MR

http://www.radio-stesh.net/category/audio/styx/

Grand Illusion Radio show from 1977 Chicago

Thanks for the link / show man.

I'm really enjoying this.

What happened to Suite Madame Blue?

It was SLOOOWWWW.

Worst I've ever heard that song

Sega, you havent heard a version of SMB with Mr Gowan singing lead ! ( have you ? )

Yes I have.

See the problem with this one is the guitars sound bad, Dennis sounds bad, people are off keys, harmonies change at the wrong time.

I love Dennis and Styx, but this performance is just bad IMO.

NH, thanks for this. I thought this was one I already had, but it is a different concert. So...cool.

Sorry sega. Dennis sounds fantastic on SMB. It is a bit slower, but who cares?

classicstyxfan
Sega, you havent heard a version of SMB with Mr Gowan singing lead ! ( have you ? Shocked )

Ahh, classic. You made a common error. You said Gowan "sang" the song. What he does is not even close to "singing."


Bugsy

bugsymalone wrote:NH, thanks for this. I thought this was one I already had, but it is a different concert. So...cool.

Sorry sega. Dennis sounds fantastic on SMB. It is a bit slower, but who cares?

classicstyxfan
Sega, you havent heard a version of SMB with Mr Gowan singing lead ! ( have you ? Shocked )

Ahh, classic. You made a common error. You said Gowan "sang" the song. What he does is not even close to "singing."


Bugsy

If you siad, Gowan "chipmunked" the song, all would be good

bugsymalone wrote:NH, thanks for this. I thought this was one I already had, but it is a different concert. So...cool.

Sorry sega. Dennis sounds fantastic on SMB. It is a bit slower, but who cares?

classicstyxfan
Sega, you havent heard a version of SMB with Mr Gowan singing lead ! ( have you ? Shocked )

Ahh, classic. You made a common error. You said Gowan "sang" the song. What he does is not even close to "singing."


Bugsy

You think he sounded fantastic? I can understand you not liking Gowan's version but to say he sounded fantastic is absurd. Maybe I am picking up subtleties because I have been working with music all my life. I don't know, but this is far from fantastic.

I love Styx and I love Dennis, but I am not going to sugar coat anything.

sega_102 wrote:Yes I have.

See the problem with this one is the guitars sound bad, Dennis sounds bad, people are off keys, harmonies change at the wrong time.

I love Dennis and Styx, but this performance is just bad IMO.

Being a musician yourself, I'm sure you can appreciate that sometimes even professional artists have off days and just can't get it together. There must be days when touring artists are tired, distracted, sick, suffering the scourge of technical difficulties with equipment, etc. All it takes is one of the musicians to be off and everything goes to heck in a handbasket.

I find that live performances sometimes sound "off". But it can also be taken different directions and one can really go places with it! Those are the chances you take with live performances, I guess.

You think he sounded fantastic? I can understand you not liking Gowan's version but to say he sounded fantastic is absurd. Maybe I am picking up subtleties because I have been working with music all my life. I don't know, but this is far from fantastic.

I will agree the guitars at the start sound a bit off. Not quite in perfect tune. I think that throws the sound of the whole song a bit off. Dennis' voice is spot on, though.

What? He didn't hold the "and more" long enough for you?

I do agree it is a much more slowed down version of this song than usual.

Bugsy

bugsymalone wrote:What? He didn't hold the "and more" long enough for you?

I personally wish he'd drop that bit altogether. I prefer the integrity of the song the way it is.

Amanda, I RARELY find live tracks to be very good regardless of how well they are executed. The appeal of live shows (for me) is the thrill of being there, not listening to it played back (at least most of the time, with a few rare exceptions).

Zan wrote:

bugsymalone wrote:What? He didn't hold the "and more" long enough for you?

I personally wish he'd drop that bit altogether. I prefer the integrity of the song the way it is.

Amanda, I RARELY find live tracks to be very good regardless of how well they are executed. The appeal of live shows (for me) is the thrill of being there, not listening to it played back (at least most of the time, with a few rare exceptions).

I agree with Zan! (Wait, that's Yogi who went to the dark side. )

I like the song better without the held note, too, and honestly, I think he would MUCH rather sing it that way, too. It is very hard on him holding the note, but it has become a staple concert moment for him. so he has to continue doing it, against his will, I am sure.

