Styx - Greatest Hits poll

"renegade" easy

this has to be "Renegade," right?

wonder how many will vote "Mr. Roboto?"

oh wait, i overlooked "Come Sail Away," damn.

vh1 classic used to play this all the time for some reason, always found it hilarious and ended up developing a soft spot for it somehow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cFOLFtw2Ic

lyrics are clear as day but i somehow didn't know until i performed it at karaoke that the narrator of 'come sail away' is abducted by aliens at the end

in some way (not enough ways mind you) the american queen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Znv0Nj5iKk

a truly horrible band though tommy shaw seems like a nice enough guy

^ damn yankees fan

this is my favorite version of "roboto" - if you make it all the way to the end without looking away I'll buy you a beer next time I'm in town

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we6mrCmT4O4

lyrics are clear as day but i somehow didn't know until i performed it at karaoke that the narrator of 'come sail away' is abducted by aliens at the end

iirc when "come sail away" made #1 casey kasem's intro to it explained the song's plot that week

thread has inspired me to listen to 'heavy metal poisoning'

good lord

"Suite Madame Blue" easily.

Who will vote for "Show Me the Way"?

man when i was nine i totally wanted to see that kilroy movie

deyoung's got moves. i guess he figured since they couldn't mount the full kilroy he was gonna attempt to carry the load himself, like hal holbrook or val kilmer. always amused by styx fans that act like 'roboto' was such a fiasco and betrayal, like um you guys have heard the pre-kilroy stuff right? the drop wasn't that far guys. that styx live clip i posted is surprisingly shredding though, not shake to yr soul surprisingly rocking like fleetwood mac doing 'rhiannon' on midnight special but still worth checking out maybe.

"Babe" is a decent enough Lionel Richie rip though a/b'd with any Commodores ballad from that era it'll suffer badly

iirc when "come sail away" made #1 casey kasem's intro to it explained the song's plot that week

shedding a tear i probably will never get to hear this, library of alexandria all over again imo

haha sund4r was it you who nominated 'suite madame blue' for the 70s poll? i remember listening to it and thinking 'of course, as with every other 70s rock band the early stuff rocks harder than you'd ever imagine'.

"Crystal Ball" by a hair over "Fooling Yourself".

jesus i had no memory of 'show me the way' but this thing made it all the way to #3. in 1990. desert storm tie in apparently but STILL. styx had a single go to #3 in 1990. and it was this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXf2PbEPQ-Y

I want to kick every ass associated with that video

you ain't heard nothing yet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL9y9CcnEJQ

Voted "Come Sail Away," my first favorite; I listened to it over and over until I'd learned all the lyrics and then wrote them out in red felt-tip on the album sleeve. _I_ knew the guy was abducted by aliens. If you had demanded that my 13-year-old self choose once and for all between "Come Sail Away" and "Point of Know Return," my 13-year-old self would have been even glummer than he already was.

"Fooling Yourself" (the canonical Styx keyboard solo) and "Grand Illusion" (canonical Styx pomp) very close behind, and jeez, how is "Rockin' The Paradise" not on a Styx greatest hits record?

Yep, I like Styx.

haha sund4r was it you who nominated 'suite madame blue' for the 70s poll? i remember listening to it and thinking 'of course, as with every other 70s rock band the early stuff rocks harder than you'd ever imagine'.

Yeah, I nominated it.

Hate to be so predictable:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaoBscEDdzM

It's the only one I even remember.

i've had to stop myself from posting at least three freaks and geeks clips so don't feel bad

"Too Much Time On My Hands" just because I wonder how many times Tommy Shaw had to sing "the 12 o'clock news blues" without stumbling over it.

I very nearly started a T/S thread the other day for Styx's "Babe" vs. Journey's "Open Arms." People must have Styx on the brain.

PS I saw them live at Blossom Music Center on the Kilroy tour, so I got to see the whole Kilroy movie when it was A Thing.

oh no no no if I start thinking about the Kilroy movie's closing sequence I will be obsessing all day

Don't let it end, aero.

Really wish there was footage of their Dallas Kilroy show where they -- the headliners -- were nearly booed off the stage.

I had a friend who taught me how to play the keyboard intro to "Fooling Yourself" when I was a kid, which I learned from him before I had ever heard the record or even knew how the rest of the song went. I don't think I even knew the title or what band it was.

"Babe" for me is inextricably tied to middle-school slow dances, which makes it difficult to judge it quality-wise as a song. I remember liking "Renegade" from that around that time too.

Come Sail Away is kind of undeniable. If Half Penny, Two Penny had been an option I might have had to think about it. The "Lady" on this one is a remake...I should probably a/b it with the original as I can't remember how they differ.

