doing a half-assed version of a song they really didn't want to do. It was wretched enough, but "Best of Times" was FAR worse in my opinion.


Sterling

One DDY song I think Gowan would be able to do an OK job with is Lorelei. Do we know why JY took on that song (co-writer? in his range?)

blt man wrote:One DDY song I think Gowan would be able to do an OK job with is Lorelei. Do we know why JY took on that song (co-writer? in his range?)

Yes, and yes, most likely.

I dig his take on it. Makes me wish he'd done "Queen Of Spades" as well.

stabbim wrote:

blt man wrote:One DDY song I think Gowan would be able to do an OK job with is Lorelei. Do we know why JY took on that song (co-writer? in his range?)

Yes, and yes, most likely.

I dig his take on it. Makes me wish he'd done "Queen Of Spades" as well.

I don't think he has the chops to take on the beginning part of Queen of Spades.

I really have tried to like Larry. I have seen them 7 or 8 times since Dennis was fired.
I still love Tommy, JY and Chuck, so I still want to see them.

But I just can't handle Larry singing Dennis' songs. I really have tried, but I think the RTP tour in 1996 just spoiled me. And I still watch the DVD all the time. So I really miss Dennis.

I do Like when Larry sings his own songs. Both songs on Cyclo were very good and so are the songs he did on BBT. And Criminal Mind is excellent. I understand why JY and Tommy chose Larry for the band over other vocalists that sounded more like Dennis. Larry is very talented.

But when he sings Dennis' songs in concert, that is my time for a Beer break!
When he starts singing Come Sail Away, that's when I go get a beer and buy my Tee-shirt!

Gowan has done QoS. Also floating around on boots. File under "Babe" and "The Best of Times" (that "She's there" that's held out towards the end of the song is horrid. Just horrid.).

I think everyone's in agreement when Gowan is doing his thing - like "Criminal Mind" or "More Love for the Money" - he's fine. When he's trying to sing DDY, it's cringeworthy at best.

I'm not commenting on his keyboard/piano skills as those are decent.

Grotelul wrote:

rajah2165 wrote:

Thenightbull wrote:Here is your chance to create the ultimate unlimited set list for a styx concert. Here's mine:

Blue Collar Man
Grand Illusion
Lorelei
Too Much Time
Can't Find My Way Home
Babe (Larry Vocal)
Light Up (JY Vocal)
Walrus
Doctor
Lady
All I Want For Christmas
Pieces Of Eight (Larry Vocal)
Summer In The City
Edge Of The Century (Tommy Vocal)
Love Is The Ritual (Ricky Vocal)
Killing The Thing You Love (Ricky Vocal)
A Criminal Mind
Suite Madame Blue
Haven't We Been Here Before?
Don't Let It End (Larry Vocal)
Just Be
** Intermission**
Crystal Ball
Show Me The Way (Larry Vocal)
Rockin' The Paradise
Best Of Times (Larry Vocal)
High Enough
Fooling Yourself (with chuck)
Mr. Roboto (Larry Vocal)
Ms. America
Dear John
Come Sail Away (with chuck)
**Encore**
Borrowed Time (Larry Vocal)
Renegade (with chuck)

First, the right line-up would have to be in place...
DDY, TS, GB, JY, CP, TS...byuh byuh Lawrence..

Grand Illusion
Foolin Yourself
Lady
Lorelei
Too Much Time On My Hands
Show Me The Way
Blue Collar Man
Babe

Acoustic Set
Boat On The River
All In A Day's Work
High Enough
Man In The Wilderness
Sing For the Day

Queen of Spades
Edge of the Century
Don't Let It End

Intermission

Mr. Roboto
Rockin The Paradise
Crystal Ball
Suite Madame Blue
Desert Moon
Love Is The Ritual
Haven't We Been Here Before?
Borrowed Time
Miss America
Pieces of Eight
Come Sail Away

Encore
Renegade
Best of Times

Desert Moon at a Styx show? You can't be serious. Some of your choices are outright ridiculous. No one wants to hear an Acoustic set, no one wants to hear Haven't We Been Here Before or Babe or Show Me The Way or a full version of Mr. Roboto or Don't Let It End. Way too many slow songs here for a ROCK show. You play 3 hrs, you want to hear some GOOD rare stuff, not sappy love songs or songs they have played in the past 20 yrs.

Hey idiot.. you are a complete tool. Those are the biggest fucking hits. If you also noticed, I included High Enough which yes isn't a Styx song either. But its Tommy's biggest song outside of Styx and Desert Moon is Dennis's biggest song outside of Styx. If you are looking for a retrospective then you include those songs. Fans want to hear the hits and those are the hits moron. The average fan doesn't want to here Shooz or any of that crap.

And if you knew your Styx history, you would know that they did an acoustic set on most of their tours.

StyxCollector wrote:Claw my eyes out if I have to hear Gowan singing some of those songs. I guess you haven't heard the boots of him crooning "Babe" and "The Best Of Times". There's a reason they don't do them, and it's not just because JY doesn't like to play them.

I like Gowan. He just sucks singing certain Styx songs.

