|
Formerly once the keyboardist, one of three lead singers
of, and guiding light of Chicago AOR superstars STYX, Dennis
DeYoung has one of the most identifiable voices in rock. He's
often credited as being the 'ballad' side of STYX who moved
them too close to Vegas for the comfort of the other members
who'd rather be playing bar-friendly hard rock. But DeYoung
was also the art-rock side of Styx who had a flair for such
progressive rock tendencies as theatrical stage shows, concept
albums and adaptions of classical themes and classical leanings
in some of the material. On this 2004 live disc, Dennis employs
the use of a Symphony orchestra to pump new life into some
classic Styx material including not only classic radio songs
like BABE, DON'T LET IT END, SHOW ME THE WAY, COME SAIL AWAY
and LADY, but also some key classics such as CASTLE WALLS
and SUITE MADAME BLUE. For the most part the orchestra works
to decent advantage, though sometimes it merely adds a thin
coating for the band, which is decent and more than competent
in executing these well-known tracks. There are a number of
classical moments as well, such as the beautiful CLAIR DE
LUNE.***
Helping to keep this show from getting too close to being
a 'greatest hits' package are a few of DeYoung's solo songs
as well, some of them being better than I remember them. DESERT
MOON title track could have been a decent STYX number had
the classic line-up not split in the mid 80's. And like most
STYX live albums(Caught In The Act, Return To Paradise), there
are a few new studio tracks to give fans something other than
a greatest hits.These aren't particularly outstanding, but
decent enough as 'bonus tracks'. DeYoung also engages in decent
onstage banter with the song intros, which is more interesting
than 'Hello Chicago, let's rock!!' which his ex-bandmates
might settle for. ***
One thing that irritates is that whenever you read about
Styx or DeYoung, it's always about the wimpy ballads or the
'ridiculous concept albums' or 'ruining Styx' or the like.
True, DeYoung can certainly play the crooner. These days he
even looks the part. However, these things have overshadowed
one major aspect of his music and Styx: I feel that Dennis
DeYoung has never been properly acknowledged as a keyboardist,
and should be placed in the same league with the likes of
Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson as well as the same catagory
as Billy Joel and Elton John. Is that stretching it? With
Styx, he supplied a vast variety of keyboard sounds- from
the gritty hammond organ of the early Wooden Nickle years,
the spacey moogs and synths from their classic 70's blockbusters,
some expressive piano, and moving effortlessly into the 80's
and beyond with some new wave synths on the Kilroy album and
more modern synths since then. He played like the keyboardist
in any great keyboard-oriented rock outfit and managed to
juggle being the innovative keyboard wizard with being both
a major songwriter and charismatic vocalist/showman. An orchestra
might take away some emphasis on his playing here, but go
listen to some classic Styx and admit to yerself that Dennis
deserved better reprect as a keyboard player.***
trax include: GRAND ILLUSION: classic title track from
1977 Styx album and good opener.**
LADY: though Dennis' replacement Lawrence Gowan has done
a decent rendition with the Tommy Shaw/J.Y.-led Styx, hearing
the original voice holdss an unmistakable charm.***
EINE KLEINE NACHTMUSIK: a brief intro from this Mozart
piece which sets the mood.***
LORELI: orchestra sounds more involved on this classic
from 1975's EQUINOX.***
LIGHT UP: a lot of trax from EQUINOX here. There's a
reggae section towards the end.***
BABE: I suppose not a complete show without this ballad.***
SHOW ME THE WAY: effective acapella rendition of this
1990 STYX hit which is dedicated to those who have served
in the Gulf war.***
AVE MARIA: further into classical territory is this operatic
moment from DeYoung's Broadway musical based on the Hunchback
of Notre Dame.***
CASTLE WALLS: forgotten album track classic from The Grand
Illusion.***
CLAIRE DE LUNE: beautiful Debussy classic which is unfortunately
abreviated. At least he gave us more than he did than the
one minute version found on the Crystal Ball album.***
DON'T LET IT END: another classic ballad from 1983.***
HELLO GOD: new studio track is a ballad about faith and
searching for answers. Standard DeYoung slow one which could
have been a Styx ballad from his last album with them.***
MR. ROBOTO: less effective here than when he did it with
Styx.***
ROCKIN' THE PARADISE: classic 1981 Styx rocker.***
BLACK WALL: powerful solo track about the Vietnam memorial
which is dedicated to the veterans of the Vietnam war. The
backing harmonies scream 70's-era Styx, actually a pretty
good track.***
DESERT MOON: another solo track which would have not
sounded out of place on a post-Kilroy Styx album. This was
the title track from DeYoung's first solo album from 1984,
and has a nice 80's vibe to it. It speaks for its era.***
WITH EVERY HEARTBEAT: another track from the Hunchback
of Notre Dame, again with soulful duet vocals. As you can
imagine, very Disney/musical/Broadway.***
SUITE MADAM BLUE: third and final track from the classic
Equinox album. From this point on in the album it's classic
Styx classics as closers.***
BEST OF TIMES: anthem from Paradise Theatre album.***
COME SAIL AWAY: possibly DeYoung's finest and most anthemic
Styx song, a show highlight which has stayed in any Styx set
since it was written.***
MY GOD CAN BEAT UP YOUR GOD: for those who may have thought
that Dennis was mostly about ballads and musicals these days,
this track kinda rocks and is not devoid of funk either.***
GOODNIGHT MY LOVE: this on the other hand does fall into
the ballad catagory.***
A pretty good live set well worth a listen. You may even
begrudgingly give Dennis respect he deserves at being a better
vocalist, writer and keyboardist than you originally gave
him credit for, even if he did write a song about a robot.
Styx was all about the combination of all of the members'
styles- from ballads and theatrical concepts of Dennis DeYoung
to the laid-back Midwestern stylings of Tommy Shaw to the
hard rock leanings of James Young. Take away any element and
something feels missing, in both Styx and any of the solo
projects. Truely the sum of the parts. Though his Styx days
are probably behind him forever, Dennis DeYoung may still
deliver something worthwhile. This album is one such thing.***
|
