Dennis DeYoung - UCR Overlooked Styx Songs
Posted: Mon May 31, 2021 4:49 amThis is from Dennis DeYoung's Facebook page - posted May 30, 2021
FINALLY, Dennis and Styx getting the credit they deserve!!!
Hey, Kids.
Here are some excerpts from an article from Ultimate Classic Rock which picks the most overlooked songs on every Styx album.. There are others but these are the ones I wrote, co-wrote or sang. So sue me....
They start this piece with these amazing words:
“Few bands in rock history have such a carefully written and precisely arranged catalog of songs as Styx.
The Chicago-based group blends rock, pop and prog elements into a seamless whole that maintains a remarkably high standard across the majority of its albums, despite wandering around stylistically in a manner that few of its commercial peers can match. That fact makes it remarkably difficult to choose the most underrated song on each of Styx’ studio albums – because there are quite a few undiscovered gems on almost every album they’ve recorded.
Styx began their recording career as an Americanized pop-rock response to British progressive rock, but most of their biggest hits were an amalgam of straight-ahead rock and vocal-oriented pop elements. That approach yielded a run of classic hits that includes “Lady,” “Come Sail Away,” “Renegade,” “Blue Collar Man,” “Babe,” “Too Much Time on My Hands,” “Mr. Roboto” and more, but some of the best tracks on each Styx album are mostly unknown to casual listeners.
Below, we uncover a musical feast that touches on classical music, hard rock, blues, ballads and just about everything in between. Styx have something for everyone, especially if you dig deeper into their catalog.
***********
“What Has Come Between Us”
From: Styx (1972)
…. Credited to songwriter Mark Gaddis, “What Has Come Between Us” is the only song on the album that points to the band's stylistic future, balancing DeYoung’s inimitable singing style against the powerful electric guitars, classically inspired keyboard solos and blaring vocal triads that would become the group’s signature sound.
************
“Father OSA”
From: Styx II (1973)
… Preceded by a pipe organ arrangement of a Bach fugue that DeYoung recorded at the Cathedral of St. James in Chicago, “Father OSA” was inspired by an alcoholic priest the band members knew. The song’s grand arrangement balances electric guitar power chords, pipe organ fills and solos and choir-like harmonies, topped off by twin harmony lead guitars in a way that borrows from Styx’ prog-rock roots but forces them to serve the structure of an actual song. Though DeYoung is still singing with the trace of a faux British accent here, he is also beginning to emerge as one of the most distinctive American rock vocalists of the era.
*************
“Evil Eyes”
From: Man of Miracles (1974)
Man of Miracles offers a turn in a better musical direction, though it’s still nowhere near as focused as the best of Styx’s work. There are several standout tracks, including a pair that finds Young flirting with Southern rock, but the brightest spot of the album is DeYoung’s “Evil Eyes,” a dark, dramatic fusion of exceptionally skillful classical piano, heavy rock guitar chords and a masterfully melodic bass line from Chuck Panozzo. DeYoung is learning to fully exploit his vibrato here, as well as his unusual ability to hold long, sustained notes with a pure, full tone. He delivers one of the better pure vocal performances from the early Styx catalog on this gem.
**************
“Born for Adventure”
From: Equinox (1975)
The jump from Man of Miracles to Equinox may be one of the biggest quantum leaps forward in rock music history. Leaving Wooden Nickel and signing with A&M after “Lady” finally gave them a national break, Styx came out swinging on a masterpiece of an album that finally brought together all of the best elements of their songwriting, signature vocals and instrumentation in one place, with significantly better sound quality than any previous release. “Light Up,” “Lorelei” and especially “Suite Madame Blue” are the most familiar songs from the album, but almost any other track could qualify as an underrated classic. The best of these is “Born for Adventure,” which would mark the last time DeYoung, Young and Curulewski would collaborate as songwriters. DeYoung comes out from behind the keyboards for a turn as a rock frontman for this swashbuckling tale of “women, whiskey and sin,” highlighted by jaw-dropping harmonized guitar solos. The song became a highlight of Styx’s live shows, in which DeYoung engaged in an onstage swordfight.
****************
“Castle Walls”
From: The Grand Illusion (1977)
The Grand Illusion marked Styx’s transition from opening act to headliners and from aspiring stars to superstars. The album rocketed the band to widespread fame, scoring hits with DeYoung’s epic “Come Sail Away” and Shaw’s progressive opus “Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man),” while Young’s “Miss America” and DeYoung’s title song have also earned longstanding airplay over the years. The Grand Illusion is an album that can stand track-for-track alongside any album from any classic-rock band of the era, but the true lost classic is DeYoung’s “Castle Walls.” Centered on sinister-sounding synth and bass lines and one of DeYoung’s most haunting vocal performances, the epic track is a showcase for everything that’s special about Styx, from their blaring vocal triads to a jaw-dropping instrumental interlude in the middle of the song that gives way to a blazing guitar solo by Young. Shaw’s jazzy clean guitar runs are the icing on the cake.
