References: The Cars—Hall & Oates—Dickens—Cagney—Todd Rundgren—Cheap Trick—Big Star—Adam Sandler—Judd Apatow—Sofia Coppola
Styx recorded Paradise Theatre, its 10th album, following Dennis DeYoung‘s enforced departure. The rest of the band ousted the vocalist/keyboardist, ostensibly for crimes against rock ‘n’ roll (DeYong’s songs “Babe” and “First Time,” on the previous album, Cornerstone). They reunited after two months.
Paradise Theatre, Side One
“Rockin’ the Paradise”—The record actually starts with a brief piano-and-vocal intro, “A.D. 1928,” before blasting into the title track, “Rockin’ the Paradise.” This is one of the band’s better arena anthems, and is even playful in parts. A DeYoung/Young/Shaw composition, this shows the band working together, whatever troubles were happening in the ranks.
“Too Much Time On My Hands”—Styx’ New Wave-ish tendencies (or adaptations) are overlooked, but I hear a little of The Cars on this Tommy Shaw track (see below, Fun Facts About Paradise Theatre, for the story behind the writing of the song). I’d completely forgotten about this track until starting on this project, though the Winnipeg hard-rock station played the hell out of it. I don’t know what else to say about it. It’s got a fun chorus? Also, I hear a little Hall & Oates, like these guys were trying to write “Maneater” and came up with this instead. Is it good? Hell, I don’t know. It’s listenable.
“Nothing Ever Goes as Planned”—Remember that attempt at a Calypso, “Plexiglass Toilet” from album #3, The Serpent is Rising? Not having learned their lesson, the band returns to a tropical beat. I must say I’m surprised at how much these guys (or at least DeYoung) complain about stardom. Maybe they’ve run out of magical kingdoms to write about. Bring back the serpents and the shooz.
I strut around the stage like a little king tonight
They’ll scream for every word and every note, that’s right
But when the show is over and I’m all alone
Can’t reach my baby on the telephone
And everywhere I look Mr. Loneliness is in the news
I’ve got the Big Star Blues
“The Best of Times”—Sentimental hogslop circa 1981. The cheeseball in me kind of likes it though. This borrows a line from Dickens, but I guess that’s obvious. Is it time to mention this is a concept album? I think it tells the history of a theatre maybe? I’ll have to consult styxworld.com for this one. Another DeYoung track.
Paradise Theatre Side Two
“Lonely People”—The Side Two opener begins with someone pounding on a door in the distance, yelling “Hey hey out there knock it off will ya?” Then the horns come in. The lyrics mention “Cagney,” the band warbles the chorus, an instrumental passage shows off the band’s chops. At 5:22 it’s not even the longest song on the album—that honour belongs to the upcoming “Half Penny Two Penny.”
“She Cares”—I have to say, this is the last thing I expected—a decent power-pop song. This Shaw number will hit the sweet spot for fans of ’70s Todd Rundgren and Cheap Trick and maybe even—dare I say it?—hipster gods Big Star. The first time listening, I kept waiting for the band to fuck it up with some Outer Limits keyboards or squealing blooze-boogie guitar, but it actually gets better. If this album has an unheralded gem, this is it. Shaw even tosses in an additional vocal hook at the end. Bonus.
“Snowblind”—The de rigueur (for any successful ’70s rock band) coke song, as strident and tiresome as that description promises. This is a DeYoung/Young co-write, but I suspect the latter (guitarist James “JY” Young) had more to do with it than his bandmate. The squealing guitar is back. The choral vocals near the end are nice I guess.
“Half Penny Two Penny”—Hmmm, what to make of this one? It’s a rocker, one that builds to a theatrical crescendo. Its title calls back to Dickens (again). Young, who is basically the guitar-balls of this band, wrote this one with someone named Raymond J Joseph Brandle (Google let me down on this one). It’s too long by half and somewhat confused (even by Styx standards) but its oddness makes it bearable, if not welcome.
“A.D. 1958″—Cut to: 50 years after the opening track, “A.D. 1928.” Repeats the opener with some different lyrics. Someone sings “Good night good night” through a Moog synth or something. “State Street Sadie” ends the record with 26 seconds of dancehall piano melody,
Fun facts about Paradise Theatre (1981)
• Paradise Theatre was the band’s first album to hit #1. A&M released it in January 1981. In March, Chicago Mayor Jane M. Byrne declared the day “Chicago Salutes STYX DAY.”
• no surprise here: DeYoung was the one who pushed the idea of making another concept album, this one a fictional account of a real movie palace, Chicago’s Paradise Theatre.
• the album’s hit singles were “The Best of Times” and “Too Much Time On My Hands.”
• according to a 2000 NYT article, Adam Sandler is a Styx fan. “The Best of Times” appears in the 1999 Sandler flick Big Daddy, and “Renegade” pops up in 1995’s Billy Madison. The same article, which trumpets a Styx revival, or at least newfound respect, also notes that Sofia Coppola set a pivotal late-70’s prom scene to “Come Sail Away” in her debut film, The VIrgin Suicides. She told the Times that the song is “just totally sincere and passionate, and that’s just not around anymore It’s not cool to be emotional and heartfelt now.” Judd Apatow, who used the song in the first episode of his ’90s series Freaks and Geeks, said that he was “obsessed with Styx as a kid.” He also made this claim: “We put Styx music in the show in the same way Lawrence Kasdan put Motown in The Big Chill. And there is an argument to be made that ‘Renegade’ is as good a song as `Ain’t Too Proud to Beg.’ “
• in 1981, Shaw told Kerrang!, “We’ve always been different personalities. I remember in the old days, when we couldn’t afford to buy clothes, we would look like we didn’t know whether we were going to be Jackson Browne or Kiss. … We were all over the place. We couldn’t agree, so nothing emerged as a common image for the band. We used to fight about it.”
• I’m a sucker for stories of “eureka”-type songwriting moments, like this quote from Shaw about writing “Too Much Time On My Hands” on the last day of recording. “I heard that riff in my head, but I didn’t have anything to record it on as I was driving to the studio. When I got to the parking lot, I turned the car off, ran inside, got everybody together, and said, ‘Chuck, play this riff, and then this.’ It was like it came together in a package and all the pieces were assembled right then and there.”
• Paradise Theatre was the band’s FOURTH consecutive platinum album.
Be First to Comment