SuiteMadameBlue wrote:If I were you I wouldn’t want to go back 20 years either because it points out clearly their lies and b.s. and that YOU and others bought into it.
Did you not read what I said in this post you replied to about why Dennis had to be fired? That I what I believed from the very beginning of all of this. Regardless of what Tommy said, Dennis was fired because of how he put Hunchback at the same, or even higher, priority as Styx. So much so that he made himself sick. When he sued the band, that wrote it in stone, he will never be part of Styx again.
You are so caught up in hating Tommy and JY that you can't see past it. You can't see that YOU are drinking Dennis' Kool Aid and do not look past it. You parrot him over and over again. You are the one who comes in here and repeats those arguments. I'm not.
I repeat! You don’t care about 20 years ago because it exposes the hypocrisy of Shaw and Young’s lies and your idiotic gullibility to what was truly the issue, money.
I don't care about 20yrs ago because it has been rehashed repeatedly, Styx has had two successful releases with a third being asked for by the label. It just doesn't matter any longer.
One more thing about this. Way back then, a friend of mine asked Dennis, "what project of yours are you most proud of?" His answer? Hunchback. Think about that....It was not Grand Illusion, or Kilroy, or Desert Moon, or ANYTHING Styx related. Hunchback is what he was most proud of back in the late 90's. That is where is his mind was...and I have virtually NO DOUBT that is why he was fired. Not because he was sick, not because of Kilroy, not because of ballads, and definitely not because of money (what a farce)...it was because he put Hunchback as high of a priority as Styx, or maybe even higher. Here he was in the late 90's, recording reunion album, and he is much proud of Hunchback.
The point yet again is both OA and Babe are love songs and ballads and are both great.[ Of course the music is different duh but from the very same genre that Shaw demeaned. He called it “ Barry Manilow territory” then he records OA.
No one made him do it despite your nonsense in making excuses for his decision. Poor Tommy the big bad Producer made him do it and of course the devil.
I did not say anybody "made" him do it. I said you have no clue what happened. You are just making shit up based on your biases and hatred of Tommy. IMO, Tommy was probably asked to be a part of it, he said 'yes', and they asked him to perform "Open Arms"...and he did it because; it was a tribute to Journey, "Open Arms" is Journey's most successful single, and he felt honored to do it. You are the one obsessed with inventing connections and attempting to insult Tommy.
By the way the subject matter in Babe was mirrored in Faithfully 4 years later, both songs are about separation where one person travels for a living
I know that, I was actually going to write that "Open Arms" is not like "Babe", "Faithfully" is.
“Dennis needed to be fired because he was obsessed with Hunchback, made himself sick”.
MADE HIMSELF SICK. You’re despicable.
No, you just can't handle the truth.
Dennis became ill while being over worked trying to tour and honor his Hunchback commitment to help Tommy’s dire financial situation. Tommy needed cash. It’s always money.
Those choices are Dennis' choices. Nobody is responsible for Dennis DeYoun'g's choices except Dennis DeYoung. As I said, he put Hunchback at the same, or higher, priority as Styx. He made himself sick by trying to do both full time. NOBODY else is responsible for this decision besides Dennis DeYoung himself. It is typical of a drama queen and narcissist to blame the consequences of their own decisions on somebody else, avoiding taking responsibility for them himself, and making himself the "victim" and someone else the "villian". "Ah, poor Dennis...Snidely Whiplash forced him to tour and make him sick. So, sad." Bullshit, Dennis made the decision to do both.
AGAIN NO TOUR WAS PLANNED FOR 1997 UNTIL SHAW SAID HE NEEDED MONEY.
Styx were suppose to record their studio album that year.
Then Dennis should have put Hunchback on hold until he could give it the time it required without over working himself and becoming sick. The fact that he didn't, imo anyway, is evidence that his priorities had Hunchback and Styx being equals. Tommy and JY NEEDED him to put STYX as the higher priority. He refused, to the point where it affected his health. THAT is what got him fired.
There would have been no reunion tour without Dennis deciding to call Tommy to sing on Lady. But let’s just skip that minor detail because Dennis is always wrong.
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There also would have been no reunion tour if Tommy turned him down. But, you ignore that FACT and decide to give credit for the entire reunion to Dennis DeYoung. How arrogant.
The fact is that Tommy didn't have to say 'yes' to Lady. I remember two entries to his blog from back then. The first was talking about being in DY and how Dennis contacting him about the spoof they did about ballads, Jack doing Sister Christian, and Tommy doing Babe, etc. Dennis told him how upsetting it was because that song was special, written for Suzanne, blah, blah, blah. Tommy told him that he would not do that again, but he had no control over what Ted does. After that conversation, DY never did that spoof again.
The second was talking about joining the band. How he showed up and the only thing Dennis had him do was to sing the high part in Lady. After he did that, he didn't have to do anything else because, as Dennis said, if he could sing that part he would have no problem with the rest of the catalog. Then Tommy added about getting the call to add his vocals to Lady '95 and his vocals were not on the original release. So, he went into the studio some 20 odd years later, and hit those notes one more time.
Tommy did not NEED to do either of those things. He could have told Dennis to fuck off, that he could do what he wanted to do in concert. He could have told Dennis that he was in DY, and was planning the Shaw/Blades album. But, he didn't, he did "Lady '95" anyway. In addition, his decision to join Styx broke up DY who tried to replace him for DY3 and it just didn't work.
IMO, Tommy deserves credit for being able to put all the bullshit behind him and try to reunite with Styx. Dennis does not deserve all the credit...and it is incredibly arrogant for him and his minions to even attempt to give it to him.
And, making it all about money is also bullshit. NOTHING would have drawn more $'s then a reunion tour and/or album with Dennis. The fact that they completely discard that option tells me that the $'s argument from Dennis is complete bullshit. Again, he and his zombies can not admit that he was a LOT less important to Styx than he gives himself credit for. They moved on without Captain Dunsel and are better off for it.
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