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Originally Posted by Unknown Soldier
I don't even like their first four albums either and I only became a nut for the band from their fifth album Equinox which was the last to feature John Curulewski.
There are certain similarities between the two and the most obvious was the injection of new members Tommy Shaw in Styx and Steve Perry in Journey, as Tommy Shaw gave the band that much needed spark and Steve Perry gave Journey that commercial appeal and a LEAD VOCALIST.
............ along with John Panozzo another original. Whenever I think of John Curulewski I always think of this amazing song, one of his few solo credits.
Never heard of Gabriel Bondage but they sound right up my street, so have made a note of them.
As for classifying Styx, it's a hard challenge. I'd actually say they evolved in the following sequence: Prog rock, pomp rock, AOR to concept rock, even though Tommy Shaw wanted to turn them more into a more outright hard rock band, whilst Dennis De Young was always more inclined to tow the concept line and had a strong eye of pop, it made for a great creative tussle between the two and in my opinion it's what made the band great.
Have you heard Tommy Shaw's first solo album? It's one of my favs from the early to mid 1980s.
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I would say that Styx Part One would be an attempt at Prog, like the Alan Parsons Project's first album - sometimes a band sees the point and actually decided to do what came more natural. Once you have a hit like "Lady" among a collection of songs that got ignored outside of a small group of fans, it certainly was a time to re-assess what will happen in the band. Fate happens, and for them it was certainly for the very best that they went to a more AOR style that still had slight bits of their past that they would never get rid of no matter how they changed - the concepts, Synth use, epic songs that had a little more than just Guitar/Drums/Bass/Backstage Sex Lyrics. No matter how I tend to throw criticism every now and then here at MB, all I say is that in the end it matters the most if they had an effect on their main listeners and they have a set of hit songs that will attract a lot of people for a long time...and I do have a guilty pleasure in "Renegade" truth be told - that song stomped very well and the harmonies were on target while the song matched the usual dramatics in the best use of the word in my opinion.
I remember the promotion surrounding Shaw's first solo. Not bad at all from my memory, really although I have to hear it once more. Maybe a possible Ghost Mall Music article is in the plans for this - it only went to #50 US and had three singles, only one Top 40 out of them. A case of 70's Star gone 80's Solo. It was cool that for a Beatles listener like me, the Drummer on that one was from Wings (Steve Holly).
Actually, the Gabriel Bondage album that I bought was in a light blue vinyl! Not too collectable, of course, but it was in good condition with the original lyric sheet, so I had to hear it once. I never really knew about their existence before getting the album! A couple of tracks stood out, showing their wanting to be in the world of Prog. They had the talent, but in a way not enough edge to hold the interest outside of a small group of listeners who were interested - Better album covers (and stronger lyrics, truth be told) could have helped, through!
Still here's highlights from I think album 2.
Obviously the singer (Rex Bundy) knew he can do a little bit of Greg Lake in his delivery...
Sadly I did not find "Living in the City", which I feel should have been something of a radio staple, but this will do fine.
Be warned, if you do get Another Trip to Earth, it's lead track "Take It on a Dare" is a little too close to the delivery of ELP's classic "Karn Evil #9 First Impression Part Two".