Great Rock Albums of 1984: Tommy Shaw- Girls With Guns

  

Styx guitarist, although back in 1984 it was former, Tommy Shaw's first solo album is yet another reason why I don't let one song influence me when I buy an album. It was the opening title track that was played by radio and while "Girls With Guns" is a decent song, it on its own, wouldn't have been enough for me to buy the album. What influenced me to buy it was the songs Tommy wrote whilst he was in his former band.

The great thing about Styx in the 1970s and 80s was that Tommy, Dennis De Young and James Young all had the ability to write and perform great songs. While I don't have a preference in this realm, the songs that Tommy wrote which I really loved were: "Too Much Time on My Hands," "Blue Collar Man," "Renegade" and "Man in the Wilderness" for starters. Therefore, like with Dennis's solo album, I used the memories of the great Styx songs Tommy wrote to influence my decision to buy "Girls With Guns."

[caption id="attachment_649" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Styx[/caption]

Did my logic work out? My answer is yes. It's true that the opener, title track and first single was always intended to sound more 80s synth but I did like it. It doesn't really matter because each track after offers up something new each time. The very next track, "Come In and Explain" is very much heavy rock and Tommy does open up with his guitar on that one. Following that, he attempts a ballad with "Lonely School." Now, I don't want to knock his voice because Tommy Shaw can sing and it's not a bad song but I don't think that voice is made for ballads, at least on this song. Just my thoughts that's all. However, he does go into more familiar territory with "Heads Up." This sounds like his days with Styx and there is good harmonizing in the vocals. Plus, there's the added bonus of him laying down a particularly cool guitar solo, so full marks here.

Pure speculation here but maybe he realized he wasn't up for singing ballads because while "Kiss Me Hello" is a ballad, there is much more harmonizing on it and therefore a big improvement. Additionally, I have to give full marks to Peter Wood here because he does a marvelous job on the keyboards on this one. Tommy does end the song with a little guitar solo so full marks all around, actually.

"Fading Away" has a very progressive rock intro and then goes to a reggae sound. Now Tommy Shaw is no Bob Marley but his voice sounds okay on it. He does fuse more progressive rock into the song and the mix sounds okay. "Little Girl World" has a catchy feel good factor about it. It's one of those songs you would play at a celebration or something and has some more good keyboard work from Wood. But there's some hard guitars that do manifest themselves out of the background. A similar thing can be said for "Outside in the Rain" but the guitars are more noticeable, especially with one of Shaw's solos on it. He is also accompanied by one Carol Kenyon on the vocals. "Free to Love You" is the love child between 1980s synth and traditional Styx. Elements of both permeate the album without either establishing dominance and with another cool guitar solo, Tommy blends them well. The closer, "The Race is On" is a decent progressive rock song with saxophones on it. Nicely done in a way that closes the album out on a good note.

Track Listing:

1. Girls With Guns
2. Come In and Explain
3. Lonely School
4. Heads Up
5. Kiss Me Hello
6. Fading Away
7. Little Girl World
8. Outside in the Rain
9. Free to Love You
10. The Race is On

[caption id="attachment_4066" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Tommy Shaw, now sporting a mullet in 1984[/caption]

 

Tommy Shaw- guitars and lead vocals, mandolin

Steve Holley- drums, percussion

Brian Stanley- bass

Peter Wood- piano, electric piano, synthesizers

Carol Kenyon- accompanying vocals on "Outside in the Rain"

Richie Connata- sax solo on "The Race is On"

Molly Duncan- saxophone section on "The Race is On"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wNBsGy17V4

Tommy Shaw followed Dennis De Young in releasing a solo album after Styx. While he's not afraid to stretch out a bit on the album, he does remember that his guitar work is his main weapon as it was for Styx. However, he does have  good keyboards player in Peter Wood and that helps to make "Girls With Guns" the winner here. If I were to compare it to Dennis's album.

