He actually talks good about Dennis on the Grand Illusion question and says his name and not the other guy or the other Keyboardist
http://toledofreepress.com/?id=6585
Styx has seen the best of times — and the worst. The band has weathered breakups and lineup changes for more than three decades.
With the 1972 self-titled debut, the Chicago group featured Dennis DeYoung, vocals and keyboards, James Young, vocals and guitar, John Curulewski, vocals and guitar, and brothers Chuck and John Panozzo, bass and drums, respectively. When Curulewski left, he was replaced by guitarist and singer Tommy Shaw.
The stage was set for hits: “Come Sail Away,” “Fooling Yourself,” “Blue Collar Man,” “Renegade,” “Babe,” “The Best of Times,” “Too Much Time on My Hands,” “Mr. Roboto.”
After four consecutive albums certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America — “The Grand Illusion,” “Pieces of Eight,” “Cornerstone” and “Paradise Theater” — the band broke up in 1984.
Styx has reformed with various lineups, including its current one with Young, Shaw, Chuck Panozzo, drummer Todd Sucherman, bass player and singer Ricky Phillips, and keyboardist and singer Lawrence Gowan.
Styx will play at Stranahan Theater at 8 p.m. Oct. 26. Tickets are $59.50, $49.50 and $39.50.
Young recently answered a few questions from his Chicago home.
TFP: 2007 marks the 30th anniversary of “The Grand Illusion.” What made that record special?
Young: I know during the creative process that went into making that record, I think perhaps never before and perhaps maybe even never after that were we all so personally and professionally pointed in the same direction. Dennis came up with a great notion for a concept of a record, and we all sort of rose to the occasion and did some great work together ... and then that was sort of our moment in time. Maybe stupid numerology has something to do with it — the album was released on the seventh day of the seventh month of the 77th year of that century. Not that we're superstitious, mind you.
TFP: Are you working on new material?
Young: We absolutely are in the process of starting to write, trying to figure out what we're supposed to do as a recording act at this point in time. The record business is changing dramatically ... the CD sales side is shrinking a lot more rapidly than the legal digital sales are growing. I think our strategy for the future is simply to try and write a great song and keep trying to make great recordings of individual songs, which is kind of how things started back in the beginning — it was about 45 RPM singles.
TFP: Styx has been through a lot — breaking up in 1984, reuniting with different lineups, John Panozzo's death in 1996, lawsuits, Chuck being diagnosed with AIDS and prostate cancer. What keeps you going?
Young: I love what I do. The time we spend on the stage is such an amazing joy to me. We're seeing more third-generation fans — people under the age of 25 are showing up. And that really is a tremendous renewable energy that we're fortunate enough to have develop and that keeps us going.
TFP: This has been a big reunion year for bands — The Police, Genesis, Van Halen. Any chance Dennis might rejoin the group?
Young: Not as far as I'm concerned. I understand why fans want to see something in its original form, but, unfortunately, even with Van Halen, you're not getting Michael Anthony up there, so they still haven't done what people really want them to do. I think as far as Styx goes, Dennis clearly was not happy in the context of Styx and decided to move on ... but trying to prevent us from moving on without him, that's something we ultimately, finally, put our foot down and said, ‘you're not going to stop us from doing what we've all been doing since inception here.' There's enough scar tissue there — I mean, there was enough the first time we got back together in ‘96 after being apart 13 years, and ultimately those wounds reopened very quickly. People who see the band now say there's incredible joy that emanates from the stage that they never sensed before. This is the band I always wanted to have.
