2013

[Toph]

So, lets look at 2013 for both Styx and Dennis. Lots of shows, but not one note of new music from either camp. Why do I think that 2014 will be a repeat? Come on guys, you can do better.

[Boomchild]

I think the odds of new music from either is slim to none. Obviously they both are not willing to invest their own money on putting out new material. The only way I would see it happening is if a label approached them. I doubt that is going to happen either. I would not be surprised if this is the last year Dennis does regular performances.

[Archetype]

I think it would be wise to catch Dennis in 2014 whenever the opportunity presents itself.

[Toph]

I think it would be wise to catch Dennis in 2014 whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Interesting that both of you are saying that Dennis is done after this year. Inside information? Is he retiring? Is he sick? Would love to see him continue to be more productive. I wonder if Hunchback is going to get a second life? I always thought it was strange that after it won the awards in Chicago that it died out again. You would have thought that it would have leveraged that momentum. Maybe he is.

[cittadeeno23]

I think Dennis will continue touring for a few more years. However there is always the possibility he could stop at any moment, so I plan on seeing him this year. Hopefully in California, but most likely I will have to fly to the Mid-West or East Coast to see him as his West Coast dates are rare. it is VERY expensive to fly out of state to see him, but I know there will not be many more opportunities.

[Toph]

I think Dennis will continue touring for a few more years. However there is always the possibility he could stop at any moment, so I plan on seeing him this year. Hopefully in California, but most likely I will have to fly to the Mid-West or East Coast to see him as his West Coast dates are rare. it is VERY expensive to fly out of state to see him, but I know there will not be many more opportunities.

Think it is weird that there haven't been more dates posted. And still wonder what the "special announcement" on his website that never happened was all about.

[brywool]

I'm not sure why people think The Hunchback is "all that". I've had it since it came out and while there are a few good songs on it, I don't understand the mass acclaim when compared to "100 Years from Now" which, save for a few songs was a brilliant album.
Not hating, just not getting the adulation that The Hunchback received. It's "okay".

As for a "big announcement", I think ANYONE that is thinking there's going to be some kind of Dennis/Styx reconciliation are seriously "fooling themselves". While it would be amazing to have these 4 guys work together again, I just don't see it happening and wish that people would quit making it sound like some reunion is imminent.

IMAGINE if Tommy (or Dennis, or Jy, or Chuck) just posted "hey Styx fans. Had dinner with Dennis [or Tommy, or Jy, or Chuck] and it was such fun to reminisce and bury the hatchet. We're fine here and are moving forward as friends if not bandmembers". How friggin' cool would that be? Of course, many of the psychotic Styx fans would keep pushing them to reunite musically as well. I'd be happy if these guys could just be in the same room together before they all die off.

Personally, for me- ANY "big" announcement from either camp doesn't mean di*k unless there's talk of NEW MUSIC.
Styx announcing further tours with REO holds absolutely NO magic for me as I'm not an REO fan. I'm a STYX fan. I want NEW music from them AND Dennis. Not covers. Not re-recordings. NEW MUSIC. These are some of music's most creative guys (Gowan included, mind you) and for them not to be doing anything new is ludicrous. Yeah guys, I know it costs money to produce an album. However, it doesn't cost money to demo new songs and sell them on your website. So many of us out here can do that, not sure why you guys can't. To just go out and play "song X" for the 30 millionth time has got to be maddening for you.

PLEASE CREATE NEW MUSIC.

[Boomchild]

I think it would be wise to catch Dennis in 2014 whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Interesting that both of you are saying that Dennis is done after this year. Inside information? Is he retiring? Is he sick? Would love to see him continue to be more productive. I wonder if Hunchback is going to get a second life? I always thought it was strange that after it won the awards in Chicago that it died out again. You would have thought that it would have leveraged that momentum. Maybe he is.

For me it's just a feeling I have and I could be wrong about it. After all it's hard to tell because Dennis rarely communicates with his fan base. He's made a public announcement that news is coming and then nothing. Something tells me that whatever it was has fell through. It's been almost a year since he posted something new to his website. Also, he's not getting any younger.