Next post: The Kinks- Word of Mouth

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com 

Great Rock Albums of 1984: Dennis DeYoung- Desert Moon

 Journey wasn't the only band whose members carried out solo projects in 1984. By the way, Steve Perry wasn't the only member of Journey with his fingers in another pie in this year but that's a story for another time. Styx had only disbanded less than a year before and by the end of 1984, two former members of the band had released solo albums. The first of these was by former singer and keyboards player, Dennis De Young, who came out with "Desert Moon," in the middle of the year.

 

Like Steve Perry, if I allowed myself to be influenced by singles on radio or MTV, I would have ignored this album. The first single, the title track, while not a bad song, sounds a little too much like the very successful Styx single "Babe." While a big hit for the band, "Babe" was never in my top ten of favourite Styx songs. Fortunately, it's not the best song on the album which bears its name.

When I first heard the opener, "Don't Wait for Heroes," I was quite upbeat. Maybe Dennis was taking the progressive/hard rock formula that worked so well with his former band and incorporating it in his solo album. For me, this is the best song on the album. The next track, "Please," tries to carry this on and does so reasonably but doesn't quite come up to the opener. "Boys Will Be Boys" is a better track and could have been as good as the "Don't Wait for Heroes" but Dennis goes a bit too new wave with it and I found that a turn off. After the title track, "Suspicious" is a very interesting track. It's a definite progressive rock track, in fact, it sounds very suspiciously (yep pun intended) like 10CC. Still, it's a very upbeat and enjoyable song, with some good guitar solos compliments of Tom Dziallo. It gives the opener a very close competition for my top spot.

My biggest criticism of "Desert Moon" is the cover of the Jimi Hendrix classic, "Fire." I know Dennis was a keyboards player and that song would have worked if done right but it wasn't. He tries to make it too new wave or something and it just doesn't work. The album ends with two softer ballad type songs. Dennis's voice was well suited to such songs, although the former, "Gravity" transforms into a cabaret type of song, which doesn't rock me until the guitar solo which does save it a little.

Track Listing:

1. Don't Wait For Heroes
2. Please
3. Boys Will Be Boys
4. Fire
5. Desert Moon
6. Suspicious
7. Gravity
8. Dear Darling (I'll Be There)

[caption id="attachment_3899" align="aligncenter" width="276"] Dennis DeYoung[/caption]

Dennis DeYoung- vocals, keyboards, piano, percussion

Tom Dziallo- all guitars, bass, backing vocals

Dennis Johnson- bass

Tom Radtke- drums, percussion

Steve Eisen- conga, saxophone, conductor

Rosemary Butler- duet vocal on "Please"

Sandy Caulfield- backing vocals

Suzanne DeYoung, Dawn Feusi, Pat Hurley- additional backing vocals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs_W-Xj-GVA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoZkDKpa_1M

Dennis DeYoung was the first former Styx member out of the starting blocks with a solo album. "Desert Moon" has some good moments and overall is an okay album. However, it doesn't rock all the way through leaving it unbalanced. Still might be worth a listen, I'll let you judge from my two favourite tracks.

Next post: HSAS- Through the Fire

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com 

Great Rock Albums of 1982: Styx- Kilroy Was Here

First of all, according to Wikapedia, I made a boo boo in regards to this album from Styx. All of these years, I assumed it was released in late 1982 because I was stationed on Okinawa and later Mt. Fuji, Japan at the time and there were many albums released in the late part of 1982 that didn't come to my attention until 1983. This was because it took time for news of new albums to make their way around the world and therefore, I assumed this to be the case here. Wikapedia states that the last album by Styx, "Kilroy Was Here," was released in 1983. So, I apologize for the historical inaccuracy on this one.

For me and I have said this several times already on other blogs, "Kilroy Was Here" is not my favourite Styx album. It doesn't even come close to comparing to the likes of "The Grand Illusion" and "Pieces of Eight." Styx definitely go for a more keyboard oriented progressive sound on this one. While there are some moments of the more traditional hard rock sound they were better known for, there's not enough of those moments. Even with the heaviest song on the album "Heavy Metal Poisoning," they hold back on it. The song should have been a straight forward bang your head and beat your chest rocker but sadly, it doesn't quite come up to the mark. When I first heard the song, I thought it was an anti- heavy metal song but listening to the lyrics more closely, it rips on those who are anti- metal and would love nothing more to see it gone. Therefore, the song redeems itself a little here.

