LA on Edge

[Jodes]

Well Said.

Although A&M should have gambled on releaseing AIADW though, it could have been another hit if they would have had the right video, etc for it.

What might have been eh?

[bugsymalone]

First - Eric, thanks for posting that show. I got if off of Mega yesterday.

Second - Thanks to you all for the interesting insights about this album and the never-released follow-up. Dennis talks about it onstage now with his "flannel still makes me itch" comment.

It sounds like, after all was said and done, and so much time has passed, that Glen and Dennis have found a way to work together. I think is speaks well for both of them.

Oh, and "World Tonight" is one of my favorites off of EOTC, for sure, rajah. A really good song.



Bugsy

[Jodes]

Yes I love World Tonight Too..

Before Every time I take a Slug of MD 20/20 (That's Mogen David 20/20 Fortified Wine drink for you cultured people out there)

I go into my "Mantra" of:

Black Cat Howls
And The Mad Dog Bites
There's a sticky situation
In the World Tonight!

Folks, yes it does bite back!

And for those of you "fine wine" drinkers out there that are tired of those 50-100 dollar a bottle wines, look no further. It's right by the cash register! Forget popping the cork, just turn the cap!

Get yourself a 750ml bottle today.. for only $3.50 a bottle!

Oh and did I forget to mention it comes in about a dozen different colors umm flavours too!

Free paper bag provided with each purchase too!

Go get yourself a bottle today (USA only.. for some reason the Canadian government won't allow it to be sold here, something about the health of the people drinking could be endangered.. what do they know anyways?)

[Abitaman]

Had it up on two places to grab the show. Don't what the number off of Mega, but on the other site I stored it, it has been downloaded over 350 times-ERIC

[Zan]

I remember going to this show and thinking it was..ok, but not great.

Obviously, there was no Tommy, but I was disappointed that there was no "Foolin' Yourself" and no "Grand Illusion" as well as neither of the "Kilroy" hits. But yet somehow "Homewrecker" made the set list. I remember saying to myself at the end, "They didn't play anything off Kilroy, no Grand Illusion, no Foolin' Yourself", but they played "Homewrecker"?!?!?! I was also way sick of Snowblind at that point and wish they hadn't played it. But I thought "World Tonite" was out of this world. Also, in the show I saw, they did an acoustic set with "All in A Day's Work" which should have been released as a single after Love At First Sight.

Gotta agree with you about WT. STILL, one of my favorite all-time Styx songs.

The reason there was no Kilroy songs, as I recall, was becauase at that time, ANYTHING "Kilroy" still remained a sore spot amongst all the guys in the band, and I think they avoided it at all costs. I also heard a rumor that Glen refused to play anything off Kilroy because he hated it, but I have a hard time buying that one. LOL

I was not disappointed at all with either show I saw. I was rivetted and on the edge of my seat the entire time. Loved the shows. I wish everyone had a chance to hear Glen do "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" like we did on opening night. They canned it after that gig for "time constraints." Too bad - Glen got a standing ovation for it. It was a highlight of the show, for sure.

[brywool]

woulda been cool to hear Glen do the Beatles classic.
He's got Helter Skelter on his site. Not that great... but it's not up there for that, it's more for fun.

I don't mind Homewrecker as much as Miss America. Blech! (live)

[Zan]

woulda been cool to hear Glen do the Beatles classic.

It was GOOSEBUMP cool. The whole place was going nuts. He owned that night.

[brywool]

Yeah, Glen's a class act, period. I was REALLY bummed when I heard he was out of the band again. I LOVE what he brought to the party and Phillips just seems faceless to me. Glen was another personality and he was also a hip guy that brought youth to the Styx show. Going out into the audience, dying his hair all colours, his whole vibe- NOT TO MENTION HIS SONGS AND THE 4 FRIGGIN' PART HARMONIES! Great performer. I think the worst thing that Shaw and Young did was to let him out of the band. Yeah, to me, that was worse than having the other guy out. I think that Glen REALLY kicked them in the ass. Kiss Your Ass Goodbye is the hippest Styx track in years. At the time of "Love is the Ritual", I said the same thing. LITR was THE coolest song Styx had done at the time. GREAT groove in that one.

By the way, did you guys listen to those Christmas messages on his site? Some of them were REALLY REALLY imaginitive.

[Jodes]

I agree 100% Bry..

But Shaw and Young didn't kick him out, he left on his own.

