Putting to one side, REO SPEEDWAGON, JOURNEY and TOTO, could there have been a bigger exponent of the rather contradictory softest hard-rock act ever than fellow stadium rockers STYX. In terms of late-70s-80s output, probably no. Never quite shaking off their prog tag, and forever musically akin to the likes of YES and RUSH (lying somewhere in the middle), anyone outside the inner-circle of STYX acolytes will associate the band with their 1979 chart-topping power-ballad, `Babe’ – fully-fledged disciples will wax lyrical of the quintet’s sublime concept LPs from The Grand Illusion and Pieces Of Eight, to Cornerstone and Paradise Theater, respectively; however the writing was on the er… wall in the wake of the rather ambitious, Kilroy Was Here.
One can trace the band’s roots back to 1961, when south side Chicago schoolboys Dennis De Young and fraternal twins Chuck and John Panozzo formed The Tradewinds. Put to the back of the class until they’d just about wrapped up their formal education in ’64, the band – with the addition of guitarist Tom Nardini – met up again a few years later at Chicago State College, where they were studying to be teachers. In 1969, Nardini became disillusioned with TW4 – their moniker from the mid-60s – and in came college buddy, John Curulewski (guitar); Dennis was now on vocals and keyboards, Chuck was on bass and sibling John on drums. With the line-up completed by second guitarist, James “J.Y.” Young, the quintet came to the attention of Bill Traut, who signed them in ’72 to his small co-owned independent Wooden Nickel Records. Inspired by the mythological Greek river that runs beneath the Earth and the Underworld, the players were content on going forward with the name STYX.
Initially touting a classical/art-rock fusion with overblown vocal arrangements, the group debuted with the eponymous STYX (1972) {*4}. Although the Top 200 album spawned a Hot 100 single in `Best Thing’, it was otherwise weighed-down by elements of ELP and YES by way of the classically-addled segment of Aaron Copeland’s `Fanfare For The Common Man’ isolated within the pomp-and-circumstantial 13 minutes of opening gambit, `Movement For The Common Man’. Revealing other, shorter pieces, not penned by messrs Young & De Young, there was nothing special in Paul Frank’s `Right Away’, Mark Gaddis’s `What Has Come Between Us’, Lewis Mark’s `Quick Is The Beat Of My Heart’ and George S. Clinton’s pre-cinematic, `After You Leave Me’.
But for J.S. Bach’s `Little Fugue In “G”’, DeYoung or Curulewski autographed most of the appropriately-titled STYX II (1973) {*5}, which showed signs of improvement and a slow-burning hit: `Lady’. A beautiful ballad that highlighted the dream vocals of its maker, DeYoung, a re-issue of the track a few years on, heralded the band’s first Top 10 success and propelled its re-named (“LADY”) sophomore set into a belated Top 20 position. Compared to the heavenly twin axe-assaults of (Duane and Dickey) The ALLMAN BROTHERS, STYX’s own dream went on forever through the exhaustive licks of epic tracks, `A Day’ and `Father O.S.A.’.
In stark contrast and regarded by Dennis as “one of the worst recorded and produced albums in the history of music”, 1974’s THE SERPENT IS RISING {*3} somehow managed to secure another Top 200 entry. Whether it was down to the bombastic production techniques of Barry Mraz and the group themselves, or closing ELP-esque ditties such as `Krakatoa’ (featuring BEAVER & KRAUSE) and `Hallelujah Chorus’ (from Handel’s Messiah), STYX failed to grasp the irony and cool emotion of prog-rock.
Wooden Nickel Records had now been eaten up by the mighty R.C.A., but sticking with knob-twiddlers Bill Traut and John Ryan, the band’s fourth album, MAN OF MIRACLES (1974) {*4}, was another to feel the wrath of the reviewer; a case of STYX and stones, maybe. Depicting a sorcerer taking control of the planets (thankfully a certain Holst classic was not showcased), the quintet could not pull out any rabbits from the wizard’s hat on this occasion. The cheek of sneaking in another version of `Best Thing’ was undone years later, when a re-vamped LP (as “Miracles”) substituted the track with their re-tread of The KNICKERBOCKERS’ `Lies’; the long-awaited CD version supplanted an `Unfinished Song’.