"Just Get Through This" is another song which goes along in the traditional sense of Styx but only because it is one of those that starts off with a soft piano and keyboard before a heavy guitar kicks in and the guitar solo also reminds me of better days. "Don't Let It End" is another song that is more the Styx I had known and loved before that. However, I must say, if I was one those type of people who buy or not buy an album based on the single, then I would not have bought this album. "Mr Roboto" has never impressed me. Saying all this and in spite of my moaning about "Kilroy Was Here" not being hard rock enough, which it's not, the album is not a disaster. There are enough good moments on here to make the listening enjoyable but nothing more.

Track Listing:

1. Mr Roboto

2. Cold War

3. Don't Let It End

4. High Time

5. Heavy Metal Poisoning

6. Just Get Through This

7. Double Life

8. Haven't We Been Here Before

9. Don't Let It End (reprise)

[caption id="attachment_649" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Styx[/caption]

Dennis DeYoung- keyboards, vocals

Tommy Shaw- guitar, vocals

James Young- guitar, vocals

Chuck Panozzo- bass, vocals

Jack Panozzo- drums, vocals

Another redeeming feature about "Kilroy Was Here" was I would eventually learn that the album tells a story about rock music being outlawed by a fascist government. The irony is that as the 1980s progressed, the fear of that happening was looking like a certain reality. Styx would split up after this album and many would point the album as the cause. There was strife between Young and Shaw about how progressive the band should go but there were other factors as well. "Kilroy Was Here" might have been the end of Styx but it could never kill the legacy of great music the band left behind.

Next post: Jefferson Starship- Winds of Change

To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London

Great Rock Albums of 1981: Styx- Paradise Theatre

REO Speedwagon's "Hi Infidelity" might have been the first album I encountered when I returned to the States in 1981 but "Paradise Theatre" from Styx was the first album I encountered when I got home on leave. After being slightly disappointed with their more progressive "Cornerstone" album, I was more optimistic that, with this album, they would return more to the harder sounds of "The Grand Illusion" and "Pieces of Eight." My optimism became well placed when I heard the first single offered up to radio from the album, "The Best of Times." The start took me back to the days of "Come Sail Away" and like those days, the song has that traditional Styx guitar solo compliments of Tommy Shaw. Then came the second single, "Too Much Time On My Hands." That song reminded of the very popular "Renegade" from the "Pieces of Eight." Those songs were more than enough for me to check out the rest of the album.

What I find interesting on the "Paradise Theatre" album is that Styx try to go back to their roots while at the same time, also try to branch out into different directions. First there are the more traditional Styx tracks like the two already mentioned plus the very memorable "Snowblind," "Rockin' In Paradise" and "Halfpenny, Two-Penny," all cool rockers. Then there are the other songs which they incorporate saxophone solos from Steve Eisen. It's easy to think "What the hell are they doing here?" especially from those in the "No horns in hard rock or metal" brigade, but in each and every song, those sax solos work. Most notable is the track, "Nothing Ever Goes as Planned." That song works well on so many levels. All of that aside, I think the main element that convinces me that they are going back to their roots with this album is that Tommy Shaw and James Young work their magic on each and every song save for the short opener and closer. They definitely demonstrate they still know how to bend a six string and as it did then, it makes it for me now.

Track Listing:

1. AD 1928

2. Rockin' in Paradise

3. Too Much Time On My Hands

4. Nothing Ever Goes As Planned

5. The Best of Times

6. Lonely People

7. She Cares

8. Snowblind

9. Halfpenny, Two-Penny

10. AD 1958

11. State Street Sadie

Styx

Dennis DeYoung- keyboards, vocals

Chuck Panozzo- bass

John Panozzo- drums

Tommy Shaw- guitars, vocals

James Young- guitars, vocals

After six months away from home while serving your country, two weeks of leave is something that is definitely needed to regain one's sanity. I managed to do that and this album from the dependable Styx was certainly a great help. Some say that this album was a sort of last hurrah for them. I don't know about that nor do I care, I just love the album.