[Boomchild]

Think it is weird that there haven't been more dates posted. And still wonder what the "special announcement" on his website that never happened was all about.

Actually, the pace of dates being added to his tour dates on his site has been about the same. It's not like he is "planning" these dates. They seem to get posted as bookings come in.

[Boomchild]

I'm not sure why people think The Hunchback is "all that". I've had it since it came out and while there are a few good songs on it, I don't understand the mass acclaim when compared to "100 Years from Now" which, save for a few songs was a brilliant album.
Not hating, just not getting the adulation that The Hunchback received. It's "okay".

As for a "big announcement", I think ANYONE that is thinking there's going to be some kind of Dennis/Styx reconciliation are seriously "fooling themselves". While it would be amazing to have these 4 guys work together again, I just don't see it happening and wish that people would quit making it sound like some reunion is imminent.

I think the admiration for Hunchback doesn't come from just the CD release. That was more of a demo. I think it comes from those that have seen the actual production where the songs have been reworked and new songs added. So if you haven't seen the show it maybe hard to see what people like about it. That said I think the possibility of it going further then it has is not good. I think that window has passed.

As far as the 'big announcement" that has yet to materialize from DDY, I agree that it has nothing to do with a reunion. I think from JY's point of view he has no interest in doing that ever again. As far as TS and CP's feelings about it, I think it's a little harder to tell.

[Cassie May]

In my opinion, I think even sitting in a room as friends would be a stretch. They have never struck me as particularly close, even at the beginning. I think fans like to imagine bands as not only bandmates, but as friends, and it just doesn't happen too often. People join bands to make music, to play music, and to get famous and rich. In Styx' case, it has been repeatedly stated in interviews even in the early days that they are all very different people with different interests. The Panozzos, JY, and DDY may all have been from Chicago, but that doesn't automatically make them a brotherhood, then you add in TS who was much younger, with a different background, and from a different part of the country. They may have developed a friendship initially, but I think that splintered during the really bad years. As has been often stated, they "became a business." Nowadays, the band does seem to have grown pretty close, and they especially look out for Chuck. I think it is pretty unique in music to have a band that has a member with AIDS, who has a replacement for when he cannot tour, but then the replacement graciously steps aside to allow the ill member to play when he can. That's just amazing to me.

It just doesn't look like even a friendly relationship with DDY would be possible, particularly in JY's case. He certainly has been the most outspoken about it. Too much water under the bridge. I may be wrong, but that is my perspective on things.

[masque]

In my opinion, I think even sitting in a room as friends would be a stretch. They have never struck me as particularly close, even at the beginning. I think fans like to imagine bands as not only bandmates, but as friends, and it just doesn't happen too often. People join bands to make music, to play music, and to get famous and rich. In Styx' case, it has been repeatedly stated in interviews even in the early days that they are all very different people with different interests. The Panozzos, JY, and DDY may all have been from Chicago, but that doesn't automatically make them a brotherhood, then you add in TS who was much younger, with a different background, and from a different part of the country. They may have developed a friendship initially, but I think that splintered during the really bad years. As has been often stated, they "became a business." Nowadays, the band does seem to have grown pretty close, and they especially look out for Chuck. I think it is pretty unique in music to have a band that has a member with AIDS, who has a replacement for when he cannot tour, but then the replacement graciously steps aside to allow the ill member to play when he can. That's just amazing to me.

It just doesn't look like even a friendly relationship with DDY would be possible, particularly in JY's case. He certainly has been the most outspoken about it. Too much water under the bridge. I may be wrong, but that is my perspective on things.

i think your post is pretty much spot on.

[yogi]

[quote="brywool"]I'm not sure why people think The Hunchback is "all that". I've had it since it came out and while there are a few good songs on it, I don't understand the mass acclaim when compared to "100 Years from Now" which, save for a few songs was a brilliant album.
Not hating, just not getting the adulation that The Hunchback received. It's "okay".

