Worst Styx song

[Bossy Monkey]

Yeah, I know there's an argument for "Too Much Time On My Hands." And goodness knows "Renegade" is a little slice of hell for which they should still be performing community service. The works of Dennis DeYoung have caused more than one person to put their ears out with icepicks. (Actually I like nearly all his Styx hits, but I'm sooooo ashamed.) But the champion of all the Styx stinkburgers has got to be the contribution by James Young (Chicago's answer to Rupert Holmes), "Eddie," an impassioned plea to Teddy Kennedy not to run for President. I think Mr. Young is sincere and all, he just can't write a song to save his life. The lyrics go like this; the music is even worse:

I woke up today, the papers spoke of a man we know
He's made of the stuff they say that first made our country grow
Living in style, traveling to distant lands
Better hang tough, for now it's time to make your stand
Can we ignore the basic facts of history
Or deny what people say is destiny
I think the message is ever so loud and clear

Eddie, now don't you run
You know you're a bootlegger's son
And you saw just what it's done to the others
Eddie, now don't you run
It's the end of all your fun
And you saw just what they've done
To your brothers

Can we ignore the basic facts of history
Or deny what people say is destiny
First in the eighties but last of the sons
First in the eyes of his countrymen
I think the message is ever so loud and clear

Eddie, now don't you run
You know you're a bootlegger's son
And you saw just what it's done to the others
Eddie, now don't you run
It's the end of all your fun
And you saw just what they've done
To your brothers

[catpower2000]

1. Uh, any? nt

[Champion Jack]

2. "Worst Styx song"?--Any of them

[commander bunnypants]

3. I like the Grand Illusion

But Mr. Robotto -ugh


DEMMAN

[GOPisEvil]

5. Styx is a guilty pleasure of mine...but I DETEST Mr. Roboto...

:puke::puke::puke:

[noonwitch]

21. Agreed about Mr. Roboto

I like old Styx, especially Equinox and The Grand Illusion. I really pissed off an ex-boyfriend metalhead by comparing Styx to Queensryche. Both groups have classically trained lead singers, both are known for "concept albums", both groups had lots of hair in their heydays. If I ever see Geoff Tate doing "Jesus Christ, Superstar" I'll have to drop the ex a line.

[flamingyouth]

4. Anything by them

<shudder>

[TlalocW]

6. Skit on MST3K

About how evil spreads. Joel is explaining to the bots that evil works best in small ways.

Crow: Example.
Joel: Okay, what do you think about Hitler?
Crow: Well, I hate him naturally.
Joel: Okay, what do you think of the band Styx.
Crow: Well, they had one or two good... Oh, my God! You're right!

TlalocW - Watches too much MST3K.

[madrchsod]

7. styx

they all are bad..has to be one of the worst bands ever....yes ,i don`t like them....

[Dem2dend]

8. Too much time on my hands

It's hard to believe such a calamity

[newyawker99]

17. Hi Dem2dend!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[dawg]

9. Aw, c'mon ...

I just saw them in SC Friday night and they were great, even without Dennis DeYoung. Somebody please explain to me why this band is so hated. How can people work up so much ire towards such a middle-of-the-road band?

For the sake of the thread, though, their worst song that I've heard is probably Lorelei, or perhaps Crystal Ball.

And Mr. Roboto is not bad. It is very cheesy, but I like it.

Pray for me.

[GOPisEvil]

10. Oh yeah...Lorelei...

I have a soft spot for that tune because Lorelei is the name of a great girl I went out with in college. But, the song does suck!

[lazarus]

11. I'm mystified

They sold 5 or 6 straight triple platinum albums, one of the biggest bands of the late 70's/early 80's. No idea why they're so hated.

I really don't care. I love 'em, and I'll listen to them, and people who don't like them don't have to listen to them.

[Michael Daniels]

20. I think on a critical level the complaints were that

1. They represent AOR/Corporate rock at it's cynical and exploitive worst.

2. The band was totally faceless in that that you probably could have stuck any 5 (6?) schmucks with musical talent on stage, had them play the set list and unless you were a real committed fan (and even if perhaps you were) you wouldn't have known that the band on stage wasn't Styx. No personality, no defining chemistry....

3. The music itself bordered on soft/wimp with the amps turned to 11 to give the impression that it was rock.

To be fair, those three comments could have been leveled at a lot of bands from the time including Journey, REO Speedwagon, Supertramp, and Kansas.

[dawg]

22. I don't think they were faceless ...

They were actually somewhat distinctive. I mean, when you hear a Styx song on the radio - for better or worse you know it's them. To me, the alternative bands of the 90's had much more of a faceless quality than Styx, Journey or REO.

And don't even get me started on all those soundalike rap/metal bands. And the Creed/Lifehouse/Calling/Staind/Etc. bands.