I voted for "Lorelei" but, relistening to Equinox today, I'm realizing I definitely should've gone with "Blue Collar Man" instead (maybe followed by "Fooling Myself" and "Too Much Time On My Hands," plus the obvious ones.) Really though the only Styx I care about these days is the early Wooden Nickel metal-leaning stuff when they wanted to be Uriah Heep -- I play Styx II and Serpent Rising a lot these days, way more obsessed with those than I've ever been with their 1977-1981 LPs (all of which I like okay, or parts of them anyway.) So if, say, "Earl Of Roseland" or "Witch Wolf" or "I'm Gonna Make You Feel It" or "Young Man" was up there, I would've gone with those in a second.

The Serpent Is Rising, I meant. (And fwiw "Too Much Time" always sounded kind of new wave to me -- synths always reminded me of "Pocket Calculator" by Kraftwerk or something. But my favorite Styx-related fake new wave hit will always be Tommy Shaw's "Girls With Guns," forever.)

And it's "Fooling Yourself" obviously, duh. (Don't know what I was thinking by voting "Lorelei," btw -- it's not even the best Equinox track up there. Though do like it more than most of what came later.)

Really wish there was footage of their Dallas Kilroy show where they -- the headliners -- were nearly booed off the stage.

it HAS to be out there somewhere. aching to see that.

this is my favorite version of "roboto" - if you make it all the way to the end without looking away I'll buy you a beer next time I'm in town

man, I really wanted a free beer but I had to shut it off at "Everybody at home, do the robot!"

lol wikipedia:

1983 (Dallas - June 18, Houston - June 19)
Styx (Kilroy Was Here tour)
Sammy Hagar
Triumph
Ted Nugent
Uriah Heep
Notes: Sammy came on right before Styx at the end. Ted Nugent and Rik Emmett joined Sammy Hagar on stage in Dallas for their version of Led Zeppelin's "Rock "n Roll." Tommy Shaw recalls these shows as being some of the worst of his career. He claims to have feared for his life as his band was performing nothing but the rock opera "Killroy was here" after some of the best hard rock bands of the day had performed. (This was the tour that essentially ended Styx.)

The whole story behind the band's changes in direction is pretty high drama.

styx fans that act like 'roboto' was such a fiasco and betrayal

According to Chuck Panozzo's autobiography, the non-deYoung band members themselves pretty much felt this way. The rift was growing ever since deYoung wrote "Babe", which they were a bit embarrassed by but which became their first #1 hit. He still seems to hold a grudge. Also didn't know that they (at least the Panozzos and deYoung) first formed when they were about 13, playing Italian wedding songs with deYoung on accordion.

yeah i can sympathize w/ deyoung in a weird way - dude always had that itch, that clip of 'suite madame blue' makes that apparent, but dude was clearly a douche (i seem to recall from the behind the music) and when styx got together to do the reunion tour summer oldies circuits i found it pretty hilarious and justice at last that they decided to leave him out.

boy if you're having a hard time following sammy hagar though maybe it really is time to call it a day

goldmine

God I love obsessing about Styx, a band I never liked

haha yeah i've watched their Behind The Music so many more times than i will probably ever listen to an album

this is some cold shit: As of March 18, 2011, Dennis DeYoung's name was removed from the history section of Styx's official website.[20]

great "Roboto" perf youtube btw -- he actually says "i am the mod-ren man"

voted for "Fooling Yourself" narrowly over "Lady," "Too Much Time," "Come Sail Away," etc.

have never really dug "Renegade" much at all, have to admit.

But my favorite Styx-related fake new wave hit will always be Tommy Shaw's "Girls With Guns," forever

Would be in my top 5 in a "slept-on songs of the 80s" poll. See also Brian Setzer's "The Knife Feels Like Justice."

haha yeah i've watched their Behind The Music so many more times than i will probably ever listen to an album

Best part is Tommy Shaw's recollection of the Dallas show: "The audience is beer, quaaludes, and 'show us your tits!' and I have to go out there with 'But Kilroy! What about the children of the world?'"

lyrics are clear as day but i somehow didn't know until i performed it at karaoke that the narrator of 'come sail away' is abducted by aliens at the end

this is blowing my fucking mind. woah.

Largest crowd ever at the Quebec city Expo all singing Suite Madame Blue at the top of their lungs, simply remarkable. At the meet and greets fans keep telling me how much they love the set list which allows them to hear all their favorites and how much this band brings back their fondest memories of days gone by. I feel the same way. Over 10,00 in Watertown, Kokomo, Milwaukee, and St. Agath.

over 10,00!!!

this is blowing my fucking mind. woah

blowing your mind that it's the case or blowing your mind that someone could not know this about "come sail away?"