Where can one find the boots of gowan singing babe/best of times/queen of spades??????

rajah2165 wrote:

First, the right line-up would have to be in place...
DDY, TS, GB, JY, CP, TS...byuh byuh Lawrence..

Grand Illusion
Foolin Yourself
Lady
Lorelei
Too Much Time On My Hands
Show Me The Way
Blue Collar Man
Babe

Acoustic Set
Boat On The River
All In A Day's Work
High Enough
Man In The Wilderness
Sing For the Day

Queen of Spades
Edge of the Century
Don't Let It End

Intermission

Mr. Roboto
Rockin The Paradise
Crystal Ball
Suite Madame Blue
Desert Moon
Love Is The Ritual
Haven't We Been Here Before?
Borrowed Time
Miss America
Pieces of Eight
Come Sail Away

Encore
Renegade
Best of Times

I'd agree with most of that one...but I'd kill off Mr. Roboto and put Castle Walls in it's place. Ya know? A GOOD Styx song. I'd also probably knock out Desert Moon (No solo stuff) and Miss America in favor of Shooz and One With Everything. (Still don't like JY's voice much).

OOPS...Missed High Enough (Again...no solo projects for me) I'd put Light Up in there. That was fun in '96.

blt man wrote:

stabbim wrote:

blt man wrote:One DDY song I think Gowan would be able to do an OK job with is Lorelei. Do we know why JY took on that song (co-writer? in his range?)

Yes, and yes, most likely.

I dig his take on it. Makes me wish he'd done "Queen Of Spades" as well.

I don't think he has the chops to take on the beginning part of Queen of Spades.

Possibly not anymore, his voice has been showing some wear & tear lately. 8 years ago (when they were still playing the tune) might have been a different story. He's got the range and the tone, it would just be a question of how long he could hold those G#s.

rajah2165 wrote:And if you knew your Styx history, you would know that they did an acoustic set on most of their tours.

Since when does RTP --> BNW count as "most?"

stabbim wrote:

rajah2165 wrote:And if you knew your Styx history, you would know that they did an acoustic set on most of their tours.

Since when does RTP --> BNW count as "most?"

I remember an accoustic set on the Edge of the Century tour, also... so that goes back a little farther, still...

stabbim wrote:

blt man wrote:

stabbim wrote:

blt man wrote:One DDY song I think Gowan would be able to do an OK job with is Lorelei. Do we know why JY took on that song (co-writer? in his range?)

Yes, and yes, most likely.

I dig his take on it. Makes me wish he'd done "Queen Of Spades" as well.

I don't think he has the chops to take on the beginning part of Queen of Spades.

Possibly not anymore, his voice has been showing some wear & tear lately. 8 years ago (when they were still playing the tune) might have been a different story. He's got the range and the tone, it would just be a question of how long he could hold those G#s.

See above. He's done it. Sounds as good as Babe and TBOT.

StyxCollector wrote:

stabbim wrote:

blt man wrote:

stabbim wrote:

blt man wrote:One DDY song I think Gowan would be able to do an OK job with is Lorelei. Do we know why JY took on that song (co-writer? in his range?)

Yes, and yes, most likely.

I dig his take on it. Makes me wish he'd done "Queen Of Spades" as well.

I don't think he has the chops to take on the beginning part of Queen of Spades.

Possibly not anymore, his voice has been showing some wear & tear lately. 8 years ago (when they were still playing the tune) might have been a different story. He's got the range and the tone, it would just be a question of how long he could hold those G#s.

See above. He's done it. Sounds as good as Babe and TBOT.

Talkin' JY here, not LG.

stabbim wrote:Talkin' JY here, not LG.

My bad. Even worse!

StyxCollector wrote:

stabbim wrote:Talkin' JY here, not LG.

My bad. Even worse!

We'll never know.

Thenightbull wrote:

StyxCollector wrote:Claw my eyes out if I have to hear Gowan singing some of those songs. I guess you haven't heard the boots of him crooning "Babe" and "The Best Of Times". There's a reason they don't do them, and it's not just because JY doesn't like to play them.

I like Gowan. He just sucks singing certain Styx songs.

Where can one find the boots of gowan singing babe/best of times/queen of spades??????

Anyone? I am also wondering...

stabbim wrote:

rajah2165 wrote:And if you knew your Styx history, you would know that they did an acoustic set on most of their tours.

Since when does RTP --> BNW count as "most?"

Look at the original Paradise theatre tour. And the Grand Decathalon tour.

rajah2165 wrote:

stabbim wrote:

rajah2165 wrote:And if you knew your Styx history, you would know that they did an acoustic set on most of their tours.

Since when does RTP --> BNW count as "most?"

Look at the original Paradise theatre tour. And the Grand Decathalon tour.

PT Tour: A couple of acoustic tunes in Japan, but that's it.
GD Tour: Zilch, at least on the shows I've heard.

Even if you grant the handful of Japanese shows and the one -- occasionally two -- songs from the EOTC tour (and I wouldn't) it hardly points to a long-running tradition of Styx having an acoustic set in their shows. They didn't even play "Boat On The River" as a regular part of US shows until 96.