Toph wrote:yogi wrote:I think that once DDY ditched the accordion, JY knew that TW4/The Tradewinds/ Styx would play the type of music that he liked. I'm sure he also figured they were better than the band he was currently in and it offered him a chance to make more coin.
When JY joined the band, he was on pretty equal footing with Dennis. IMO the dynamics really didnt change until JC left and Tommy came on board.
Most of their songs from Styx 1 thru Pieces of Eight were either fairly progressive or pretty heavy ( with some being both). This seemed to suit them all at the time.
The dynamics changed once Lady hit. Every song on Equinox besides "Midnight Ride" was a DDY song.
And again don't by this bullshit argument that everything before "Cornerstone" was either fairly progressive or heavy. Wise up and stop quoting the JY/TS bullshit.
Going backwards - Sing For the Day, Pieces of Eight, I'm Okay, Come Sail Away, Fooling' Yourself, Superstars, Mademoiselle, This Old Man, Light Up, Lonely Child, etc. etc. NONE OF THESE ARE "HEAVY HARD ROCK SONGS" - they are either pop songs or ballads with a bit of a rock flair at the end. Hardly "pretty heavy" - that's crap.
I agree that the dynamics changed after lady.
however, wasn't lorelei, mother dear and born for adventure co-written songs?
and lastly, you and I see things completely differently about what constitutes a rock song vs. a ballad or just straight pop as you state.
sing for the day- more folksy with a bit of prog thrown in because of the keys.
pieces of eight- cross between a ballad and prog
I'm OK- straight mid tempo rock song
come sail away- ballad morphed into straight rock song with a dash of prog
fooling yourself- keyboardy light prog
superstars- straight mid tempo rock song
mademoiselle- straight mid tempo rock song
this old man- cross between straight rock, ballad, and prog
light up- straight rock song
lonely child- cross between straight rock and ballad
I think the bulk of those songs have plenty enough "rock" elements that I would consider them far from being just pop songs or ballads. and when you sprinkle those songs above around songs like great white hope, renegade, blue collar man, lord of the rings, grand illusion, miss america, castle walls, midnight ride, born for adventure, queen of spades etc. then it easily shows that styx was a ROCK band first and foremost during those days. The for sure morphed into less of a rock band by cornerstone and beyond because of more ballads and horns and writing styles shifting etc.
But I would for sure consider them up to cornerstone as a keyboard oriented straight rock band with elements of prog thrown in during those days. nothing wrong with that IMO, nor do I think that TS or JY was wrong in how they saw the band during those days.