Unbiased - what songs do you prefer

[Rockwriter]

I'd go with 2, but LOTR would have to go. Dumb song.
Seeing Shooz, Put Me On, and Love is the Ritual would be cool. Good songs.
All the other ones have been played to death.

Come on Bry, you are losing your progressive rock cred, dude!
Lords of the Ring is totally progressive thematic type song that I would have sworn you would like.

Shooz, Put Me On, and LITR - maybe you are more of a metal head than a progressive fan....

Actually, the progressive deal doesn't matter too much to me Toph. I'm definitely not into Styx for that. As for the other tunes, I really like songs that ROCK and have killer harmonies in them. It's kind of what I like. As for how many notes a band can play in a given measure... eh, doesn't thrill me too much, though it is an enviable skill coming from a guy that'll never be able to play fast guitar solos.

"Lords of the Ring" musically is fine for me. It's the lyrics (and JYs delivery vocally) that don't work for me. I don't know about you guys, but this has always reminded me of the "One Tin Soldier" song. Same story line- A kingdom fought and protected and handed down something that basically amounted to a Hallmark card at the end of the tune.

Everybody join hands now...

"Peace on Earth was all it said..."

This is probably before most of your time, I'm so freakin' old...

Dennis's other songs on that album are great though ('cept for The Message) . I don't think he would agree though. From all the interviews I've heard, he's never been really fond of that album, though I don't get why really.

The lyrics to "Lords of the Ring" are an allegory for Dennis himself. He said in some interview (I can't remember where) that it was about his own quest for fame (the magic ring that would make everything all right), and then when he actually got fame, how disappointing it was to find that everything he had thought it would be, it turned out not to be. That's where the lyric "since I became a Lord this year" comes from, and the reference to the fact that The Message was pure fantasy.

As for why he disliked his contributions to that album, I know he's said before that he felt that album was somewhat of a re-hash of TGI. And he was ready for a change anyway, as we saw with the following record. So maybe that colored his perception of his songs. And of course, he didn't have the hits from that record, so maybe in some sense he felt he had not written strong enough material. A few years ago when he played in Nashville, he played "Pieces of Eight," and in his introduction he said, "Sometimes you go back and listen to something, and you realize it didn't suck as bad as you thought it did." LOL.


Sterling

[yogi]

EXACTLY, He was ready for a change. The music scene could of easily handled another Grand Illusion or Pieces Of Eight type of album. Had it been a great album like their last two it would have sold millions.

Kurt Cobain had not arrived yet.

[Rockwriter]

That is NOT the point of my sets. The point was(is) Pre Pieces Of Eight VS post Pieces Of Eight.

Shit wake the hell up!!!!!

You need to wake the hell up - you picked all ballads pretty much. I didn't see songs like "Rockin' the Paradise" in there. You also ignored the Wooden Nickel era which if you're going to put rockers in, you skipped obvious shit like "Young Man".

And I still don't see the point of your lists - while interesting for a show or two maybe, I think a 78 or earlier set only would get boring at this point. One of the good things about Styx - like it or not - IS their diversity. I know I don't love every song off of every album - and we are all like that. But you can't just dismiss that much of their career just because.

Allan is exactly right. Styx was a band with diversity in their music. I think the fans that wanted rockers all the time were listening to the wrong band and wanting Styx to be something they were not.

Styx NEVER had rock songs all the way through an album, not once that I can recall anyway. Maybe 'Serpent,' but even that had a chorale and pipe organ piece. Every album has had a balance between slower, more melodic songs and heavier rock songs. I've never understood the argument that Styx was once a hard rock band and then became a pop band. Styx just changed with the times and added in some songs of different styles, which is good. Who'd want to play or hear the same style over and over and over and over? If you want that, listen to AC/DC.


Sterling

[yogi]

I ABSOLUTELY agree with Sterlings last post also.

This is why I included Love In The Midnight in my set #2. Love In The Midnight easily would have fit in the Pieces Of Eight Grand Illusion mode.

[Rockwriter]

EXACTLY, He was ready for a change. The music scene could of easily handled another Grand Illusion or Pieces Of Eight type of album. Had it been a great album like their last two it would have sold millions.

Kurt Cobain had not arrived yet.

'Cornerstone' DID sell millions.

Punk and New Wave had arrived, that's what killed that progressive rock thing. Look it up, all of those bands that tried to stay in that style died instantly in 1979/1980. The ones who survived are the ones who adapted. EVERYONE started changing, not just Styx. Look at REO, Kansas, Journey, Foreigner, Genesis, Yes - all of them changed dramatically. So did Rush. Queen went from 'Night at the Opera' to shit like 'Hot Space' during that era and right after. ELP destroyed itself by trying to keep on with the same old pretentious stuff. Jethro Tull started doing electronica, trying to find a way to stay in the game. Hell, compared to 'Hot Space' or 'Vinyl Confessions,' 'Cornerstone' and 'Kilroy Was Here' are masterpieces. I'm not arguing that either one is Styx' best work, but bands during that era were releasing far worse stuff. Have you ever heard Tull's 'Under Wraps' from 1984? I wish the band would have broken up instead of releasing that album, it's so bad. I'd rather get my right hand caught in a document shredder than listen to 'Drastic Measures.'

Look at the charts from 1979, I don't believe another album in the same style as TGI or Po8 could have flown. Radio would have seen it as an anachronism and not played it, and regardless of what people say, Styx is a singles band and always was, not a true album rock band. Every success and step forward Styx has ever had in its entire career is based around the paradigm of hit singles. To say otherwise is simply untrue.

By the way, this is from another thread, but The RIAA's numbers on Styx are quite simply wrong. 17 million, is that what they have? The band probably sold that many records or more between 1975 and 1983. There's a lot involved in numbers reporting and Styx has always been under-reported. Those numbers are ridiculous.


Sterling

[jestor92]

If I went to see Styx again a set I'd love to see would have the following songs

Lady
Lorelli
Crystal Ball
Grand Illusion
Fooling Yourself
Come Sail Away
Sing For the Day
Renegade
Blue Collar Man
Rockin The Paradise
Too Much Time On My Hands
Best Of Times
Nothing Ever Goes As Planned
Mr Roboto
Don't Let It End
Love Is The Ritual
Show Me The Way
Heavy Water/Miss America
Waiting For Our Time
Together
On My Way

As you can probably tell I'm not a hardcore Styx fan, but as a casual fan that's a set of songs I would like.

[cittadeeno23]

Toph,
You really don't like Love in the Midnight? REALLY????
That is such a great tune. Easily one of my 5 favorite songs of ALL time.

What about it don't you like? Just curious.

[Boomchild]

EXACTLY, He was ready for a change. The music scene could of easily handled another Grand Illusion or Pieces Of Eight type of album. Had it been a great album like their last two it would have sold millions.

Kurt Cobain had not arrived yet.

Yea, they should have been looking through Tommy's Crystal Ball. That way everything in the Styx universe would have been mega hits and the world would be at peace.