***************
“All in a Day’s Work”
From: Edge of the Century (1990)
After a long break, Styx returned changed with Edge of the Century, a glossy pop-rock album that’s very much a product of its era. Shaw did not participate in the reunion album, replaced by New Jersey-based singer-songwriter Glen Burtnik, who contributed greatly to the project. Burtnik wrote and sang the lead single, “Love Is the Ritual,” as well as the title song; he also cowrote one of the album’s hits, the adult contemporary ballad “Love at First Sight.” While Edge of the Century is memorable primarily for the hit ballad “Show Me the Way,” it’s a collaboration between Burtnik and Dennis DeYoung that delivers the standout track. “All in a Day’s Work” draws on both men’s shared interest in the Beatles. Burtnik contributes a progression that plays on his interest in unusual chord spellings, while he and DeYoung harmonize closely, a la Lennon and McCartney. The song became a highlight of Styx’s live shows, allowing DeYoung to break out his accordion for some adept fills and solos. That’s also DeYoung whistling the main solo in the break.
***************
“Goodbye Roseland”
From: Brave New World (1999)
Shaw returned to Styx for their next studio album, Brave New World, but the project turned out not to be the magical reunion fans had hoped for. John Panozzo died in 1996, and Chicago-born Todd Sucherman came in to replace him. Chuck Panozzo was dealing with health issues of his own, and Glen Burtnik played uncredited bass parts on some of the tracks. Brave New World is overly long and consists of disjointed tracks that DeYoung worked on by himself, while Shaw and Young worked on theirs separately in a different studio in an entirely different city. Still, there are some genuinely solid moments amid the clutter, including a track by DeYoung that stands up to the very best of anything he’s recorded. “Goodbye Roseland” is an emotional, piano-driven ballad that’s a rumination on the passage of time and the loss of innocence, using the Roseland area of Chicago where he grew up as a metaphor for everything that life slowly takes away. The closing track of Brave New World, the song stands as a haunting elegy to the end of an era in Styx: DeYoung would be fired from the group after the album, and the masterful track marks his final contribution to the band.
****************
****************
Now pick **your** favorites and tell me about them below, but remember they can’t be singles or ones everybody knows like “Stairway to Hegewisch” or “Sweet Tandem Blues.”
Cheers,
Dennis DeYoung formerly of Styx...
Read More: Underrated Styx: The Most Overlooked Song From Each Album |
FINALLY, Dennis and Styx getting the credit they deserve!!!
Hey, Kids.
Here are some excerpts from an article from Ultimate Classic Rock which picks the most overlooked songs on every Styx album.. There are others but these are the ones I wrote, co-wrote or sang. So sue me....
They start this piece with these amazing words:
“Few bands in rock history have such a carefully written and precisely arranged catalog of songs as Styx.
The Chicago-based group blends rock, pop and prog elements into a seamless whole that maintains a remarkably high standard across the majority of its albums, despite wandering around stylistically in a manner that few of its commercial peers can match. That fact makes it remarkably difficult to choose the most underrated song on each of Styx’ studio albums – because there are quite a few undiscovered gems on almost every album they’ve recorded.
Styx began their recording career as an Americanized pop-rock response to British progressive rock, but most of their biggest hits were an amalgam of straight-ahead rock and vocal-oriented pop elements. That approach yielded a run of classic hits that includes “Lady,” “Come Sail Away,” “Renegade,” “Blue Collar Man,” “Babe,” “Too Much Time on My Hands,” “Mr. Roboto” and more, but some of the best tracks on each Styx album are mostly unknown to casual listeners.
Below, we uncover a musical feast that touches on classical music, hard rock, blues, ballads and just about everything in between. Styx have something for everyone, especially if you dig deeper into their catalog.
***********
“What Has Come Between Us”
From: Styx (1972)
…. Credited to songwriter Mark Gaddis, “What Has Come Between Us” is the only song on the album that points to the band's stylistic future, balancing DeYoung’s inimitable singing style against the powerful electric guitars, classically inspired keyboard solos and blaring vocal triads that would become the group’s signature sound.
************
“Father OSA”
From: Styx II (1973)
… Preceded by a pipe organ arrangement of a Bach fugue that DeYoung recorded at the Cathedral of St. James in Chicago, “Father OSA” was inspired by an alcoholic priest the band members knew. The song’s grand arrangement balances electric guitar power chords, pipe organ fills and solos and choir-like harmonies, topped off by twin harmony lead guitars in a way that borrows from Styx’ prog-rock roots but forces them to serve the structure of an actual song. Though DeYoung is still singing with the trace of a faux British accent here, he is also beginning to emerge as one of the most distinctive American rock vocalists of the era.
