kipthekid wrote:I have to respectfully disagree with that statement. IMHO, Tommy and JY NEVER should have allowed that "song" to be on a Styx record. Lyrically, it makes KWH look like Shakespeare and musically it sounds like it was written in about 10 minutes. IMHO, Gowan was trying to do a "Styx impersonation" and it ended up sounding like a bad parody. It's poorly written and poorly sung. Not to mention, the lyrics themselves - the Navajo reference - are pretty profane. BAD stuff indeed.
More Love for the Money? I liked that one - just a nice little song. Actually, I see that song as being relatively DeYoungian - circa the "Desert Moon" era/milieu.
It's all a matter of opinion - Gowan clearly has a TON of energy on stage...depending upon one's taste, it's either invigorating or annoying. I find it to be both. Some critics have called it "distracting." Vocally, he's by far the weakest lead singer Styx has. Dennis' voical superiority - especially live - IMHO - easily compensates for the fact that he doesn't spin around repeatedly when playing the keys or hop up on his instrument. Also, of late, Dennis' self deprecating humor makes for a nice stage presence.
With all of this being said, in the very unlikely event of a "reunion," I wouldn't want to see Gowan go. His skill on keys is up there with the best in rock/popular music.
I'm with you on the "Fields of the Brave" thing. The lyrics just don't do it for me, especially the God-awful rhyming of "Plain" and "aGAIN", LOL. Hey man, those words don't rhyme, don't make it worse by mispronouncing one of them! He pulled a Bryan Adams on that one, a la "There's no love like yo love and no other can give mo love", LOL. Plus there's the lyrical gem, "They were hopeful, not depraved," LOL. That sounds like something I might have written in junior high school.
"More Love For The Money", on the other hand, is one of my favorite tracks from CYCLO. I think it's strong, in fact I think it's stronger than anything Tommy brought to the table for that record. (I DO like the music to "One With Everything", but I also think that it sounds like Styx trying to do an impression of Drama-era Yes mixed with Emerson, Lake and Powell, instead of Styx, and the lyrics of that song are even worse . . . "Smiling ear to ear, it's something in the atmosphere"?! That's like something Jon Anderson would throw away, like, "No, that's too goofy", LOL. He may write about purple wolfhounds, but there's a limit . . . )
I also agree that Gowan is one of the weaker vocalists in the band, along with JY now that his voice sounds so damaged. But I will say this: when Gowan joined the band he was not a good harmony singer, and that was a large part of what I didn't like about his addition at first. In the interim he has learned how to blend a lot better, and although I still don't believe he's in the same universe with Dennis as a pure vocalist, he's grown a lot in his role in the band and I think the harmonies with Tommy, JY, Gowan and Ricky sound great. Gowan can sing harmony in tune now.
The thing about his stage presence . . . I know the prevailing wisdom is that Gowan is a "rock guy" as opposed to Dennis being a "Broadway guy", but I really disagree with that. I think he is very much a Freddie Mercury-esque, campy, almost cabaret-type presence, in his own way just as campy as Dennis, albeit with a lot more leaping around involved. And I don't mean that as disparagement, becuse that's what Styx is. It would be absurd to get a real "rock" front man like Steve Tyler in the mix. Gowan actually fits the band in that respect very well.
I hope all is well.
Sterling
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