Recorded live shows are so very often never up to snuff, and they can mislead listeners into thinking this is how it "really" sounded when nothing could be further from the truth.

Sometimes, though, you will get a song, or a version of a song, you would never hear elsewhere. For that they can have value.


Bugsy

sega_102 wrote:

bugsymalone wrote:NH, thanks for this. I thought this was one I already had, but it is a different concert. So...cool.

Sorry sega. Dennis sounds fantastic on SMB. It is a bit slower, but who cares?

classicstyxfan
Sega, you havent heard a version of SMB with Mr Gowan singing lead ! ( have you ? Shocked )

Ahh, classic. You made a common error. You said Gowan "sang" the song. What he does is not even close to "singing."


Bugsy

You think he sounded fantastic? I can understand you not liking Gowan's version but to say he sounded fantastic is absurd. Maybe I am picking up subtleties because I have been working with music all my life. I don't know, but this is far from fantastic.

I love Styx and I love Dennis, but I am not going to sugar coat anything.

I agree with you Sega. You can call a pig anything you want, it's still a pig. Sugar coating is what some here specialize in, they can't deal with reality. Dennis is a much better live singer now than he was back then and part of that might be due to having a better mix on stage but I think more so due to the fact he is singing proper now.

The '96 RTP version is a much better so to say this version isn't that good, what is wrong with that? And no, I would rather Gowan not sing this either.

bugsymalone wrote:I like the song better without the held note, too, and honestly, I think he would MUCH rather sing it that way, too. It is very hard on him holding the note, but it has become a staple concert moment for him. so he has to continue doing it, against his will, I am sure.

Maybe he could choose another note to "hold," perhaps? Like the ending note of a song where it makes more sense. I'm not Dennis, obviously, but if it's the novelty of him holding his breath for an extended period of time, maybe he could explore other options there. I dunno. I just think SBM sounds better the way it was written. IMO.

Recorded live shows are so very often never up to snuff, and they can mislead listeners into thinking this is how it "really" sounded when nothing could be further from the truth.

Sometimes, though, you will get a song, or a version of a song, you would never hear elsewhere. For that they can have value.

Agreed. I get embarrassed sometimes playing back live performances for people who aren't "fans." I always wanna go, "But...that's not what it sounded like THERE!" LOL

Dennis is a much better live singer now than he was back then and part of that might be due to a having a better mix on stage but I think more so due to the fact he is singing proper now.

I don't think anyone would argue with this. I agree he is a far better singer now than he was in 1977. Even HE agrees.

And Dennis has sung SMB better than this version.

That said, he sounds fine on this version. Good, actually. The out-of-tune guitar and/or guitars are what bring this version down a bit, IMO.

Over and OUT.

Bugsy

bugsymalone wrote:

Dennis is a much better live singer now than he was back then and part of that might be due to a having a better mix on stage but I think more so due to the fact he is singing proper now.

I don't think anyone would argue with this. I agree he is a far better singer now than he was in 1977. Even HE agrees.

Better is a subjective word. I Prefer his voice before 1995, but technically, I guess it's "better" now. Whatever.

Incidentally, it should be " singing properLY."

I'm almost positive that this performance of TGI was later re-used on Jim Ladd's InnerView show, which claimed to have taken it from the '79 tour. Ah, the magic of radio!

Decent little recording. Not as good a performance as the Mantra Studios set, but sounds a bit better technically. I wonder if this is culled from the same source as that '77 Live album which has supposedly been in the vault all these years.

And SMB is fine. A little slow in places, yeah. But fine.

Zan wrote:

bugsymalone wrote:

Dennis is a much better live singer now than he was back then and part of that might be due to a having a better mix on stage but I think more so due to the fact he is singing proper now.

I don't think anyone would argue with this. I agree he is a far better singer now than he was in 1977. Even HE agrees.

Better is a subjective word. I Prefer his voice before 1995, but technically, I guess it's "better" now. Whatever.

Incidentally, it should be " singing properLY."

Bad grammar aside.... for Styx material, I prefer his recorded voice between 1975 and 1979. Something changed with PT. On some of his songs, it sounds nasaly to me.

Grotelul wrote:

Zan wrote:

bugsymalone wrote:

Dennis is a much better live singer now than he was back then and part of that might be due to a having a better mix on stage but I think more so due to the fact he is singing proper now.