As for a "big announcement", I think ANYONE that is thinking there's going to be some kind of Dennis/Styx reconciliation are seriously "fooling themselves". While it would be amazing to have these 4 guys work together again, I just don't see it happening and wish that people would quit making it sound like some reunion is imminent.

IMAGINE if Tommy (or Dennis, or Jy, or Chuck) just posted "hey Styx fans. Had dinner with Dennis [or Tommy, or Jy, or Chuck] and it was such fun to reminisce and bury the hatchet. We're fine here and are moving forward as friends if not bandmembers". How friggin' cool would that be? Of course, many of the psychotic Styx fans would keep pushing them to reunite musically as well. I'd be happy if these guys could just be in the same room together before they all die off.

Personally, for me- ANY "big" announcement from either camp doesn't mean di*k unless there's talk of NEW MUSIC.
Styx announcing further tours with REO holds absolutely NO magic for me as I'm not an REO fan. I'm a STYX fan. I want NEW music from them AND Dennis. Not covers. Not re-recordings. NEW MUSIC. These are some of music's most creative guys (Gowan included, mind you) and for them not to be doing anything new is ludicrous. Yeah guys, I know it costs money to produce an album. However, it doesn't cost money to demo new songs and sell them on your website. So many of us out here can do that, not sure why you guys can't. To just go out and play "song X" for the 30 millionth time has got to be maddening for you.

PLEASE CREATE NEW MUSIC.[/quote


Great post. 100% in agreement on the new music.

How can you be an artist if you dont create???

[FormerDJMike]

Either party could go the Kickstarter route if they really wanted to make new music and it not drain their bank accounts. Personally I've never contributed to one but I've seen a lot of bands use it as a way to find albums and some of the rewards are very cool.

[brywool]

How can you be an artist if you dont create???

[Toph]

Get creative. Dennis DeYoung - do a duet with another 80s star - male or female, do a movie soundtrack, do a duet tour with another artist (thinking what Elton and Billy Joel used to do), hell do another Broadway musical! Do something!

Styx - tour with someone besides REO and Journey, tour with Equinox/Crystal Ball (like GI/Po8), hell do another concept album, do a movie soundtrack, write a song for a commercial... Do something!!!

[Boomchild]

In my opinion, I think even sitting in a room as friends would be a stretch. They have never struck me as particularly close, even at the beginning. I think fans like to imagine bands as not only bandmates, but as friends, and it just doesn't happen too often. People join bands to make music, to play music, and to get famous and rich. In Styx' case, it has been repeatedly stated in interviews even in the early days that they are all very different people with different interests. The Panozzos, JY, and DDY may all have been from Chicago, but that doesn't automatically make them a brotherhood, then you add in TS who was much younger, with a different background, and from a different part of the country. They may have developed a friendship initially, but I think that splintered during the really bad years. As has been often stated, they "became a business." Nowadays, the band does seem to have grown pretty close, and they especially look out for Chuck. I think it is pretty unique in music to have a band that has a member with AIDS, who has a replacement for when he cannot tour, but then the replacement graciously steps aside to allow the ill member to play when he can. That's just amazing to me.



It just doesn't look like even a friendly relationship with DDY would be possible, particularly in JY's case. He certainly has been the most outspoken about it. Too much water under the bridge. I may be wrong, but that is my perspective on things.

I think that there was a close friendship between DDY, CP and JP which overtime became strained. Overall it seems to me that Styx was always run more like a business then just a group of guys playing together. I don't see their inclusion of CP with his illness issues as a indicator that they have "grown closer" as a group. It almost seems like you are inferring that if DDY was still in the band that CP would no longer be included in the same way he is now. In reality what you have now is a a group that is comprised of two people calling the shots and the rest being "employees" who take direction on their roles in the band. I think it's pretty clear that they do not have any ownership in the band or decisions made. If I remember correctly, Glen made statements in Sterling's book that even after the departure of DDY the band's inner workings wasn't that much different then before. It was just coming from different people.

