The whole thing about Roboto is that the label insisted on releasing it as a single. Dennis thought of it as nothing more than a lead in to the story line. He never envisioned it as a single or a hit song.
Right, I get that. Sterling's book has a quote from Dennis saying the same thing. Yet, then Dennis in that same quote goes on to talk about how it was million selling single (a distinction that it only shared with "Babe"). You know, I take his quote as saying, well, it wasn't supposed to be a single but it sold a million copies. Now, I don't ever want to demean a million selling single. That's an amazing feat. I think it was Dr. John who once said something like, "Given the world as it is, I'm happy to even have one hit." Still, the fact that it sold a million copies doesn't mean it's good. In the 80s, people began to confuse "big" with "good" and "size" with "excellence". So, I think DDY falls into that whole 80s trap in that, in his mind, he equates the million copies being sold as a validation that the record must have been good. He goes on to say, in that same quote, that people considered it a novelty record. Well, what else would people think of it. It certainly sounded nothing like Styx. If it made a million "new" fans, my guess is that it cost Styx a million of their diehard fans. In the end, the diehards were the ones that pushed them into Platinum status for the previous 7 years. The "new" fans weren't going to be around to buy "Caught In The Act" or whatever it was that was going to come next.
I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that dennis deyoung criticized Joe Idiot.
He didn't. You (and Sterling) made a point about meaningless or piss poor Def Leppard lyrics. I'm merely pointing out that Roboto has some of the dumbest damn lyrics I ever heard. Again, I'm not even suggesting a great rock and roll song needs great lyrics. In fact, some of the greatest rock songs have gibberish as lyrics ("Louie, Louie" for example). I happen to love the group America but the song "Tin Man," which I think is great, is about absolutely nothing. Still, none of those songs are trying to be pretentious or be about anything other than a good lyrical hook and some good music. DDY clearly wanted KWH to be some great concept album, high art. It wasn't.
Everyone who has posted in the last couple days has pointed out in one way or another the exact problem with Kilroy. First, it may have been a good concept, but, the execution was off. I am not even sure I like the concept that much. It's cold, unappealing and, quite frankly, cliched in a million ways (Good God, characters named "Kilroy, Dr. Righteous and Chance"). There is no soul to the album and the reason everyone is talking about what could or should have been the singles is because, let's face it, there isn't a stand out track on that album. DLIE, on its face, may seem like a typical DDY ballad, but, listen to it next to "The Best Of Times" - it pales in comparison. Hell, the whole album pales in comparison with PT (or GI, Cornerstone, POE, you name it). When I bought PT, I had no idea that it was a metaphor for the changing times of America from the late 70s to the 80s. I knew it was about the way time changes and ravishes things, but, it wasn't until later that I picked up on a lot of the subtleties in the album. From start to finish, it's just a fantastic album. "She Cares" is probably the only weak song on that album. Meanwhile, imo, HWBHB is probably the sole standout track on KWH. I guess the second side is OK, but, that's it, OK.
He decided that HWBHB was compromising Styx's foundation as a "rock band" and refused to agree to release the single. Instead, Tommy wanted to release a live version of Cold War. A&M refused to do that and then released High Time with little fanfare and no video. So Tommy is actually responsible for 2 singles not going top 10 due to his drug induced lunacy. There is at least one, maybe two DDY interviews out there in which he discusses it if you look hard enough.
So, forgive me, apart from that hard to find DDY interview, where did you get this from. From what I've read, I know Tommy was unhappy with the recorded version of Cold War but I thought he thought his vocals on HWBHB were the best of his career (I think that's also in Sterling's book). I don't profess to be some Styx historian, so, it's just seems odd that TS would block the release of his own song as a single. Maybe he was that doped up.
As to Joe Elliot, let me say, that since 1983, I have never, ever picked up and listened to a Def Leppard CD. Occasionally, I listen to one of their songs on the radio. When I was in high school, I loved "Pyromania" and "High and Dry." They were not a band that had any lasting influence on me. Styx, on the other hand, I've listened to countless times in the last 15 years. To be honest, I think DDY's top 5 Styx songs (pick any 5 as long as "Babe", "First Time", and "Roboto" aren't part of the 5) blow away anything Def Leppard ever did. But, that's me, that's my musical taste. DDY, though, is the one that, apparently, no longer wanted to record songs like the stuff he recorded in the 70s. Fair enough. However, outside the songs he wrote and recorded for PT at the dawn of the 80s, imo, his output has mostly been mediocre to bad. A few bright spots here and there, but, overall, junk. CSA,for example, is close to a masterpiece, a song that will live forever. Can any of you DDY fans say that anything, anything at all that he's done since PT even comes remotely close to that? DLIE, it's OK, but compare it to all that came before it and you'll see how mediocre of a song it really is. Same with "Music Time," and absolutely the same with "Mr. Roboto."
KWH didn't go triple platinum. That doesn't make it a bad album. What makes it a bad album is that it's cold, it's concept is cliched, the music is lacking, the band never plays like a band, the songs aren't great (or even, as a whole, good). Hell, no one from Styx even seems to enjoy it.
It could just be that by 1983, Styx was due to start a downward slide. Bands don't stay on top, forever. Sounds don't stay the same forever. Maybe, it was just their time to fade away. I hate "Edge of the Century." I'm glad TS wasn't on it because I don't really consider it a STYX album (as much as I hate it, I still like it better than Damn Yankees and that a#$hole Nugent). Had the band stayed together, though, after KWH and put another album together (which surely would have included stuff from "Desert Moon" and "Girls With Guns"), it probably would have been worse than KWH. So, in a way, I'm glad they departed with KWH. One bad album, in my mind. 5 great albums preceded it.
