Album Review: Styx Paradise Theater
I think the peak of the success of the band Styx was when they released the 1981 album Paradise Theater. This was a band that had certainly paid their dues for years until finally scoring a hit with Lady, a song written by Dennis DeYoung. It came from their second album, but it wasn't a hit until after their fourth album, thanks to a Chicago D.J. who insisted on playing the song every day until it became a hit.
In 1977, The Grand Illusion established them as one of the top rock Rock & Roll bands of the time. Dennis DeYoung sang and played keyboards, Tommy Shaw sang and played guitar, James Young played guitar and sang and the twin brothers, John and Chuck Panozzo, played drums and bass, respectively.
As big as The Grand Illusion was, when Paradise Theater came out, there were times when the band had to add extra shows to their tour to accommodate the demand of the fans. The album was a multi platinum success, and it was very much a part of the soundtrack of my life. I have fond memories of that tape playing on my sister's tape recorder as we hung out in the front yard.
The album really speaks of the changing of the world. The good old days of the past and the uncertainty of the future. Even with that, there's a certain optimism with those songs. This is Styx we're talking about, and they are very much a band about positivity.
The album cover and the theme of the album featured an old theater that once was the place to be. Now, it was closed. The intro to side one, AD 1928, sets the mood, leading into Rocking The Paradise. Both songs were sung by DeYoung, who has some of the best moments on the album.
Rocking The Paradise and DeYoung's The Best Of Times were both top ten songs on the charts. However, Shaw scored his biggest hit with the band on this album with Too Much Time On My Hands, another top ten hit. In fact, these three sings propelled the album to #1 status on the charts.
The album was not without it's controversy. The song Snowblind featured the vocals of both Shaw and Young. It's haunting melody at the beginning is followed by lyrics that speak of addiction. It certainly wasn't glamorizing it, and it's an honest song. Styx was once accused of backwards masking satanic messages on their records, and Young would sometimes comment that the devil had nothing to do with that song before playing it in concert.
On just about every Styx album, Young is called on to bring a little more of a rocking edge to the band. This comes out in his song Half Penny/Two Penny. Maybe it's not his best contribution, but it's not a bad song either. Tommy and Dennis seem to get the most notoriety, but James is also a triple threat as he is an impressive guitar player, has written on some of the band's hits and is not a bad rock & roll singer.
Nothing Ever Goes As Planned was one of the five songs released as a single and charted the lowest, while still in the top 60. It's another DeYoung tune and sort of reminds me of Why Me from the Cornerstone album. Tommy has an under rated song on this album with She Cares, which is about the woman who stood by him through everything.
For me, Paradise Theater is a satisfying album from start to finish. I bounce back and forth between this album and The Grand Illusion as to which is my favorite Styx Album. I never got to see them live at this stage in their career, but when I saw them on the Return To Paradise Theater Tour in 1996, they sounded great. Had they been able to work together after that, I'm sure they had at least one more hit in them.
If you haven't heard this album and like songs that rock, with an upbeat message, check out Paradise Theater. As Classic Rock albums go, it's still one of the best. The critics may not have liked the band, but judging by the record sales of well over three million for this album alone, the fans loved them.
And, though Dennis and Styx tour separately these days, I am reminded of a lyric from AD 1958. "But tonight will always last as long as we keep alive, the memories of Paradise."
