[ARCHIVED THREAD] - STYX (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 11/4/2005 11:39:40 AM EDT
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I love STYX. I know that simple confession will rain incredulous derision and ridicule down upon my head, but I make it nonetheless.  I grew up listening to gospel and country and not much else through my younger years. The only "rock music" I was exposed to was my Dad's music from the '50s (i.e., "oldies" - which I still love). Thanks to the (questionable) influence of my older cousins, I discovered both Southern Rock and Heavy Metal as I became a teenager. Indeed, I was listening to AC/DC, Black Sabbath, et. al. before I knew anything of Boston, Journey, or any of the "superbands" of the late '70s/early '80s. It wasn't until I started high school that I had any real knowledge of or interest in Top 40 "pop" music. In college, classical also caught my interest. I love music and, over the years, developed a taste for almost every genre (opera and rap being the glaring exceptions). Through it all, I have loved and still love the music of Styx - as well as the individual efforts of both Shaw (alone or with others) and DeYoung. They are one of my very favorite groups of any genre, quite possibly second only to my beloved Blue Oyster Cult (different story for another time).  They were already in their heyday when I discovered them during high school. They had already had several big earlier hits, but the release of Paradise Theater placed them solidly among my (and many others') favorites. It remains one of my very favorite albums to listen to all the way through as a whole - the first "concept album" I fully appreciated. It is is perpetually in my CD changer and one of the first CDs I transferred onto my iPod. As I sought out and bought all of their older stuff I grew to love them more. Later, while the Kilroy theatrics turned off many former fans (and divided the group - just one of the many times  ), I even enjoyed their music then and appreciated what DeYoung was trying to accomplish (even if most didn't). Even their post-heyday albums have had a few gems in them, as have their individual efforts (Dennis DeYoung's Desert Moon album spent plenty of time in my CD player, the demented "re-imagining" of Hendrix's Fire notwithstanding  ).And they are a great show-band. I have seen them live many times over the years & enjoyed each show. My wife and I attended one of the last shows with both Shaw and DeYoung before the proverbial "final straw" was broken a few weeks later... I know they were cheesy in the extreme and are very easy to make fun of these days in retrospect but I don't care. I love their music and likely always will... and am man enough to admit it here openly.  So come sail away with me... or flame away, your choice.  
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Nice.. I have everything up to Kilroy on vynal Styx - good album Styx II -- so-so album Pieces of 8 - Fantastic *coin toss for best Grand Illusion - Fantastic *cointoss for best Paradise Theatre very good album COrnerstone good album Equinox - good album Kilroy - good album Thangs for joggin my memory man!!! 
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I was at a show like that about 10 years ago or so.. Styx, Pat Benetar, and I think REO Speedwagon It was a great show |
I used to love big all-day shows like that. I went to a show like that with REO Speedwagon, Kansas, Survivor, Joan Jett, and a few others at Liberty Bowl Stadium back in the early 80's.
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Dang!!! Somebody else remembers their early albums too! Sequence is a little off though. "Lorelei" was the song that hooked me, waaaay baaack when.  I would call "Equinox" as a very good album. Oh....you forgot "Man of Miracles". It, too was a "so-so" album. I have up to Kilroy on vinyl too. 
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Vynal? Never heard of that format, only vinyl, 8-track, cassette, DAT, mini-disc, CD and DVD audio.
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Me.
Pretty good summation. I've been hitting the metal (Mastodon, Strapping Young Lad) lately, but I suppose I'll have to pull out some Styx. |
Uhhh.. yea that  Damn.. How did I mess that spelling up that bad.. WTH was I on that day  
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Maybe I'm snowblind and just fooling myself (I don't believe it), but I think this renegade thread of mine reminds some of us Styx fans of the best of times and I can't let it sail away into the archives just yet. I didn't plan to BTT this again, but like I was saying to my friend Lorelei (such a lady, BTW) just the other day, "Babe, nothing ever goes as planned."
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| I've seen them three times. 1981 in Berlin, 1996 in Fargo and 2003 in Grand Forks. The best show of the three was actually the 1996 show. The 1981 show seemed very rehearsed, even stiff, and the 2003 show wasn't terribly good. But in the 1996 show, they really seemed to be trying to connect with the audience. I still listen to Man in the Wilderness every year on my birthday. |