*************
“Evil Eyes”
From: Man of Miracles (1974)
Man of Miracles offers a turn in a better musical direction, though it’s still nowhere near as focused as the best of Styx’s work. There are several standout tracks, including a pair that finds Young flirting with Southern rock, but the brightest spot of the album is DeYoung’s “Evil Eyes,” a dark, dramatic fusion of exceptionally skillful classical piano, heavy rock guitar chords and a masterfully melodic bass line from Chuck Panozzo. DeYoung is learning to fully exploit his vibrato here, as well as his unusual ability to hold long, sustained notes with a pure, full tone. He delivers one of the better pure vocal performances from the early Styx catalog on this gem.
**************
“Born for Adventure”
From: Equinox (1975)
The jump from Man of Miracles to Equinox may be one of the biggest quantum leaps forward in rock music history. Leaving Wooden Nickel and signing with A&M after “Lady” finally gave them a national break, Styx came out swinging on a masterpiece of an album that finally brought together all of the best elements of their songwriting, signature vocals and instrumentation in one place, with significantly better sound quality than any previous release. “Light Up,” “Lorelei” and especially “Suite Madame Blue” are the most familiar songs from the album, but almost any other track could qualify as an underrated classic. The best of these is “Born for Adventure,” which would mark the last time DeYoung, Young and Curulewski would collaborate as songwriters. DeYoung comes out from behind the keyboards for a turn as a rock frontman for this swashbuckling tale of “women, whiskey and sin,” highlighted by jaw-dropping harmonized guitar solos. The song became a highlight of Styx’s live shows, in which DeYoung engaged in an onstage swordfight.
****************
“Castle Walls”
From: The Grand Illusion (1977)
The Grand Illusion marked Styx’s transition from opening act to headliners and from aspiring stars to superstars. The album rocketed the band to widespread fame, scoring hits with DeYoung’s epic “Come Sail Away” and Shaw’s progressive opus “Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man),” while Young’s “Miss America” and DeYoung’s title song have also earned longstanding airplay over the years. The Grand Illusion is an album that can stand track-for-track alongside any album from any classic-rock band of the era, but the true lost classic is DeYoung’s “Castle Walls.” Centered on sinister-sounding synth and bass lines and one of DeYoung’s most haunting vocal performances, the epic track is a showcase for everything that’s special about Styx, from their blaring vocal triads to a jaw-dropping instrumental interlude in the middle of the song that gives way to a blazing guitar solo by Young. Shaw’s jazzy clean guitar runs are the icing on the cake.
***************
“All in a Day’s Work”
From: Edge of the Century (1990)
After a long break, Styx returned changed with Edge of the Century, a glossy pop-rock album that’s very much a product of its era. Shaw did not participate in the reunion album, replaced by New Jersey-based singer-songwriter Glen Burtnik, who contributed greatly to the project. Burtnik wrote and sang the lead single, “Love Is the Ritual,” as well as the title song; he also cowrote one of the album’s hits, the adult contemporary ballad “Love at First Sight.” While Edge of the Century is memorable primarily for the hit ballad “Show Me the Way,” it’s a collaboration between Burtnik and Dennis DeYoung that delivers the standout track. “All in a Day’s Work” draws on both men’s shared interest in the Beatles. Burtnik contributes a progression that plays on his interest in unusual chord spellings, while he and DeYoung harmonize closely, a la Lennon and McCartney. The song became a highlight of Styx’s live shows, allowing DeYoung to break out his accordion for some adept fills and solos. That’s also DeYoung whistling the main solo in the break.
***************
“Goodbye Roseland”
From: Brave New World (1999)
Shaw returned to Styx for their next studio album, Brave New World, but the project turned out not to be the magical reunion fans had hoped for. John Panozzo died in 1996, and Chicago-born Todd Sucherman came in to replace him. Chuck Panozzo was dealing with health issues of his own, and Glen Burtnik played uncredited bass parts on some of the tracks. Brave New World is overly long and consists of disjointed tracks that DeYoung worked on by himself, while Shaw and Young worked on theirs separately in a different studio in an entirely different city. Still, there are some genuinely solid moments amid the clutter, including a track by DeYoung that stands up to the very best of anything he’s recorded. “Goodbye Roseland” is an emotional, piano-driven ballad that’s a rumination on the passage of time and the loss of innocence, using the Roseland area of Chicago where he grew up as a metaphor for everything that life slowly takes away. The closing track of Brave New World, the song stands as a haunting elegy to the end of an era in Styx: DeYoung would be fired from the group after the album, and the masterful track marks his final contribution to the band.
****************
****************
Now pick **your** favorites and tell me about them below, but remember they can’t be singles or ones everybody knows like “Stairway to Hegewisch” or “Sweet Tandem Blues.”
Cheers,
Dennis DeYoung formerly of Styx...
Read More: Underrated Styx: The Most Overlooked Song From Each Album |