[lazarus]

24. And I've never understood that

The AOR/Corporate rock thing is just silly. Boy bands are corporate rock.

Faceless? Virtually every band is "faceless" unless you're a fan. But I thought Styx had a great personality with three distinct styles from three songwriters.

There was a constant struggle within the band. Dennis DeYoung was more inclined to do ballads and soft rock, whilst James Young and Tommy Shaw preferred rock. The latter two eventually won, firing DeYoung. It's not the Clash, but it's rock/pop.

[RandomKoolzip]

27. The mile wide vibrato on the vocals, for one.

Also, the obnoxiously "clean" playing and background vocals, the vapidity and false "granduer" of the lyrics, the utter soullessness of the whole sound. So fucking whitebread. They remind me of those kids in high school who just loved being in the musicals and hung out with the choir teacher too much. No funk, no raunch, no life, no spark, no spunk, no rebellion. Major label AOR rock of the late 70's/early 80's. While Black Flag and the Minutemen and countless others were reconstructing rock and roll during that time, Styx clogged the airways with their weightless theatrics. Not rock and roll, more like poorly-crafted broadway show tunes croosed with guitar solos and overly "emotional" rock ballads. Ughhh, just disgusting. I hate Stynx. ESPECIALLY Dennis DeYoung.

[SEAburb]

12. "Lady" DeYoung was so sappy / nt

....

[JackSwift]

13. Come sail away

set an open course
for the virgin sea



their best song was also their worst. I love what Eric Cartman did with it though.

[zekeson]

25. I think that was my class song

way back in '79. I was horrified. Dust in the Wind was also a suggestion. Our choral director was so mortified that he refused, for the first time ever, to direct at graduation. I don't recall the Eric Carmen version, but I actually have a soft spot for the only Eric Carmen song I have ever heard, All By Myself - the ultimate in whimp rock.

[Archae]

26. You too?

I graduated in 1978, and we sang the second verse at the graduation ceremony, of "I'm Sailing Away."

CLICHE CITY! :puke:

25 years later, and I still hate that song.

[zekeson]

29. I learned the importance of voting that year

I didn't vote for class song and Sailing Away won by a few votes. I didn't vote because all the choices sucked. Hmm, reminds me of some idiots in 2000.... Archae, I feel your pain.

[Bossy Monkey]

30. No, Cartman from South Park (n/t)

[FlashHarry]

14. Ahyeeeeem Sssaaaayleeeeeng Aaaywaaay!

"Come sail away with me, lads?" :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

[last_texas_dem]

15. Styx rock!

I think a lot of people claim to hate Styx 'cause of the "bandwagon" effect- it's "cool" to hate them because so many others do. It's like liking a band simply because it's "cool" to like 'em. If I can take pride in one thing about myself it's that I like what I like because I like it. And I've never been one of the "cool" kids anyway, so can admit to liking Styx with no shame on my part. So there! :-)

As for their worst song, IMHO that honor goes to "Put Me on" from Crystal Ball. Just don't see the need for a whole track devoted to putting the album on in the first place; better to move on to the interesting parts...

[mac56]

16. "Lorelei" is the only Styx song I've ever liked.

nm

[XNASA]

18. Even though Styx is a local band....

Mostly from the South Side of Chicago and only a couple of years older than I,......I've always thought that they sucked.

It would be hard for me to single out their worst song. Guess that Mr. Roboto is annoying enough.

Gawd, are they awful. Almost as bad as REO Speedwagon, another Illinois band.

Thank God for Cheap Trick. If not for them, Illinois would have been tainted forever.

[Loonman]

19. Mr. Roboto was a good catchy tune

Pretty cheesy, but I thought it was a good tune(when I was 11 or 12).


My ire is reserved for "Come Sail Away".

[bif]

23. All of them

n/t

[arwalden]

28. I-i-i-'m Saili-n-n-ng A....

[Elidor]

31. All right, you Philistines - I love Styx

I even like Mr. Roboto (don't tell anyone). I fried endless brain cells to Castle Walls (Grand Illusion is still great today, though the airplay has worn it out a tad). I have one of their early albums from about '73, Serpent is Rising, including a really bizarre piece called Krakatoa that is just WAY outta left field. Pieces of Eight and Cornerstone sucked, but Paradise Theater was a little bit better. I learned guitar playing JY and Alex Lifeson parts.

But I'd never read that horrid JY thing. God, it was awful! Stick to playin' guitar, JY, your lyrics are even worse than Dennis', if that's possible.

The biggest problem Styx had was their incredibly stilted lyrics. Dennis DeYoung's lyrics are atrocious on average, and sometimes even worse. But if you like commercial rock with some unusual storylines, Styx ain't half bad. Hell, they were the shizzy back around 1980. Some of those deep cuts are still pretty good.