MR

My 100 years just arrived and I am 6 songs into it...

I AM BLOWN AWAY...As far as first listens go...wow..

Album of the year.

and said, intermittently, "this sounds JUST LIKE STYX"...then said "this sounds like Queen." She's often said that he thought Styx and Queen sounded "similar." Of course, she's not a fan of either band per se so her listens are "cursory" at best. With that said, she liked "Save Me" quite a bit. She also marveled at Dennis' voice. Love him or hate him, there's no questioning the fact that, even at 60, Dennis has one of the most powerful voices in pop/rock music today. What Styx my wife DOES like tends to be songs written and sung by Tommy.

My 15 year old daughter - she's a fan of Fall Out Boy, Good Charlotte, Weezer, Kelly Clarkson, Daughtry (ironically, my wife likes Chris Daughtry alot as well), Enrique Iglesias (much to my chagrin), Green Day and a whole host of bands/artists I've never heard of thought that "100 Years" and "Rain" sounded "strange." She really liked Save Me...she also REALLY liked "Breathe Again" - that surprised me. She also liked Crossing the Rubicon and "Turn Off CNN." She also marveled at Dennis' voice - couldn't believe that he's 60 years old.

The "consensus" in the house is that, if it were released as a single in the states and given decent air play, "Save Me" would be a hit single.

kipthekid wrote:and said, intermittently, "this sounds JUST LIKE STYX"...then said "this sounds like Queen." She's often said that he thought Styx and Queen sounded "similar." Of course, she's not a fan of either band per se so her listens are "cursory" at best. With that said, she liked "Save Me" quite a bit. She also marveled at Dennis' voice. Love him or hate him, there's no questioning the fact that, even at 60, Dennis has one of the most powerful voices in pop/rock music today. What Styx my wife DOES like tends to be songs written and sung by Tommy.

My 15 year old daughter - she's a fan of Fall Out Boy, Good Charlotte, Weezer, Kelly Clarkson, Daughtry (ironically, my wife likes Chris Daughtry alot as well), Enrique Iglesias (much to my chagrin), Green Day and a whole host of bands/artists I've never heard of thought that "100 Years" and "Rain" sounded "strange." She really liked Save Me...she also REALLY liked "Breathe Again" - that surprised me. She also liked Crossing the Rubicon and "Turn Off CNN." She also marveled at Dennis' voice - couldn't believe that he's 60 years old.

The "consensus" in the house is that, if it were released as a single in the states and given decent air play, "Save Me" would be a hit single.

In another time and different music climate, "Save Me" could easily have been a top ten hit in the US. The jury is still out in Canada if this song is released as the second single. Of course, I am just assuming it will not get a fair listen in the US. Sort of a given with older artists and new music.

One thing about the music Dennis writes is that it can always be interpreted in a broader context. "Babe" was a gift to his wife and an apology for always leaving home. I would wager MOST listeners who liked this song saw it as simply a song about leaving home and the immediacy of it in their lives. The stuff of which hits are made.

"Breathe Again" is looked upon by those who follow Styx/Dennis closely as yet another schlocky love letter to his wife. But that is not how everyone would view it. I thought of it yesterday in a larger context, say someone far from home, in a difficult circumstance, who has sort of made it through and has his wife/loved one to thank for it. I can see that appealing to an awful lot of people, much the way "Babe" did.

That is cool your 15 year old was able to find some things to like about this music.

The power of the voice is undeniable.


Bugsy

rajah2165 wrote:My 100 years just arrived and I am 6 songs into it...

I AM BLOWN AWAY...As far as first listens go...wow..

Gee Raj, this is so unexpected...

So far I have only heard 100 years and it does nothing for me. How is the rest of it? Are there sound samples anywhere? Maybe I will go over to amazon and see if they have samples so I can hear some of it. If it is anything like 100 years I think I will save my money. But if they are better then I will have something to look forward to.

Mikey

FormerDJMike wrote:So far I have only heard 100 years and it does nothing for me. How is the rest of it? Are there sound samples anywhere? Maybe I will go over to amazon and see if they have samples so I can hear some of it. If it is anything like 100 years I think I will save my money. But if they are better then I will have something to look forward to.

Mikey

Basically if you have liked DDY's former solo work you will LOVE this. If you liked some of his solo stuff and was never really thrilled by it much, you will probably think the same of this. I am not a huge fan of his solo work but thought this was his best since Desert Moon.

FormerDJMike wrote:So far I have only heard 100 years and it does nothing for me. How is the rest of it? Are there sound samples anywhere? Maybe I will go over to amazon and see if they have samples so I can hear some of it. If it is anything like 100 years I think I will save my money. But if they are better then I will have something to look forward to.

