MR

**I found this over at another web site and found it interesting because it came from someone who isn't a Styx fantatic like we are and they took the time to write their thoughts out-

In my last post to this forum, I said I would explain why I don't Styx anymore, and that it would be Foreigner related. Without further adieu, here it is. (This is going to be rather long, so drink some coffee, tea, soda, etc. to stay awake.)

OK, back in 1999, when it was announced that Dennis DeYoung would not be able to tour due to his illness, Tommy Shaw and James "JY" Young made Lawrence Gowan seem like a temporary fill-in and that DeYoung would be back in Styx. (Shaw even made note of this by saying "There will always be an open mic for Dennis". Also, go to Amazon.com, type in "Brave New World" (Styx) and go look through the archived reviews until you get to July 1999 or so. There, you will find this comment: "I look forward to seeing the band when Dennis is feeling better.") However, come the next year, Shaw and Young announced that DeYoung wasn't in Styx anymore. Also, Shaw claimed on the Styx Behind The Music (which I've never seen, btw.) to be full of rock. Yet he also wrote minstrel folk tunes (Boat on the River) and cheesy hair ballads (High Enough, from his Damn Yankees days). I've also heard that Shaw hated the sappy ballads and threatened to quit if First Time was released as a single. If that's the case, then why did he write and sing one himself? (Haven't We Been Here Before from the ill-gotten Kilroy project.) Also, if Shaw claimed that DeYoung was a pain to work with, then why would he lie and say that it was a pleasure to work with him? (For proof of this, get a copy fo the Return to Paradise DVD and go to the section about the making of the Brave New World album -- that's where you'll find that comment.) Finally, neither Shaw nor Young will admit what DeYoung did with their sound (As evidenced by the BNW album, they sound like their own solo work -- not like Styx, anytime they produce their own work.) Basically, Shaw and Young are EVERYTHING that Mick Jones was circa 1991, greedy and don't seem to care that they're ripping off the fans. Yes, I know where DeYoung went wrong, but to anyone who believes that Styx is better off without him, I've got but one thing to say: Yeah, sure. You probably thought that Foreigner was much better when Lou Gramm wasn't with them. Get a clue.

And that's why I don't like Styx anymore. I'm sorry, but while I can understand where DeYoung went wrong, I simply cannot support a band in which one of its other members (Shaw) is a hypocrite and a liar, because those are just as bad as ego.


**Then what follows here was a reply by someone else-

agree totally, i went to a styx concert without dennis and it was just half of the band. dennis is to styx what lennon was to the beatles. yes some songs were sappy like "babe" but wasn't it dennis's "lady" that put styx on the map in the first place. but i don;t think you can compare it to the foreigner's situation in the early ninties. styx to me is really two bands merged into one. with hits by both lead singers. all foriegner's hits were sang by lou. i believe if mick had found someone with an identical vocal sound to lou like journey did, foreigner's fans would have accepted it better. just a thought...


**I guess it just caught my attention to read something with such an opinion from some people who aren't even Styx fanatics.