I don't think anyone would argue with this. I agree he is a far better singer now than he was in 1977. Even HE agrees.

Better is a subjective word. I Prefer his voice before 1995, but technically, I guess it's "better" now. Whatever.

Incidentally, it should be " singing properLY."

Bad grammar aside.... for Styx material, I prefer his recorded voice between 1975 and 1979. Something changed with PT. On some of his songs, it sounds nasaly to me.

Saying Dennis Deyoung sounds nasaly is like saying Steve Perry's voice sounded high with Escape. Thats the way he's always sounded and part of his very distinctive sound. You think he got nasaly with PT? Ever heard Come Sail Away?

Higgy wrote:

Grotelul wrote:Something changed with PT. On some of his songs, it sounds nasaly to me.

You think he got nasaly with PT? Ever heard Come Sail Away?

Heh. Or the original "Lady?"

(he made the Jerry Lewis jokes for a reason, folks....)

Higgy wrote:

Grotelul wrote:

Zan wrote:

bugsymalone wrote:

Dennis is a much better live singer now than he was back then and part of that might be due to a having a better mix on stage but I think more so due to the fact he is singing proper now.

I don't think anyone would argue with this. I agree he is a far better singer now than he was in 1977. Even HE agrees.

Better is a subjective word. I Prefer his voice before 1995, but technically, I guess it's "better" now. Whatever.

Incidentally, it should be " singing properLY."

Bad grammar aside.... for Styx material, I prefer his recorded voice between 1975 and 1979. Something changed with PT. On some of his songs, it sounds nasaly to me.

Saying Dennis Deyoung sounds nasaly is like saying Steve Perry's voice sounded high with Escape. Thats the way he's always sounded and part of his very distinctive sound. You think he got nasaly with PT? Ever heard Come Sail Away?

Okay more nasaly then...like he's got a sinus problem. To me he does not sound the same for whatever damn reason.

Re: DDY's voice on this recording..........I guess I was listening more casually then most of you. I was also paying more attention to the arrangements of the songs, which for the most part, I found rather refreshing, as they had not yet evolved into the ( occasionally tired ) arrangements they have used for many years now.

I've noticed some pitch problems on DDY's more recent live recordings in places, he occasionally hits notes a tad on the flat side. He does seem to get a free pass on that from many posters here.

Nice to hear JY on Midnight Ride back when he could still do it justice in the original key.....

RE: SMB, I kind of liked it slowed down a bit, but I am a big fan of the acoustic guitar part on that one. I HATE the held note !!!!! it robs the song of it's vibe ( for lack of a better word ) I wish he'd just retire that, the song stands up quite well without that gimmick, and frankly, I doubt many would even miss it.

I am somewhat biased on the DeYoung side, but I'll call him on it if I hear imperfections in the vocals.

classicstyxfan wrote:Re: DDY's voice on this recording..........I guess I was listening more casually then most of you. I was also paying more attention to the arrangements of the songs, which for the most part, I found rather refreshing, as they had not yet evolved into the ( occasionally tired ) arrangements they have used for many years now.

I've noticed some pitch problems on DDY's more recent live recordings in places, he occasionally hits notes a tad on the flat side. He does seem to get a free pass on that from many posters here.

Nice to hear JY on Midnight Ride back when he could still do it justice in the original key.....

RE: SMB, I kind of liked it slowed down a bit, but I am a big fan of the acoustic guitar part on that one. I HATE the held note !!!!! it robs the song of it's vibe ( for lack of a better word ) I wish he'd just retire that, the song stands up quite well without that gimmick, and frankly, I doubt many would even miss it.

I am somewhat biased on the DeYoung side, but I'll call him on it if I hear imperfections in the vocals.

Refreshing. Thanks, Classic. Y' know, I find it damn near impossible not to listen to pitch in every singer's performance, but I also tend to to give them a pass because I know singing ain't for sissies. :-p

Funny how we all agree about the long note in SMB, though. Weird.

Zan wrote:Y' know, I find it damn near impossible not to listen to pitch in every singer's performance, but I also tend to to give them a pass because I know singing ain't for sissies. :-p

And a grateful stabbim thanks you for your tolerance, ma'am.

Zan wrote:Funny how we all agree about the long note in SMB, though. Weird.

I dug it the first time I heard it (on CITA) but yeah ...don't need to hear it every time out.