[Boomchild]

Get creative. Dennis DeYoung - do a duet with another 80s star - male or female, do a movie soundtrack, do a duet tour with another artist (thinking what Elton and Billy Joel used to do), hell do another Broadway musical! Do something!

Styx - tour with someone besides REO and Journey, tour with Equinox/Crystal Ball (like GI/Po8), hell do another concept album, do a movie soundtrack, write a song for a commercial... Do something!!!

I think that people need to "wake up and smell the coffee" when it comes to either camp doing new material or new projects. I think it's pretty clear that they both have closed the door on this area for various reasons. I think they have regulated themselves to riding out what is left of their careers on the nostalgia of their past glories.

[Boomchild]

How can you be an artist if you dont create???

They are former artists that have turned into performers.

[yogi]

Styx aka Tom Jones

[Cassie May]

I don't see their inclusion of CP with his illness issues as a indicator that they have "grown closer" as a group. It almost seems like you are inferring that if DDY was still in the band that CP would no longer be included in the same way he is now.

I was inferring no such thing about DDY! Actually, he did not enter into my musing at all. I was more thinking along the lines of it being pretty unique (at least, to my knowledge) that a band makes such arrangements for an ill member. Probably did not go along with the initial thrust of what I was really talking about in terms of the band being friends or not. Oh well. My thoughts tend to skip around like that.

As far as the whole creativity thing goes, I made the argument once a long time ago that you don't have to be published/recorded/whatever to be an artist. Just because nothing new is being put out does not mean creativity dies. It's simply a matter of the artist choosing to put it out for public consumption. Has Stephen King published everything he ever wrote? Nope, although it certainly seems like it. Has DDY--or any other musician, for that matter--recorded every song he/she ever wrote? No. Did Ansel Adams develop and print every photograph he ever took? No. I am an artist--I paint and draw. Do I put it out there? No, it simply is what I do and it satisfies my creative urges. It feeds my soul, and it's just something I need to do. From everything I've ever read, TS seems to write all the time, as well as record in his studio. Does he put it all out there? No. I think artistry and creativity varies from person to person, and it just depends on the person what they do with it. And here I go, nattering on again. Sorry.

Bottom line is, none of us are insiders to the Styx camp, none of us knows what *really* goes on with them internally. All we know is what we read, see, and hear, and we all read, see, and hear things differently, from our own perspectives, and we process them in that way. It makes for a lot of interesting debates. No disrespect to anyone here, simply my own musings.

[Boomchild]

I don't see their inclusion of CP with his illness issues as a indicator that they have "grown closer" as a group. It almost seems like you are inferring that if DDY was still in the band that CP would no longer be included in the same way he is now.

I was inferring no such thing about DDY! Actually, he did not enter into my musing at all. I was more thinking along the lines of it being pretty unique (at least, to my knowledge) that a band makes such arrangements for an ill member. Probably did not go along with the initial thrust of what I was really talking about in terms of the band being friends or not. Oh well. My thoughts tend to skip around like that.

It seems I was reading something into your comment about CP that wasn't there. Sorry about that. As far as band working around a member's illness I think it's not all that uncommon. For example take Black Sabbath and the issue of Tony Iommi dealing with cancer. The worked their recording schedule and touring schedule around so that Toni could easily keep his treatment schedule. On the "artist" subject, I agree that they don't publish\release everything they create. But, from a public perspective both the current Styx and DDY are more performers now then artists.

[Cassie May]

I don't see their inclusion of CP with his illness issues as a indicator that they have "grown closer" as a group. It almost seems like you are inferring that if DDY was still in the band that CP would no longer be included in the same way he is now.

I was inferring no such thing about DDY! Actually, he did not enter into my musing at all. I was more thinking along the lines of it being pretty unique (at least, to my knowledge) that a band makes such arrangements for an ill member. Probably did not go along with the initial thrust of what I was really talking about in terms of the band being friends or not. Oh well. My thoughts tend to skip around like that.

It seems I was reading something into your comment about CP that wasn't there. Sorry about that. As far as band working around a member's illness I think it's not all that uncommon. For example take Black Sabbath and the issue of Tony Iommi dealing with cancer. The worked their recording schedule and touring schedule around so that Toni could easily keep his treatment schedule. On the "artist" subject, I agree that they don't publish\release everything they create. But, from a public perspective both the current Styx and DDY are more performers now then artists.

That's cool about Sabbath. I had heard about Iommi's cancer but was unaware the band was arranging their schedule around him. Cool.

[cittadeeno23]

I think the chances of getting new music from Dennis is a possibility. Maybe not an entire album, but a few songs at least.
I thought 100 Years was fantastic, and if that is the last we hear from him as far as new music goes, then what a way to finish!
Would I like a brand new Styx album, with Dennis, JY, TS and Chuck working together in the studio? An album in which they just flat out rock and go back to their Equinox/Crystal Ball/GI/PO8 roots with maybe some Paradise Theater thrown in? Hell yes! But there is a ZERO percent chance of that happening. So the best I can hope for is a new Dennis Rock album like 100 Years. I know Dennis said on his website that he doesn't think he can do better than that album, but I think he is underestimating himself. I think he absolutely has another great album in him. But, like I said, if 100 Years is the last we hear from him, then I think it was a wonderful way to go out (as far as new music goes) and that he made a statement. He can still write great rock songs. Private Jones kicks serious ass!
As far as new music from the Tommy/JY band, I have no interest if they call it Styx. They are not Styx without Dennis. And Dennis is not Styx without Tommy and JY. Period. If Tommy or JY put out good solo albums, I'll buy them. But I'm not buying a "Styx" album with replacement players on it. It absolutely tarnishes the legacy for me. Styx ended in 1999 as far as I'm concerned.
I'm glad some of you get pleasure from the current band, and I am happy for you if you enjoy them. I really am.
But for me, when I see advertisements of the current Styx on tour and see the picture of Tommy and JY standing there with 3 other people, it makes my stomach turn!
That is not Styx, and that is not how I want people to remember Styx.

[Archetype]

That's cool about Sabbath. I had heard about Iommi's cancer but was unaware the band was arranging their schedule around him. Cool.

And look at Rush. They stopped recording/touring completely for a long time while Neil Peart was mourning the loss of his wife and daughter.

[styxfanNH]

Can't see the classic line-up ever getting together again for any reason.

Hunchback was supposed to go to Los Angeles at a college after the Chicago dates, but the brakes were put on because of concerns that Dennis would over extend himself again. Those that hype Hunchback are hyping the play more than the excerpts that were on the cd.

Dennis performs between 35 and 50 dates a year. This year's performances are starting earlier than recent years.

Any year, could be their last. Current Styx will perform as long as Tommy and Larry can front the band together. They are really the faces of the band.

Dennis has recorded several songs. Don't know if we will ever get them on an album. and no, I haven't heard them.

Speculation on the special announcement would be one of a couple of things. 1) Someone has agreed to fork up the cash to record the Paradise Theatre Live show or 2) He has agreed to some type of formal tour. But I have no direct information on either.

[ztyxlynne]

Dennis seems to be good at saying this and that and nothing happens. I heard while back that he was working on a book, then heard about a acoustic DVD. So far nothing. Don't get me wrong, I love to listen to him and get excited when I hear news but please Dennis give us some news! On a side note, doesn't Shaw/Blades have another cover album in the can ready to go?

[styxfanNH]

Dennis seems to be good at saying this and that and nothing happens. I heard while back that he was working on a book, then heard about a acoustic DVD. So far nothing. Don't get me wrong, I love to listen to him and get excited when I hear news but please Dennis give us some news! On a side note, doesn't Shaw/Blades have another cover album in the can ready to go?

It's been almost done for 4 years or so. If it is done, they are looking for a window to tour it. Not much time available with the Styx touring schedule.