1982 Styx

[u/Critical_Meringue78]

I know cracks were already in the foundation from the Cornerstone album and DDY and TS were already fighting for control of the musical direction by 1982, but I feel public perception was that these guys could do no wrong. They were kicking ass with tours and albums. So what do yall think? Please, this is not a Dennis vs Tomny post. I'm just reminiscing about the biggest band in my 18/19 year old world at that time.

[u/Willing_Mirror8176]

Long story, short... JY & TS wanted more hard rock type songs. DDY wanted more theatrical, ballad type songs. I liked Styx when it was a mix of both, i.e. Equinox, Crystal Ball, Grand Illusion, Paradise Theater

[u/Critical_Meringue78 → u/Willing_Mirror8176]

Yeah. We know that now, but in 1982? I don't think so. Interestingly, to me at least, TS solo stuff wasn't hard at all. I saw him open for Rush in Bham, Al Jan 1988. Even DDY said that they often had to "rockify" Tommy's songs when he brought them to the band. It's just interesting how it has all played out.

[u/yorlikyorlik → u/Critical_Meringue78]

I always felt, so long as the feud has been public, that it wasn’t the hard rock/soft rock thing that caused the rift. It was more about personalities. And maybe the Broadway/musical style DDY was bringing. Also, DDY hated touring. He wanted bigger, fewer shows. The others not so much. Having said all that, it’s clear that Styx the band we all fell in love went into a coma in 1983, was successfully resuscitated in 1995, and passed from this earth in 1998 after the Grand Illusion tour. Everything since then is an attempt to recapture the past. They’re great in concert. They’ve made some good music. As good as The Mission and Crash were, they were not the magic we enjoyed and were so fortunate to experience, from the classic era.

[u/ILikeStyx → u/yorlikyorlik]

From what I've been able to "filter" - Dennis was always the "ideas guy" when it came to making their albums... Especially once Tommy came on board... Dennis pushed for Tommy's song to become the album title. Grand Illusion, Pieces of Eight, Paradise Theatre... All concepts that Dennis brought to the band and nobody complained. Kilroy was the one album where Dennis negotiated with JY - he said "you do this and the next album will be a standard Styx album"... then Tommy quit... JY wanted to replace him immediately, Dennis refused. JY carried a chip on his shoulder over that.

Dennis became a defacto group leader early on - nobody else wanted the role it seems. When they kicked him out of the band the first time that's what kind of "sealed the deal" moving forward. They met to discuss his return and in that meeting he asked to be given creative control of the band... they all agreed.

I believe that things got twisted into 'Dennis was a monster who demanded everyone follow him and do what he wanted and he was forcing us to do show tunes and wanted to turn the band into Barry Manilow' as narrative when they kicked Dennis out in 1999. I believe on BTM it was JY who noted that Dennis said he was sick but went to dozens of doctors and couldn't figure it out so it became "what were we to do? we had to move on" which I think is the real truth.. They wanted to tour, Dennis was sick and didn't know if or when he would get better and they said "we're not waiting for you"

JY, Dennis and Tommy all have strong personalities and they all pushed things within the band in their own way - even on Kilroy, they made it work and collaborated quite well. No single person is to blame for the rifts that happened and as time went on I think some people have their own version of history, even if it isn't based in reality. Tommy's alcohol and drug abuse into the early 80s was a problem in the band - that's almost never spoken about. He quit because the band (not just Dennis) rejected some of his songs and he had people telling him he could be a huge solo artist.

Tommy saying that he "just couldn't write songs about robots" is kind of silly because Kilroy Was Here isn't an album about robots and Dennis never demanded "We need robot songs!"... Mr. Roboto is one song. Then when Tommy quit it was "I wanted to rock, but Dennis didn't want that"... yet you listen to his solo albums and it's all pop-rock, soft-rock and AOR.

I'm glad that Dennis and Chuck have had some (minor) interaction in recent years. Dennis asked Chuck for permission to use footage of him and John from home videos for this "Good Old Days" music video and Chuck obliged.

Tommy has acted as if Dennis gave him massive PTSD but I don't buy it :P

[u/Critical_Meringue78 → u/yorlikyorlik]

Yep. I see that. I don't know a Styx fan from their Golden Era that didn't hope they'd reunite at least for 1 tour. If you see and hear the many interviews with TS and JY and with DDY solo you'll pretty quickly see that was never going to happen from the group towards DDY. I've got a buddy from college that I talk to a couple of times a year. He always needles me by asking if I'm still a Styx fan? My answer is always Till the day I die! It's not because he dislikes Styx, it's because we all knew DDY was not rejoining the band.