What do you think of Styx?

they were pretty big in america, weren't they?
i don't think they were really popular anywhere else, though i could be wrong?
how does america view the band, are they considered an all-time great?
if you asked people here in oz about the band i think the replies would be that they were a ballads band. lady and babe were the only big songs that were hits here i think.

i got into them around the styx II lp, which is still my favourite.
at first i didn't like dennis de young's over the top vibrato, but as i liked everything else on the record i soon got used to it.
i think only cliff richard can rival his vibrato!

i faithfully bought all their albums up to and including pieces of eight.
there were some lps i didn't like all that much and some i really did.
i think tommy shaw softened their overall sound a bit and made them less progressive. or maybe that just happened naturally as the band aged?
mind you shaw has come up with some good rockers in his time.
i wish they'd of kept up with the prog side a lot more.

the only album i have of theirs now is their second one. i've burnt a cd with my favourite cuts from the other lps i had of theirs.

once de young left, styx was over as far as i'm concerned.
couldn't stand paradise theatre. i think de young was in his element on that album. he always sounded like he belonged in a stage musical more than a rock band.

 

The most horrible, grating, finger-nails-on-a-chalkboard sound I have ever heard. And that's just the singer. They are named after a river in hell...

 

I like some of their music, especially The Grand Illusion. Styx were fairly popular in the late 70s and early 80s in the US. They have been a popular touring act since that time. I am not sure what is going on with them in recent years.

Scott

 

they were briefly huge here in the early '80s, when I was a prepubescent lad. Even then they weren't my speed... they're nearly forgotten now. Occasionally you hear "Come Sail Away," but I think that's it.

 

2nd concert I attended was the Cornerstone tour in 79 or 80, I forget which.

I like some the pre Tommy Shaw albums and material with him up to and including Pieces of Eight and then I lost all interest. The Grand Illusion is their best album, IMO.

 

I think they are an under rated band.I don't like everything they did but I do like some.

 

In Germany they had one big hit: "Boat On The River"
That's the song people remember them for. "Too Much Time On My Hands"and "Mr. Roboto" were minor hits too.

I like a couple of their albums, "The Grand Illusion", "Pieces Of Eight" and "Paradise Theater" come to mind. I admit the cheese factor is high in their music but I don't mind a bit of cheese every now and then.

 

The Styx songs I have are "Come Sail Away", "Too Much Time On My Hands" and "Renegade". Also, I really enjoyed their episode of VH1's Behind The Music. Kilroy Was Here is a classic head scratcher, for me anyway. MTV hyped it so much at the time, you might think it was the second coming of Tommy or The Wall or similar.

 

I was a Styx fan in early High school. I loved all of their albums from Cornerstone to Paradise theatre. I didn't much care for their earlier stuff back then. I'm undecided as to whether Pieces of 8 or Grand illusion was their best album.

I totally lost interest in the band with their Mr Roboto album though. That album totally alienated me as a fan. I progressed onto Jazz from that point, and I never looked back.

 

I like Styx just fine. Great vocal harmonies and Tommy/JY are a pretty underrated guitar duo IMHO. The rythm section is really lacking for me. The Panozzo brothers just never played anything that made me take notice. Dennis can be a bit cheesy but he is a talented keyboard player and singer in a Broadway kind of way. The early more progressive stuff is interesting and "Lady" is a killer track. They're good.

 

I really love (and own) theior first 8 albums on vinyl !!! Great stuff !!!

 

I liked them back in the college days, mid-1970s. Equinox and Crystal Ball, with "Put Me On, Light Up, Lorelei, Mademoiselle, etc. Of course, "Lady" was the hit. Lots of memories from the UC Riverside dorms, B2 West.

 

They couldn't fit in Jann Wenner's redwood hottub, so they were deemed "uncool" by the Cool Rock Kids, but they're a perfectly legitimate rock band.

 

Hated by critics at the time but they were pretty popular with people and fm radio stations

 

I liked them a lot as a kid in the early-80's, then grew tired. A few years ago I regained interest. I find "Equinox" and "The Grand Illusion" to be excellent albums.

 

A little bit of a Prog gone wrong...no?

 

Boring band!

 

Never heard of them

 

Those are my favorites too.

Styx have always been uncool, but I think they were really quite good up through "Pieces of Eight". A guilty pleasure kind of band for sure and not something I reach for often. Usually, it's either the two albums you reference or the Wooden Nickel era albums I put on when I feel like hearing Styx.

 

The only album I like all the way through is The Grand Illusion, but I like their hits and a few other album cuts too. I don't play them too often.

 

Really loved Styx's The Grand Illusion and Pieces of Eight when I was a teenager. But I loved Kansas more. Haven't listened to much of either recently.

 

Pieces of 8 and Paradise Theater are in my collection. I like them a bit, but Cornerstone and Kilroy really killed them for me. Paradise Theater was a real surprise….it works well and really brought the band to their peak, which ended quickly with Killroy.

 

I try not to. Well, ok. I own the A&M 25th Anniversary comp which occasionally gets play.

 

One of the greatest American hard rock bands of all time.

 

It's too early for an April fool.