Mikey

Pony up the $15 and get it you cheap bastard! You won't be disappointed

Grotelul wrote:

FormerDJMike wrote:So far I have only heard 100 years and it does nothing for me. How is the rest of it? Are there sound samples anywhere? Maybe I will go over to amazon and see if they have samples so I can hear some of it. If it is anything like 100 years I think I will save my money. But if they are better then I will have something to look forward to.

Mikey

Basically if you have liked DDY's former solo work you will LOVE this. If you liked some of his solo stuff and was never really thrilled by it much, you will probably think the same of this. I am not a huge fan of his solo work but thought this was his best since Desert Moon.

That is a bullshit comment.

It has a bit of the sound of his solo years, but it sounds more like his Styx stuff.

can truly be compared with Dennis' solo work. "100 Years," "Rain," "Save Me," and "Crossing the Rubicon" and even "Turn Off CNN" aren't analagous, IMHO, to solo Dennis - these are songs that have "Styx" written all over them. In the past, at most, there'd be 1 song on a DDY solo disc that sounded like Styx (i.e. Black Wall, Harry's Hands).

Some songs - "This Time Next Year," "Forgiveness," "I Don't Believe in Anything" are an amalgan of "solo" Dennis and "Styx Dennis." Again, IMHO.

Songs like "Breath Again", "Respect Me" and "I Believe In You" are the only, IMHO, bona-fide "solo Dennis" tunes.

Again - IMHO - 100 Years is Dennis' "version" of a Styx album.

FormerDJMike wrote:So far I have only heard 100 years and it does nothing for me. How is the rest of it? Are there sound samples anywhere? Maybe I will go over to amazon and see if they have samples so I can hear some of it. If it is anything like 100 years I think I will save my money. But if they are better then I will have something to look forward to.

Mikey

http://www.archambault.ca/store/Product ... 289&type=1

The samples at the link above are very brief and are from the start of the songs. If you have an iTunes account, you can switch from US iTunes to Canadian iTunes to listen to some different clips (but you can't buy off of Canadian iTunes).

rajah2165 wrote:

Grotelul wrote:

FormerDJMike wrote:So far I have only heard 100 years and it does nothing for me. How is the rest of it? Are there sound samples anywhere? Maybe I will go over to amazon and see if they have samples so I can hear some of it. If it is anything like 100 years I think I will save my money. But if they are better then I will have something to look forward to.

Mikey

Basically if you have liked DDY's former solo work you will LOVE this. If you liked some of his solo stuff and was never really thrilled by it much, you will probably think the same of this. I am not a huge fan of his solo work but thought this was his best since Desert Moon.

That is a bullshit comment.

It has a bit of the sound of his solo years, but it sounds more like his Styx stuff.

Some of these songs could possibly be Styx songs. As Dennis songs they are good. These songs are Dennis with no other input....i.e...SOLO! These songs with a Tommy, JY and Todd input....yeah, we may have something then but we will probably never know so why pretend. I have said this time and again but I am not a huge fan of Dennis, Tommy or JY by themselves. There is some nice stuff on this record but this is solo work from Dennis with studio musicians. Not my favorite thing.

I picked up the album last week, and to be honest...it's not very good.

He still has The Voice. But his songwriting and the musicianship of his band are second rate.

If you are on the fence about picking up this album, do yourself a favor - Don't.

kansas666 wrote:I picked up the album last week, and to be honest...it's not very good.

He still has The Voice. But his songwriting and the musicianship of his band are second rate.

If you are on the fence about picking up this album, do yourself a favor - Don't.

And now for an opinion on the other side - I've had his album since the day it was released here in Canada and I'm still listening to it daily. I'll also buy the US one when it comes out for the two new songs ....

Buy it already!

I didn't think it was that bad. lol

The "problem" I have with the disc is the cohesiveness, or lack thereof. Most every song has parts that are exceptional, but mostly they're inconsistent. Then again, I had the same issue with a lot of the songs on BNW too.

I think it's worth buying, but not his finest work ever.

kansas666 wrote:I picked up the album last week, and to be honest...it's not very good.

He still has The Voice. But his songwriting and the musicianship of his band are second rate.

If you are on the fence about picking up this album, do yourself a favor - Don't.

Why am I completely not surprised by this?

I truly am amazed that you actually got it.


Bugsy

kansas666 wrote:I picked up the album last week, and to be honest...it's not very good.

He still has The Voice. But his songwriting and the musicianship of his band are second rate.

If you are on the fence about picking up this album, do yourself a favor - Don't.

Thats a good one
Man you are funny

I didn't pay a lot for it. Based on the "rose colored reviews" it received on this board I figured it would be worth picking up.

bugsymalone wrote:

kansas666 wrote:I picked up the album last week, and to be honest...it's not very good.

He still has The Voice. But his songwriting and the musicianship of his band are second rate.

If you are on the fence about picking up this album, do yourself a favor - Don't.

Why am I completely not surprised by this?

I truly am amazed that you actually got it.


