Grand Rapids review

[Pamela]

The rest of the band members had no problems cashing the checks made that much bigger due to Dennis's hits.

 

My favorite Styx music of all is their progressive stuff, of which Dennis had a particular gift for. Whoever mentioned his voice as being ideally suited for such is absolutely right.

 

His best compositions as far as my personal opinion goes are:

 

Suite Madame Blue

Castle Walls

POE

Queen of Spades

 

All have prog elements and all feature his outstanding voice and musicianship.

 

Now as for Tommy....this guy can lay claim to numerous "non-rocking" songs from Styx's discography:

 

Crystal Ball (great song....but not exactly hard-rocking)

Sing for the Day (gag)

Superstars (mellow....just like Dennis's work)

Boat on the River (folksy, reminiscent of Eastern European Polkas)

She Cares (gag)

 

Tommy's best prog-rock song is always going to be Man in the Wilderness. But the killer aspect of that song is those outstanding synths....

 

It bothers me that Tommy/JY decided they were better than Dennis as far as rock musicianship goes. JY has never been all that talented....his voice is terrible....and well....in my mind, Tommy and Dennis are not all that different. So the ousting of DDY has always sat wrong with me.

Edited March 26, 2010 by Pamela

[Boomchild]

It bothers me that Tommy/JY decided they were better than Dennis as far as rock musicianship goes. JY has never been all that talented....his voice is terrible....and well....in my mind, Tommy and Dennis are not all that different. So the ousting of DDY has always sat wrong with me.

What is really sad is JY's attitude towards DDY. The fact is that out of all three of them, JY's contributions had the least to do with the bands success. Just look at his attempt to be a solo artist, no one was interested. Don't get me wrong, I think that he is a excellent guitarist and his voice added distinction to the harmonies on the vocals. It also has been mentioned by band members that when it came time for submitting songs for a project he was always that last to submit songs and generally the songs needed the most work to make them suitable to be included on albums. While in the past he has stated he has respect for DDY's contributions, most of his actions and comments seem to prove the opposite.

[Pamela]

What is really sad is JY's attitude towards DDY. The fact is that out of all three of them, JY's contributions had the least to do with the bands success. Just look at his attempt to be a solo artist, no one was interested. Don't get me wrong, I think that he is a excellent guitarist and his voice added distinction to the harmonies on the vocals. It also has been mentioned by band members that when it came time for submitting songs for a project he was always that last to submit songs and generally the songs needed the most work to make them suitable to be included on albums. While in the past he has stated he has respect for DDY's contributions, most of his actions and comments seem to prove the opposite.

 

Agreed. I wonder also, since JY apparently fancied himself as a hard-rocking kind of guy, just what made him stay in Styx (Dennis's band first)at all? Even their music from the Wooden Nickel days cannot qualify as the sort of rock JY espoused.

 

The hypocrisy of it all is really quite shocking. Yet, JY thinks Tommy is the cat's meow? Huh? What? It just makes no sense.

Edited March 28, 2010 by Pamela

[Rubulator2k]

Frankly... in 83 when the band was falling apart... You didnt see JY doing much to keep Tommy in the band... he was happy to try to ride the DDY gravy train... unfortunately, they decided to take a break and poor JY had to try a solo project and do some heavy lifting...

 

Then in 91, JY was right there to cash the checks in the reincarnation... He said ok, to letting DDY have the "veto power contract" of that era... he coulda said no... and walked... he didnt... DDY was "good for the band" a money maker...

 

Then in 1999 when the winds of war were brewing again... JY followed the money... Tommy... because he knew DDY didnt want to tour as much anymore and that would lead to... you guessed it... smaller checks...

 

I dont know if you see the pattern here... no.. not just that I dont care for Mr. Young all that much these days... but that JY has always been for JY... And what a charmed life he has had... he has played an above average musical talent (his guitar work is pretty damn good) into staying attached to one of the best musical corporations over the last 40 years...

 

He may be a turd (IMO), but he aint no dummy...

[Ron]

Wow has this thread taken an interesting turn!

First, let me explain what bugs be about the "Dennis doesn't rock" statement: The current incarnation of Styx, and their fans as well, use this line, as well as "Dennis wanted to go into theater" as a way to pump up their version of the group, and that it really rocks. Remember, the winners of wars write the history books. So all of the progressive stuff that Dennis produced gets omitted, because it is deemed not important, since it does not strengthen the current band. People's Choice award? big deal. Dennis wants to be on Broadway. So we'll go and get two songs put in a Broadway show, and perform on stage on Broadway after it debuts. But the yes-men/women turn a blind eye. Unfortunately if you say something loudly and a lot of times, people will believe it, even if it's (not entirely) the truth.

 

Now concerning how much Styx "rocked": We have compartmentalized our music so much nowadays that everything is some niche of some sort. So how can it be described? Ballads aside, you can't really dance to any Styx song. The late 70's material has all of the pomp of progressive rock (how else do you describe the opening bars of "Grand Illusion"?), and then there is the trait of many Styx songs, that start of slow or soft, and "kick in" later.

 

As far as some of the other comments, the "follow the money" attitude is prevalent in any business. It's just how things happen, for good or for bad.

 

 

and blt, no one gets grief on this site for stating their opinion. There is no name-calling or other childish actions here. We have intelligent discussions and share opinions.

[Boomchild]

Wow has this thread taken an interesting turn!

First, let me explain what bugs be about the "Dennis doesn't rock" statement: The current incarnation of Styx, and their fans as well, use this line, as well as "Dennis wanted to go into theater" as a way to pump up their version of the group, and that it really rocks. Remember, the winners of wars write the history books. So all of the progressive stuff that Dennis produced gets omitted, because it is deemed not important, since it does not strengthen the current band. People's Choice award? big deal. Dennis wants to be on Broadway. So we'll go and get two songs put in a Broadway show, and perform on stage on Broadway after it debuts. But the yes-men/women turn a blind eye. Unfortunately if you say something loudly and a lot of times, people will believe it, even if it's (not entirely) the truth.

 

Now concerning how much Styx "rocked": We have compartmentalized our music so much nowadays that everything is some niche of some sort. So how can it be described? Ballads aside, you can't really dance to any Styx song. The late 70's material has all of the pomp of progressive rock (how else do you describe the opening bars of "Grand Illusion"?), and then there is the trait of many Styx songs, that start of slow or soft, and "kick in" later.

 

As far as some of the other comments, the "follow the money" attitude is prevalent in any business. It's just how things happen, for good or for bad.

 

 

and blt, no one gets grief on this site for stating their opinion. There is no name-calling or other childish actions here. We have intelligent discussions and share opinions.

I think Ron's points are very well put. I think that the reasons stated for the split are more of the lesser points of their issues with each other. To me it seems more about clashing egos, personalities and the struggle for control of the band itself. I think JY's appearance to side with TS is due to the fact that TS may be less apt to be as outspoken about things until it builds up and then he reacts. One thing is certain and that is if there isn't a Styx then there isn't a performing career for JY. So that being the case JY is going to point himself in the direction that keeps the Styx train running.