Also, I cannot agree that "Come Sail Away" is "all about feeling good about yourself."

why does he say this? Is it a Chicago thing?

my theory is that Dennis DeYoung is out of his mind and got it in his head that "mod-ren" sounded cool somehow so he said it that way. another component of this theory is that everybody in the band literally prayed to God that Dennis would cut that shit out but knew better than to actually bring it up with him

he is a modern renaissance man

Am digging aero's image of Styx as dysfunctional family with DeYoung as explosive, hated-yet-somehow-admired father and Tommy Shaw as sensitive youngest son trying to work up the courage to tell Dad, "fuck off, I'm leaving"

I am really really really shocked more ppl aren't leaning towards "Lady"

it's my #2 after fooling yourself

boy if you're having a hard time following sammy hagar though maybe it really is time to call it a day

― balls, Friday, 29 March 2013 06:32 (3 days ago) Permalink

I'm having a pretty lame day and this just about made me fall off my chair laughing.

I am in the aero camp of being completely obsessed with a band I can't stand listening to.

Lords Of The Ring would be my vote if they'd had the balls to release it as a single. As it is I had to go for Crystal Ball, Tommy's songs were cheesy but less Broadway cheesy than DeYoung's and thus more palatable.

i only know a few of these songs but my favorite is definitely "fooling yourself (the angry young man)". "renegade" is ok, i like "come sail away", and "mr. roboto" is absolutely terrible other than its intro.

the solos in "fooling yourself" are amazing

I voted "Mr. Roboto" on instinct alone, but I'm listening to it now and don't like it as much as I remember liking. Sort of wish I could vote for "Come Sail Away" instead.

It's better if you watch the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cShYbLkhBc

Are people just voting for "Mr Roboto" on kitsch/novelty grounds? Otherwise, I pretty much hate that song, although I suppose I'd take it over "Show Me the Way".

xpost

"Mr Roboto" is pretty bad-ass basically for all of the harmony/backing vocals

Seriously? Don't nearly all of these songs feature prominent harmony/backing vocals?

yes, they do

not all of them feature "secret secret/I got a secret" or vocodered voices chanting "DOMO ARIGATO/MR ROBOTO"

They do, but Mr. Roboto has hooks.

or, DJP OTM

renegade used to get me so pumped

first heard roboto in middle school cause it was in a car commercial that played constantly, thought it was awesome and immediately napster'd it, impressed the popular kids by knowing all the lyrics

woah girls with guns rules

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahHsozuh33o

organ in 'blue collar man' is badass

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Love this band and fuiud!

Now I wish I'd voted for "Fooling Yourself," which deserved better.

So I have liked Styx since I was 13 but had no idea they recorded an album called "The Serpent is Rising." Apparently they consider it their worst. I am going to listen to it tonight.

IT'S GRAET

Huh. "Girls with Guns" would actually work as pop-punk.

work? what does that mean?

Ha, I meant that I can see easily someone covering it in a pop-punk style. I don't mean that this version doesn't work as is; it does.

great top five

damn i shoulda had "Lady"'s back

DEAR STYX, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK....?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB-nGVqNciE

omg

This is an actual song on "The Serpent is Rising"

A "hidden song", they were too embarrassed to acknowledge it by title

This is the story I have been told about this song which came from Chuck Panozzo. It was written by John P AND John C. The only members from Styx on the song are the 2 Johns and Chuck. Dennis and JY wanted nothing to do with the song. They dont appear on it anywhere. Chuck said it was a big FUCK YOU to Dennis who, at the time was writing artsy-fartsy, Emerson, Lake & Palmer crap.

this is the greatest fucking thing

It is truly great, and I'm sorry I wasn't on this thread sooner. Glad to see someone else even remembers "Girls With Guns"'s existence.

This toilet song, meantime.

"Krakatoa" is possibly even stranger than the toilet song.

And the album-closer called "Hallelujah Chorus"... actually just IS the Hallelujah Chorus.

BTW back to that Dennis DeYoung link where he updates us on life.

I have a copy of the original setlist from 1981 and It could be great with this band. I've already ordered one blond wig, an afro wig, a tux, a fake Tom Selleck moustache a space suit and a Shakey's Pizza uniform.

He should actually do this.

"Girls with Guns" is making me want to listen to "Don't Look Down" by Go West, god help me.

"GWG" video = the first single-shot video ever?

First one I ever saw, anyways.

I was too upset to vote in this poll because Madamoiselle - my favorite, and a hit - was left off this album inexplicably.

Lotsa hits left off! "Music Time", "Sing For The Day", "Why Me"...

Ah, "Music Time"...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMFlg8AuYlQ

Only ever heard this once on the radio, in 1984. After "Hey everybody, it's music time!" the DJs cracked up uncontrollably, and yanked the record off about 20 seconds in.

lmao

I think I have a hazy recollection of that song, but not really, like it's a dream where suddenly I am in Times Square naked next to a rain forest... I mean, on the surface, I like Devo and punk-period Kinks riffs, and one can say that song merges both (which I guess makes it The Tubes who are hit or miss for me, whatev)... But the execution is just so horrific.

Must go back to sleep.

Hey there's something missing from that video - there's supposed to be an announcer who says "We interrupt this video for a guitar solo" overtop the "Please stand by"! I am not imagining that.

mr. roboto, babe, and lady robbed imo.