Bugsy

kansas666 wrote:I didn't pay a lot for it. Based on the "rose colored reviews" it received on this board I figured it would be worth picking up.

Yes, but by all your postings on here, you clearly cannot stand Dennis. It would be equivalent to me buying an album from JY, or worse, one from Gowan. Not gonna happen. Even if I got it for free.

Besides, those "rose colored reviews" came from the "usual suspects"! (Me among them.)


Bugsy

bugsymalone wrote:

kansas666 wrote:I didn't pay a lot for it. Based on the "rose colored reviews" it received on this board I figured it would be worth picking up.

Yes, but by all your postings on here, you clearly cannot stand Dennis. It would be equivalent to me buying an album from JY, or worse, one from Gowan. Not gonna happen. Even if I got it for free.

Besides, those "rose colored reviews" came from the "usual suspects"! (Me among them.)


Bugsy

I don't buy anything that JY puts out now - nor Tommy Shaw. I don't want to feed their drug habit.

You don't want to support their caffiene addiction????

This album seemed to come at just the right time for me.. I was going through a few life altering experiences last summer, one of which happened to be a failing long term relationship, and it just seemed like Dennis had written a lot of the songs looking through my eyes(save for "Breathe Again" and "I Believe In You", lol). In any case, we all know Dennis seems to have the ideal marriage, but I suppose I interpreted certain songs the way I wanted to: "Respect Me", "Forgiveness", and especially "Crossing The Rubicon". I think maybe I was a little biased towards the album due to the relationship I was able to make with several of the songs. In hindsight, I still believe it's a good album, but it's not without it's flaws. For one thing, I realize Dennis was always the sole producer of the Styx albums, but I do believe he benefited from the input of the other members, just as they benefited from him.. Some of these songs could have been better had there been some slightly different arrangements and altered lyrics here and there.

I will say that I would stack the title track, and especially "Crossing The Rubicon" against anything Styx has ever done, but that's only two songs.. My other favorites, but tracks that could have benefited from different arrangements:

1. I Don't Believe In Anything
2. Forgiveness
3. This Time Next Year
4.Breathe Again(this has a really alluring melody, but the lyrics don't really cut it for me).

i really like this album, i have all the dennis solo stuff, but with those there are 1 or 2 songs that i think are really good, and the rest to me filler,
this is his best solo and most reminiscent of styx(not necessarly sounding like but closest to) the rain is really good
also has more rockers than normal
if your a fan at all its worth getting

rajah2165 wrote:My 100 years just arrived and I am 6 songs into it...

I AM BLOWN AWAY...As far as first listens go...wow..

Would be nice if the guy would ever get off his a$$ and release it in America...

Toph wrote:

rajah2165 wrote:My 100 years just arrived and I am 6 songs into it...

I AM BLOWN AWAY...As far as first listens go...wow..

Would be nice if the guy would ever get off his a$$ and release it in America...

It will never happen.

This CD is the same old DDY we have heard for the last 15 years...nothing new here. zzzzzzzzzzzz

ChicagoSTYX wrote:

Toph wrote:

rajah2165 wrote:My 100 years just arrived and I am 6 songs into it...

I AM BLOWN AWAY...As far as first listens go...wow..

Would be nice if the guy would ever get off his a$$ and release it in America...

It will never happen.

This CD is the same old DDY we have heard for the last 15 years...nothing new here. zzzzzzzzzzzz

It pisses me off and I am a fan...much less a fellow band mate. It's been over a freakin year since the thing was released in Canada. What a joke.

Get off his ass? Is that a serious comment? I mean he's only re-releasing his musical and touring the states and europe. What a slacker right? If you want it, then you can easily get it on Amazon. I'm sure the world will go on if it doesn't get a US release (not to say that it won't). Even Styx hasn't had an album of new music in what... 5 years? By the time they get around to releasing a new one it will have been as long as it was between Kilroy and Edge.

::shrugg:: what's the point in getting worked up about it. certainly not worth dredging up 6 month old threads

Ash wrote:Get off his ass? Is that a serious comment? I mean he's only re-releasing his musical and touring the states and europe. What a slacker right? If you want it, then you can easily get it on Amazon. I'm sure the world will go on if it doesn't get a US release (not to say that it won't). Even Styx hasn't had an album of new music in what... 5 years? By the time they get around to releasing a new one it will have been as long as it was between Kilroy and Edge.

::shrugg:: what's the point in getting worked up about it. certainly not worth dredging up 6 month old threads

Look dude, I am as big of a DDY fan as anybody, but I call em like I see em. Either this guy a) doesn't really have a US record deal, b) has wasted the US record deal by not getting the thing out in over a year, or c) will have lost any excitement and/or momentum from the distance in time from the Canadian release that the album will sink like a ship when/if it is released. The guy is a master of killing his career momentum sometimes. As someone famously said, "It's a missed opportunity"

Is this thing even out in the US yet? What the heck?