On the back of the aforementioned `Lady’ resurgence and a minor hit from the previous set, `You Need Love’, STYX signed on the dotted line to A&M Records. Critically, the band were still taking a pasting from YES fans, and although the slightly-improved EQUINOX (1975) {*5} cracked the Top 60 (with its attendant pop-fuelled single, `Lorelei’, gate-crashing the Top 30), Curulewski decided that he’d had enough of the bright lights/big city. On the eve of a promotional tour, the remaining crew had to find a worthy deputy to fill his shoes. The prog gods were certainly on their side when singer/songwriter/guitarist Tommy Shaw was found. Along with DeYoung’s best pieces ever, the BUDGIE-ish Bicentennial-endorsed `Suite Madame Blue’, Tommy would help steer the band in a more commercial direction. Widely credited with inventing American pomp-rock, STYX only really started to take their falsetto-warbling excess (with either Shaw or DeYoung) to the masses following 1976’s CRYSTAL BALL {*6}. Highlighting a strident slice of glory-hunting glam-rock in the Shaw-sung redemption of `Mademoiselle’ (a Top 40 hit), there were still a few nuances to iron out, namely their fixation with the classics, this time around supplied by Debussy’s `Clair De Lune’, segued alongside finale `Ballerina’.
Slowly but surely STYX swelled their fanbase with wide-scale touring and an increasingly radio-friendly sound. Their big break finally arrived the following year with the multi-million-selling THE GRAND ILLUSION (1977) {*8}. As its attendant, classically-infused `Come Sail Away’ also soared into the Top 10 (one must hear the full album version), prog fans must’ve wondered what river STYX had been hiding in for all those years. DeYoung’s wizardry keyboard workouts were easily the group’s forte, and when the partly-acoustic hook line and sinker `Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)’ dented the Top 30, America had finally found a group to truly file under – Classic Prog; also check out the opening title track, `Miss America’ and the BE-BOP DELUXE-esque `Superstars’.
The song remained the same for PIECES OF EIGHT (1978) {*8}, another set that achieved a fine balance between melody, power and stride-splitting vocal histrionics from messrs De Young and Shaw. Equalling its predecessor in sales and chart position (#6), the conceptual theme of greed, status and material acquisitions over dreams and ambitions, were locked in to its ten tracks, including homeland hits, `Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)’ and the double-header, `Renegade’ and `Sing For The Day’.
Written by Dennis for his wife Suzanne, chart-topper `Babe’ was their slushiest power-ballad since `Lady’. A breakthrough in Britain, where they’d previously failed to conquer, and a major feature on 1979’s CORNERSTONE {*7}, STYX would find themselves pigeonholed by discerning rock fans who’d moved with the fickle tide of the new wave into what they thought was rockier, harder-edged territory. Okay, there was other soft-rock flirtations in the mould of the SUPERTRAMP-cloned `Why Me’ and relative flop 45, `Borrowed Time’, but in the folk-inflected `Boat On A River’ and `Love In The Midnight’, they were guaranteed a thumbs up from their truest of fans.
A lavishly-packaged fantastical concept piece about a fictional venue, PARADISE THEATER (1981) {*7}, became the group’s first (and only) No.1 set, while in Britain it climbed into the Top 10. Arguably among the STYX’s most affecting work, the record spawned two Top 10 singles, `The Best Of Times’ (very BILLY JOEL) and `Too Much Time On My Hands’. Causing a trickle of controversy when Tipper Gore (and the PMRC: the people who could find the time and equipment to play vinyl-LPs backwards!), suggested the anti-drug missive in De Young’s `Snowblind’ to contain subliminal Satanic messages. Pigs were high in the sky that day.
Uncannily centering on the increasingly controversial issue of censorship, hidden in a post-Orwelian dictatorship outlawing rock’n’roll, yet another concept piece, the rock-opera KILROY WAS HERE (1983) {*6}, managed to create a stir big enough to garner a Top 3 place. With 1984 just around the corner, the fear of an impending apocalypse probably helped Top 10 sales figures of `Mr. Roboto’ and `Don’t Let It End’. On reflection, De Young’s impassioned theatrical “Phantom mask” was slightly embarrassing, although it was in full flow on the PMRC-baiting `Heavy Metal Poisoning’ and the syrupy `Haven’t We Been Here Before?’.
Opening with one fresh studio hit, `Music Time’, the live CAUGHT IN THE ACT (1984) {*4} was STYX’s career-spanning swansong collection. That same year saw both DE YOUNG and SHAW releasing solo debuts, Desert Moon and Girls With Guns, respectively. Both sets performed relatively well, although Den’s pop-ier affair spawned a Top 10 hit single courtesy of the title track. Subsequent mid-to-late-80s album efforts (DE YOUNG’s Back To The World and Boomchild, plus SHAW’s What If and Ambition) failed to capture the public’s imagination and the inevitable STYX re-formation album was on the cards.
Despite the absence of DAMN YANKEES-bound SHAW (his berth taken by soloist Glen Burtnik), EDGE OF THE CENTURY (1990) {*4} was a relative commercial success, housing a massive Top 3 hit in `Show Me The Way’; and others not so massive in `Love Is The Ritual’ and `Love At First Sight’. It was probably another excuse for the Rolling Stone mag to give another one of their albums the thumbs down.
Come the mid-90s, STYX were back again with another re-formation, this time with Tommy Shaw back in the ranks, but without the cirrhosis-of-the-liver-stricken John Panozzo, who died July 16, 1996 as the band were about to take to the road. Replaced by Todd Sucherman, STYX recorded and released their live comeback set, RETURN TO PARADISE (1997) {*5}. Bookended by a couple of Shaw-penned studio songs, `On My Way’ and `Dear John’ (De Young’s `Paradise’ followed the opener), STYX were at least back to the “best of times”.
While the previous album had consisted largely of old material, BRAVE NEW WORLD (1999) {*4}, was a set of brand-spanking-new stuff. In an attempt to sound contemporary, but simultaneously railing against the march of time and the current musical climate, only really `Everything Is Cool’ and a few pieces penned with Jack Blades were worthy enough.
Fans also longing for the good old days could torture themselves at will with the self-explanatory STYX WORLD: LIVE 2001 {*3}; maybe the inclusion of Scots-born/Canadian-raised Lawrence Gowan for stalwart De Young was too much to take. On the other hand, and with a little help from their friends, BRIAN WILSON, actor Billy Bob Thorton and TENACIOUS D, CYCLORAMA (2003) {*6}, was one of the better reformation-era STYX albums. With some of the trademark heavy-handedness leavened by the pop smarts of `Kiss Your Ass Goodbye’ and the free ’n’ loose caterwauling of `Bourgeois Pig’ (the latter aided and abetted by the out-going Chuck), the 5-piece of Shaw, Gowan, Burtnik, Young and Sucherman, were in the charts again, albeit at only #127.
Whether it was a shock to the system when STYX offered up a covers record as their next venture, fans still had to buy it out of the curiosity factor. Without Burtnik, who was superseded by bassist Ricky Phillips (ex-BAD ENGLISH), the Top 50 set BIG BANG THEORY (2005) {*5} went down reasonably well with baying critics. Having already performed The BEATLES’ `I Am The Walrus’ in concert the year prior, STYX took fans of Classic Rock tracks by The WHO, BLIND FAITH, The ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND, PROCOL HARUM, The LOVIN’ SPOONFUL, The JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE, The PRETTY THINGS, FREE, and others to a new place; note that Chuck made a re-entrance on a re-vamp of JETHRO TULL’s `Locomotive Breath’.
Easing back in their old age, STYX succumbed to the odd release: namely ONE WITH EVERYTHING: Styx And The Contemporary Youth Orchestra (2006) {*5} – live May 25, 2006 at Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio – the re-recorded mini-double REGENERATION: VOLUME I & II (2011) {*5}, and the classic combinative THE GRAND ILLUSION / PIECES OF EIGHT: LIVE (2012) {*6}.
On the back of yet another cash-in concert set, LIVE AT THE ORLEANS ARENA, LAS VEGAS (2015) {*6} – `Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)’ featuring DON FELDER – sextet STYX finally unveiled their first studio set proper in over a dozen years, THE MISSION (2017) {*7}. A sci-fi concept album depicting future times for us mere mortals on a Mars trip, 2033, the Top 50 record had its grandiose prog-rock moments, somewhere in line with “Paradise Theater”. Never mind the bollocks storyline, STYX acolytes were on a high with `Hundred Million Miles From Home’, `Radio Silence’, `Gone Gone Gone’, `Locomotive’ and `The Outpost’.
One can trace the band’s roots back to 1961, when south side Chicago schoolboys Dennis De Young and fraternal twins Chuck and John Panozzo formed The Tradewinds. Put to the back of the class until they’d just about wrapped up their formal education in ’64, the band – with the addition of guitarist Tom Nardini – met up again a few years later at Chicago State College, where they were studying to be teachers. In 1969, Nardini became disillusioned with TW4 – their moniker from the mid-60s – and in came college buddy, John Curulewski (guitar); Dennis was now on vocals and keyboards, Chuck was on bass and sibling John on drums. With the line-up completed by second guitarist, James “J.Y.” Young, the quintet came to the attention of Bill Traut, who signed them in ’72 to his small co-owned independent Wooden Nickel Records. Inspired by the mythological Greek river that runs beneath the Earth and the Underworld, the players were content on going forward with the name STYX.
Initially touting a classical/art-rock fusion with overblown vocal arrangements, the group debuted with the eponymous STYX (1972) {*4}. Although the Top 200 album spawned a Hot 100 single in `Best Thing’, it was otherwise weighed-down by elements of ELP and YES by way of the classically-addled segment of Aaron Copeland’s `Fanfare For The Common Man’ isolated within the pomp-and-circumstantial 13 minutes of opening gambit, `Movement For The Common Man’. Revealing other, shorter pieces, not penned by messrs Young & De Young, there was nothing special in Paul Frank’s `Right Away’, Mark Gaddis’s `What Has Come Between Us’, Lewis Mark’s `Quick Is The Beat Of My Heart’ and George S. Clinton’s pre-cinematic, `After You Leave Me’.
But for J.S. Bach’s `Little Fugue In “G”’, DeYoung or Curulewski autographed most of the appropriately-titled STYX II (1973) {*5}, which showed signs of improvement and a slow-burning hit: `Lady’. A beautiful ballad that highlighted the dream vocals of its maker, DeYoung, a re-issue of the track a few years on, heralded the band’s first Top 10 success and propelled its re-named (“LADY”) sophomore set into a belated Top 20 position. Compared to the heavenly twin axe-assaults of (Duane and Dickey) The ALLMAN BROTHERS, STYX’s own dream went on forever through the exhaustive licks of epic tracks, `A Day’ and `Father O.S.A.’.
In stark contrast and regarded by Dennis as “one of the worst recorded and produced albums in the history of music”, 1974’s THE SERPENT IS RISING {*3} somehow managed to secure another Top 200 entry. Whether it was down to the bombastic production techniques of Barry Mraz and the group themselves, or closing ELP-esque ditties such as `Krakatoa’ (featuring BEAVER & KRAUSE) and `Hallelujah Chorus’ (from Handel’s Messiah), STYX failed to grasp the irony and cool emotion of prog-rock.
Wooden Nickel Records had now been eaten up by the mighty R.C.A., but sticking with knob-twiddlers Bill Traut and John Ryan, the band’s fourth album, MAN OF MIRACLES (1974) {*4}, was another to feel the wrath of the reviewer; a case of STYX and stones, maybe. Depicting a sorcerer taking control of the planets (thankfully a certain Holst classic was not showcased), the quintet could not pull out any rabbits from the wizard’s hat on this occasion. The cheek of sneaking in another version of `Best Thing’ was undone years later, when a re-vamped LP (as “Miracles”) substituted the track with their re-tread of The KNICKERBOCKERS’ `Lies’; the long-awaited CD version supplanted an `Unfinished Song’.
On the back of the aforementioned `Lady’ resurgence and a minor hit from the previous set, `You Need Love’, STYX signed on the dotted line to A&M Records. Critically, the band were still taking a pasting from YES fans, and although the slightly-improved EQUINOX (1975) {*5} cracked the Top 60 (with its attendant pop-fuelled single, `Lorelei’, gate-crashing the Top 30), Curulewski decided that he’d had enough of the bright lights/big city. On the eve of a promotional tour, the remaining crew had to find a worthy deputy to fill his shoes. The prog gods were certainly on their side when singer/songwriter/guitarist Tommy Shaw was found. Along with DeYoung’s best pieces ever, the BUDGIE-ish Bicentennial-endorsed `Suite Madame Blue’, Tommy would help steer the band in a more commercial direction. Widely credited with inventing American pomp-rock, STYX only really started to take their falsetto-warbling excess (with either Shaw or DeYoung) to the masses following 1976’s CRYSTAL BALL {*6}. Highlighting a strident slice of glory-hunting glam-rock in the Shaw-sung redemption of `Mademoiselle’ (a Top 40 hit), there were still a few nuances to iron out, namely their fixation with the classics, this time around supplied by Debussy’s `Clair De Lune’, segued alongside finale `Ballerina’.
Slowly but surely STYX swelled their fanbase with wide-scale touring and an increasingly radio-friendly sound. Their big break finally arrived the following year with the multi-million-selling THE GRAND ILLUSION (1977) {*8}. As its attendant, classically-infused `Come Sail Away’ also soared into the Top 10 (one must hear the full album version), prog fans must’ve wondered what river STYX had been hiding in for all those years. DeYoung’s wizardry keyboard workouts were easily the group’s forte, and when the partly-acoustic hook line and sinker `Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)’ dented the Top 30, America had finally found a group to truly file under – Classic Prog; also check out the opening title track, `Miss America’ and the BE-BOP DELUXE-esque `Superstars’.
The song remained the same for PIECES OF EIGHT (1978) {*8}, another set that achieved a fine balance between melody, power and stride-splitting vocal histrionics from messrs De Young and Shaw. Equalling its predecessor in sales and chart position (#6), the conceptual theme of greed, status and material acquisitions over dreams and ambitions, were locked in to its ten tracks, including homeland hits, `Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)’ and the double-header, `Renegade’ and `Sing For The Day’.
Written by Dennis for his wife Suzanne, chart-topper `Babe’ was their slushiest power-ballad since `Lady’. A breakthrough in Britain, where they’d previously failed to conquer, and a major feature on 1979’s CORNERSTONE {*7}, STYX would find themselves pigeonholed by discerning rock fans who’d moved with the fickle tide of the new wave into what they thought was rockier, harder-edged territory. Okay, there was other soft-rock flirtations in the mould of the SUPERTRAMP-cloned `Why Me’ and relative flop 45, `Borrowed Time’, but in the folk-inflected `Boat On A River’ and `Love In The Midnight’, they were guaranteed a thumbs up from their truest of fans.
A lavishly-packaged fantastical concept piece about a fictional venue, PARADISE THEATER (1981) {*7}, became the group’s first (and only) No.1 set, while in Britain it climbed into the Top 10. Arguably among the STYX’s most affecting work, the record spawned two Top 10 singles, `The Best Of Times’ (very BILLY JOEL) and `Too Much Time On My Hands’. Causing a trickle of controversy when Tipper Gore (and the PMRC: the people who could find the time and equipment to play vinyl-LPs backwards!), suggested the anti-drug missive in De Young’s `Snowblind’ to contain subliminal Satanic messages. Pigs were high in the sky that day.
Uncannily centering on the increasingly controversial issue of censorship, hidden in a post-Orwelian dictatorship outlawing rock’n’roll, yet another concept piece, the rock-opera KILROY WAS HERE (1983) {*6}, managed to create a stir big enough to garner a Top 3 place. With 1984 just around the corner, the fear of an impending apocalypse probably helped Top 10 sales figures of `Mr. Roboto’ and `Don’t Let It End’. On reflection, De Young’s impassioned theatrical “Phantom mask” was slightly embarrassing, although it was in full flow on the PMRC-baiting `Heavy Metal Poisoning’ and the syrupy `Haven’t We Been Here Before?’.
Opening with one fresh studio hit, `Music Time’, the live CAUGHT IN THE ACT (1984) {*4} was STYX’s career-spanning swansong collection. That same year saw both DE YOUNG and SHAW releasing solo debuts, Desert Moon and Girls With Guns, respectively. Both sets performed relatively well, although Den’s pop-ier affair spawned a Top 10 hit single courtesy of the title track. Subsequent mid-to-late-80s album efforts (DE YOUNG’s Back To The World and Boomchild, plus SHAW’s What If and Ambition) failed to capture the public’s imagination and the inevitable STYX re-formation album was on the cards.
Despite the absence of DAMN YANKEES-bound SHAW (his berth taken by soloist Glen Burtnik), EDGE OF THE CENTURY (1990) {*4} was a relative commercial success, housing a massive Top 3 hit in `Show Me The Way’; and others not so massive in `Love Is The Ritual’ and `Love At First Sight’. It was probably another excuse for the Rolling Stone mag to give another one of their albums the thumbs down.
Come the mid-90s, STYX were back again with another re-formation, this time with Tommy Shaw back in the ranks, but without the cirrhosis-of-the-liver-stricken John Panozzo, who died July 16, 1996 as the band were about to take to the road. Replaced by Todd Sucherman, STYX recorded and released their live comeback set, RETURN TO PARADISE (1997) {*5}. Bookended by a couple of Shaw-penned studio songs, `On My Way’ and `Dear John’ (De Young’s `Paradise’ followed the opener), STYX were at least back to the “best of times”.
While the previous album had consisted largely of old material, BRAVE NEW WORLD (1999) {*4}, was a set of brand-spanking-new stuff. In an attempt to sound contemporary, but simultaneously railing against the march of time and the current musical climate, only really `Everything Is Cool’ and a few pieces penned with Jack Blades were worthy enough.
Fans also longing for the good old days could torture themselves at will with the self-explanatory STYX WORLD: LIVE 2001 {*3}; maybe the inclusion of Scots-born/Canadian-raised Lawrence Gowan for stalwart De Young was too much to take. On the other hand, and with a little help from their friends, BRIAN WILSON, actor Billy Bob Thorton and TENACIOUS D, CYCLORAMA (2003) {*6}, was one of the better reformation-era STYX albums. With some of the trademark heavy-handedness leavened by the pop smarts of `Kiss Your Ass Goodbye’ and the free ’n’ loose caterwauling of `Bourgeois Pig’ (the latter aided and abetted by the out-going Chuck), the 5-piece of Shaw, Gowan, Burtnik, Young and Sucherman, were in the charts again, albeit at only #127.
Whether it was a shock to the system when STYX offered up a covers record as their next venture, fans still had to buy it out of the curiosity factor. Without Burtnik, who was superseded by bassist Ricky Phillips (ex-BAD ENGLISH), the Top 50 set BIG BANG THEORY (2005) {*5} went down reasonably well with baying critics. Having already performed The BEATLES’ `I Am The Walrus’ in concert the year prior, STYX took fans of Classic Rock tracks by The WHO, BLIND FAITH, The ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND, PROCOL HARUM, The LOVIN’ SPOONFUL, The JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE, The PRETTY THINGS, FREE, and others to a new place; note that Chuck made a re-entrance on a re-vamp of JETHRO TULL’s `Locomotive Breath’.
Easing back in their old age, STYX succumbed to the odd release: namely ONE WITH EVERYTHING: Styx And The Contemporary Youth Orchestra (2006) {*5} – live May 25, 2006 at Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio – the re-recorded mini-double REGENERATION: VOLUME I & II (2011) {*5}, and the classic combinative THE GRAND ILLUSION / PIECES OF EIGHT: LIVE (2012) {*6}.
On the back of yet another cash-in concert set, LIVE AT THE ORLEANS ARENA, LAS VEGAS (2015) {*6} – `Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)’ featuring DON FELDER – sextet STYX finally unveiled their first studio set proper in over a dozen years, THE MISSION (2017) {*7}. A sci-fi concept album depicting future times for us mere mortals on a Mars trip, 2033, the Top 50 record had its grandiose prog-rock moments, somewhere in line with “Paradise Theater”. Never mind the bollocks storyline, STYX acolytes were on a high with `Hundred Million Miles From Home’, `Radio Silence’, `Gone Gone Gone’, `Locomotive’ and `The Outpost’.