Next post: Joan Armatrading- Me, Myself and I

To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London

Great Rock Albums of 1978: Styx- Pieces of Eight

It is not very common that when an artist puts out a great album, they follow it up with another great album. There are many examples where this has come close, but usually one album is usually slightly better than the other. But this is exactly what Styx accomplished in 1977 and 78. In 1977, they put out the iconic album "The Grand Illusion," which I talked about a couple of months ago in a previous post. A year later, they followed it up with the release of "Pieces of Eight," which is another iconic album equally as brilliant as the first.

Like its predecessor, "Pieces of Eight" has some great hard rocking tunes like "Renegade" and "Great White Hope" as well as some more progressive rock tracks like "I'm OK," "Sing for the Day" and "The Message" and then combine both elements in tracks like "Blue Collar Man." Of course the other tracks are strong too and takes this album out of the shadow of "The Grand Illusion" and put it on an equal standing with it.

Track Listing:

1. Great White Hope

2. I'm OK

3.Sing for the Day

4. The Message

5. Lords of the Ring

6. Blue Collar Man

7. Queen of Spades

8. Renegade

9 Pieces of Eight

10. Aku Aku

Styx:

Dennis DeYoung- keyboads, synthesisers, pipe organ, vocals

James Young- guitars, vocals

Tommy Shaw- guitars, mandolin, vocals

Chuck Panozzo- bass, vocals

John Panozzo- drums, vocals

With "Pieces of Eight," Styx accomplished what many acts have never been able to do. That is follow a great album up with another. It all takes me back to the time when this album defied the disco craze and gave us some great music to listen to.

Next post: Queen- News of the World

To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle

Great Rock Albums of the 70s: Styx- The Grand Illusion



This is the last offering in the chapter of great rock albums of the 70s. After a short commercial break in the next two posts, I will be moving onto albums from 1978 exclusively and then every year after that until I get to 1989. 1978 was the year the rivers of rock began to overflow and what the beginings of what was to become heavy metal started to evolve. Therefore, I thought it only fitting to end with what was for me, the very last album before 1978, Styx- "The Grand Illusion."

I remember back in December 1977, the television ads for the album selling Styx as the hardest working band in rock. I will not debate that and when I first listened to the album, I can safely say that their hard work definitely paid off. "The Grand Illusion" is definitely one of Styx's best and in my humble opinion, the best except for possibly "Pieces of Eight" which I will be visiting down the line. In "The Grand Illusion," you have some really great hard rocking tracks like "Miss America" and "Superstar" as well as the big single "Come Sail Away." There is also a lot of great musicianship on all of the other tracks as well and that is what makes it so good.



Track Listing:

1. The Grand Illusion

2. Fooling Yourself (Angry Young Man)

3. Superstar

4. Come Sail Away

5. Miss America

6. Man in the Wilderness

7. Castle Wall

8. The Grand Finale

Styx

Dennis DeYoung- keyboards, synthesisers, vocals

Tommy Shaw- electric and accoustic guitars, vocals

James Young- guitars, keyboards, vocals

Chuck Panozzo- bass, vocals

John Panozzo- drums, vocals

This is a truly great album and for me will always be one of the great classics. I hope you have enjoyed the tour through the great rock albums of the 70s. I know that there are many albums out there I could still mention and I apologise for any I have left out, it wasn't intentional I assure you. One album I failed to mention and you can blame it on an old man's swiss cheese memory is "Fly Like and Eagle" by the Steve Miller Band. Here's a photo to compensate. Meanwhile, I hope you will continue the ride through my tour of heavy metal history.

Next Post: Rock And Roll Children, The CD

To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle