Learn from Night Ranger

[Toph]

A band that has kept its two main singer songwriters (Blades and Keagy) and actually puts out new material.....Love the new track! Styx, pay attention....

[ztyxlynne]

I agree. Esp since Shaw and Blades are supposed to be close friends. We haven't heard much from those two either.

[Everett]

I agree. Esp since Shaw and Blades are supposed to be close friends. We haven't heard much from those two either.

Influence 2 has been talked about for a while. Dunno what's holding things up.

[FormerDJMike]

Would rather have new Styx material rather than Shaw/Blades. By the way, upon investigation Cyclorama is no longer in print and is not available on iTunes. It's time for something new.

[Toph]

Would rather have new Styx material rather than Shaw/Blades. By the way, upon investigation Cyclorama is no longer in print and is not available on iTunes. It's time for something new.

That will not help the chances of anything new. Remember JY thought Cyclorama "was the best album ever put out from the band" and it didn't sell worth a damn.

[Boomchild]

I think people can ask Styx to put out new material till their blue in the face and it won't change a damn thing. Your not going to see it. Regardless if other classic bands\artists are doing it. That shows that it can be done and blows holes in the excuses Styx has been making about putting out new material. On the other hand, maybe it's just that. These other bands may have more fans interested in new material from them then Styx does.

[FormerDJMike]

Would rather have new Styx material rather than Shaw/Blades. By the way, upon investigation Cyclorama is no longer in print and is not available on iTunes. It's time for something new.

That will not help the chances of anything new. Remember JY thought Cyclorama "was the best album ever put out from the band" and it didn't sell worth a damn.

And it still won't sell worth a damn if it isn't available anymore. As a side note Raised By Wolves in much better than Cyclorama.

[yogi]

This argument is getting VERY old and tired. Shi t, you all have been crying about this EVERY 6 months or so for the last 3 years. Do the math:

How on earth can a band play 125+ shows a year, produce and sell coffee, create and promote a jewelry line, try to revive Hee Haw and put out new music to their very loyal fan base.

Something has gotta give and for the members of Styx and their management team its creativity and new material.

Go back to Behind The Music when Tommy said all he ever wanted to do was: "sell coffee, jewelry, make a Bluegrass album, and have Styx play backyard BBQ's(solo) or music festivals 5 bands deep, but that damn Dennis wouldn't let him or the rest of the band share in their Folgers/Zales dream while pickin & grinning barefoot with a dip of Copenhagen between his cheek & gums, as the butts and guts tour travels into Annandale, MN ( pop 913), and Crystal City TX ( pop 1,894)"

Give it a rest already!

[brywool]

Shaw Blades would be cool if it's NOT covers.

[Boomchild]

Shaw Blades would be cool if it's NOT covers.

I agree. I find the covers thing sooo boring. I didn't bother to buy or listen to that release. I was excited when I heard they were going to do another album and very quickly my excitement was squashed when I heard it was a bunch of covers. Then when I found out the next release was going to more of the same I gave up on looking forward to another S\B release. One album of covers I could deal with but two? For God's sake, get this covers thing out of your system and write something new and original. But like new Styx music, theirs a snowballs chance in hell of that happening.

[brywool]

Actually, the covers albums (Styx and SB) had some cool stuff there. I'd RATHER that the band threw those in as bonus cuts on their full-length original music album though. I thought that "I Don't Need No Doctor" and "Salty Dog" were GREAT covers and on Shaw/Blades there were also some cool ones. However, when I heard that they were thinking of doing another covers album (SB) I was totally disappointed. Hallucination was such a GREAT album of original tunes. I played the crap out of it and I cannot believe that people these days have such a small attention span that they can't let new music grow on them. Nobody has time to really experience something new. They just want the old stuff-- ugh.
I always call that project "The Indigo Boys".

[Toph]

Actually, the covers albums (Styx and SB) had some cool stuff there. I'd RATHER that the band threw those in as bonus cuts on their full-length original music album though. I thought that "I Don't Need No Doctor" and "Salty Dog" were GREAT covers and on Shaw/Blades there were also some cool ones. However, when I heard that they were thinking of doing another covers album (SB) I was totally disappointed. Hallucination was such a GREAT album of original tunes. I played the crap out of it and I cannot believe that people these days have such a small attention span that they can't let new music grow on them. Nobody has time to really experience something new. They just want the old stuff-- ugh.
I always call that project "The Indigo Boys".

Love Hallucination too. Shaw Blades is great. I'm in the camp of acoustic Tommy being my favorite type of Tommy Shaw music. Foolin Yourself, Crystal Ball, Lights, Boat On the River, Sing For The Day, Shaw/Blades... Doesn't get much better.

[masque]

Would rather have new Styx material rather than Shaw/Blades. By the way, upon investigation Cyclorama is no longer in print and is not available on iTunes. It's time for something new.

That will not help the chances of anything new. Remember JY thought Cyclorama "was the best album ever put out from the band" and it didn't sell worth a damn.

and you just answered your own question/concern......what is there to learn???? many bands have put out or continue to put out really good albums that do not sell......kansas did "somewhere to elsewhere", styx did "cyclorama" and kiss has done two albums in the last few years....none of them have sold worth a damn regardless or whether they were any good or not.

winger just released a new album that is as good or better than any hard rock album you will hear....it's truly a great album and even with all of the press and anticipation of the release a big deal is being made about it debuting at like #86 on the billboard charts......top ten in the albums charts and was briefly #1 on itunes for a day.....

SOUNDS GREAT DOESNT IT?????? all that info above would be stats we would love for styx to have right?????

guess what that all translates to in actual sales????? roughly 3690 units.

now if you were styx in this day and age why spend the time even worrying about that part of the business when you can make money elsewhere?????

now dont get me wrong, I want new music, I love new music.....i buy the new winger album, and I will buy the new night ranger album.......i'm glad these guys make new music but other than satisfying their own creative itch i dont see it being a worthwhile investment of their time or ANY potential money......these kinds of artists dont need new material for a booking agent to book them......in fact, playing too many new songs will get you left behind these days.

if I remember correctly cyclorama moved roughly 50,000 units?????? not sure, but maybe that's close.......that will blow away what winger sells, or kansas, or REO, or night ranger, possibly even the new tesla album coming out soon......yet, it was seen as a flop like all these other albums will be seen when they are sell a few thousand.

once again, it doesnt mean that I personally dont want to see it....I do very much want to see it......but I sure wouldnt use the busienss model that Night Ranger is employing as a way for styx to learn something.

[Boomchild]

i'm glad these guys make new music but other than satisfying their own creative itch

There is the answer. Artists and bands like Styx aren't doing it to make big money. So it seems to me that Styx does not have a creative itch at all.

[masque]

i'm glad these guys make new music but other than satisfying their own creative itch

There is the answer. Artists and bands like Styx aren't doing it to make big money. So it seems to me that Styx does not have a creative itch at all.

yes i agree......it would seem fairly obvious that they dont or at least what they are creating they dont feel is of high enough quality to commit to recording and releasing it.

i also have a sneaking suspicion that a guy like tommy probably writes all the time but maybe the rest of the band, of in particular, JY has NO interest in trying to do new music......so they dont. who knows.....but i would suspect that we may see one last album from the current version of styx at some point in the next couple of years.....and that will be it. IF we even get that.

[Toph]

i'm glad these guys make new music but other than satisfying their own creative itch

There is the answer. Artists and bands like Styx aren't doing it to make big money. So it seems to me that Styx does not have a creative itch at all.

yes i agree......it would seem fairly obvious that they dont or at least what they are creating they dont feel is of high enough quality to commit to recording and releasing it.

i also have a sneaking suspicion that a guy like tommy probably writes all the time but maybe the rest of the band, of in particular, JY has NO interest in trying to do new music......so they dont. who knows.....but i would suspect that we may see one last album from the current version of styx at some point in the next couple of years.....and that will be it. IF we even get that.

Do they have a record contract? Based on his earlier message, Dennis has a new record deal that will put out this live album as well as potentially an album of new music.

I wonder if it is an ego thing too? Think about it, these guys had so much success. Does it hurt a bit when they put something out that no one buys and isn't played on any radio station? This is a band that had 8 top 10 hits and from 1975 - 1991 anything that they released would be lapped up immediately, given airplay with no questions asked.

Now this is controversial, but I just think that without Dennis, it becomes much harder for the creative process to take place. We know JY is limited there by reportedly what he contributed (or lack thereof) even to Styx records in their heyday. I think Tommy can be good for 2-4 really quality songs on an album with anything else not being up to standards. So, now you are up to half an album of material, if that (given that CDs these days, the expectation is at least a 12 song album). No more Glen (who brings a good creative bent) and I wonder how much creative juice Lawrence has. Don't get me wrong, his songs are Cyclo are actually some of my favorites, but can he pull out 5 songs? Ricky isn't going to contribute. So, maybe they just don't have the ability to put out an album of new material because they can't an albums worth of material out (or at least that they think is good enough to release).

Again, if you took 5-6 best songs off Cyclo and 100 Years, you'd have a hell of a Styx album. But one group doing it all themselves, a stretch....

[Monker]

Oh, please, this is just full of crap.

Tommy can't write a full album. Gowan can't write more then five songs. Ricky Phillips won't contribute. JY doesn't contribute. So, Styx can't produce a full album. Please...that's just so ridiculous.

They choose not to because they are making their money touring. It's as simple as that. Masque explained it well.

And, in today's world, they don't need a contract to release songs. That's just an excuse. In Dennis' case, he got the deal for the AXS special...so, since it's being recorded anyway, why not release it on CD? But, that doesn't mean it will sell more then 5,000 copies. And, frankly, I think a new album of new songs from Dennis is not exactly written in stone....more of a "I wanna do this...maybe, possibly, if..."

Also, "Again, if you took 5-6 best songs off Cyclo and 100 Years, you'd have a hell of a Styx album. But one group doing it all themselves, a stretch...."

Yeah, you would have half a Styx album. And, half a Dennis solo album...but you wouldn't have "a hell of a Styx album'. You would have a BNW type album...and a bunch of whiners complaining that it wasn't right because Dennis didn't have complete control. I would rather have another Cyclorama and another 100yrs, then some mediocre combination of both.

[Toph]

Oh, please, this is just full of crap.

Tommy can't write a full album. Gowan can't write more then five songs. Ricky Phillips won't contribute. JY doesn't contribute. So, Styx can't produce a full album. Please...that's just so ridiculous.

They choose not to because they are making their money touring. It's as simple as that. Masque explained it well.

And, in today's world, they don't need a contract to release songs. That's just an excuse. In Dennis' case, he got the deal for the AXS special...so, since it's being recorded anyway, why not release it on CD? But, that doesn't mean it will sell more then 5,000 copies. And, frankly, I think a new album of new songs from Dennis is not exactly written in stone....more of a "I wanna do this...maybe, possibly, if..."

Also, "Again, if you took 5-6 best songs off Cyclo and 100 Years, you'd have a hell of a Styx album. But one group doing it all themselves, a stretch...."

Yeah, you would have half a Styx album. And, half a Dennis solo album...but you wouldn't have "a hell of a Styx album'. You would have a BNW type album...and a bunch of whiners complaining that it wasn't right because Dennis didn't have complete control. I would rather have another Cyclorama and another 100yrs, then some mediocre combination of both.

Who pissed in your Cheerios?

[Boomchild]

Now this is controversial, but I just think that without Dennis, it becomes much harder for the creative process to take place.

Well Dennis was a very integral part of the process when it came to making Styx records. Based on the lack of sales of "the carrot album", maybe people are less interested in buying a Styx album without him. I doubt it is an ego thing. IMHO, it's not a money maker and that is all Styx is about anymore. As far as creative itch it's non existent. I think Tommy is the only one that still really has it and since there seems to be no support from JY Tommy is not going to rock the boat. As far as Dennis goes, I'm not holding my breath on a album of new material from him at this point. I think both camps are pretty much satisfied with what they are doing at this point. Which is a shame for those still interested in new material from them.

[masque]

Now this is controversial, but I just think that without Dennis, it becomes much harder for the creative process to take place.

Well Dennis was a very integral part of the process when it came to making Styx records. Based on the lack of sales of "the carrot album", maybe people are less interested in buying a Styx album without him. I doubt it is an ego thing. IMHO, it's not a money maker and that is all Styx is about anymore. As far as creative itch it's non existent. I think Tommy is the only one that still really has it and since there seems to be no support from JY Tommy is not going to rock the boat. As far as Dennis goes, I'm not holding my breath on a album of new material from him at this point. I think both camps are pretty much satisfied with what they are doing at this point. Which is a shame for those still interested in new material from them.

i agree 100% with everything you just said.