[brywool]

... WELLLLLLLLLL

He left on his own, BUT the circumstances within Styx pushed him that way, at least, that's my understanding.
Some of the things I remember reading were that
"SOME Styx families (or wives) could travel with the band, others could not"
"I was under utilized"
some other stuff too, tough to remember. But it was a case of it not being
an equal playing field. At least, that was the spin I got when reading Glen's posts on the subject when it happened. There was the usual "want to spend time with my family" line, but there were also a couple of little points brought out by Glen. Also, he had his solo album "Welcome to Hollywood" coming out and you gotta think, if things were hunky dory in Styxland, why would he be doing a solo record? I GUESS you could say the same thing about Shaw and the Shaw/Blades thing, but I think that's more of a case that it's been STYXSTYXSTYXSTYX for the past decade and he's just taking a small break.

What they SHOULD have done was do a double album when Cyclo came out. Ah, missed opportunity there.

I would ALSO say that Glen was under utilized. To have JY singing two tunes and to have Glen only doing 2 on Cyclo was a crime. Glen is a HUGELY talented writer and singer. JY is a talented guitarist and backup singer. Ringo got one cut per album, JY should be there as well. Don't get me wrong, I LIKE JY, but Glen is a more talented writer and singer than Young will ever be. The band should've kept Glen happy. Not that I was there, but I can see how the 'senior members' would pull rank.

[styxfanNH]

Glen has said all that stuff or at least in the jist of what you said, but Glen also knew that his role was to be the fourth lead singer of the band at the time. The first couple of years they were still using Dennis songs, giving Larry the second lead singer role. JY was third. Because Glen only had a couple of songs he sang lead on, he was relegated to fourth because Tommy was going to sing his songs.

Even today, JY still only gets 3 songs or so. They felt once Dennis "left" that Tommy was the face of the band and that is how they were going to market the band.

and in regardss to Hollywood, most of that was written long before Glen rejoined the band. Zan can confirm this for you. Not to mention that virtually all the songs Glen brought to Styx, he rerecorded for a solo album.

[brywool]

Agreed. Still, having Burtnik take a backseat to JY wasn't a good thing for the band. I've said it a million times- JY is not a lead singer.
Having things not be on an equal footing isn't good for any band unless it's "Tommy Shaw and Styx" as well.
I STILL hope the band tried to get Burtnik to stay on and didn't just give him the "If you don't like it, you can go" deal.

[Abitaman]

For a while didn't Burtnik kinda of down Styx for not letting him have more say?-ERIC

[Zan]

Glen has said all that stuff or at least in the jist of what you said, but Glen also knew that his role was to be the fourth lead singer of the band at the time. The first couple of years they were still using Dennis songs, giving Larry the second lead singer role. JY was third. Because Glen only had a couple of songs he sang lead on, he was relegated to fourth because Tommy was going to sing his songs.

Even today, JY still only gets 3 songs or so. They felt once Dennis "left" that Tommy was the face of the band and that is how they were going to market the band.

True. Glen has never, to my knowledge, complained about his role in the band. he has always said, time & time again that he understood his place. Still, understanding his place and being happy in it are two different things. Whether Glen was a raving solo success or not, he is still a frontman, and it's difficult for someone like that to spend the better part of four years singing the same song every night and knowing there is no chance for advancement. That's my spin, anyway. Glen has never outwardly complained to me or anyone about this that I'm aware of - he was grateful for the opportunity, it just stopped working for him on many levels.

For me, I think Glen's talents were very under utilized in this incarnation of the band, for sure, but I understand the fear JY and Tommy may have had about being too liberal with the lead roles *shrug*.

and in regardss to Hollywood, most of that was written long before Glen rejoined the band. Zan can confirm this for you.

I can? lol

[LordofDaRing]

You really hit the nail on the head Sterling in your last paragraph. If you look at the criticism leveled at Dennis throughout the history of this site, and by James JY Young in paticular: selfish, tempermental, egotistical, etc., you could also substitute several names in for Dennis and hear the same criticsm across the years (McCartney, Henley, Frey, Cetera, Perry, Jagger, Plant, Rose, etc). All those acts were very sucessful. Somebody has to steer the ship, and I believe Don Henley said it best, that a democracy cannot exist in a rock band.

[brywool]

A Band can still be democratic and everyone can get the same benefits.
There DOES have to be a leader. But the talent also needs to be featured where talent is undeniable.