Dennis DeYoung on Styx: "The fans want a reunion"

[Rockwriter]

Interesting comments Dennis made in a recent interview http://www.examiner.com/classic-hard-ro ... t-about-it

Thanks!

Sterling

[Memorex]

I only know the popular history on this and not all the gory details, but in my opinion Shaw is coming off like a dick.

[jestor92]

Styx reuniting with Dennis would be the smart thing for all the parties involved to do.

For myself ideally they'd reunite and bring Glen in as the bassist and record a new album then tour, but not continuously tour like they do now (which seems to be year round).

As for the Shaw quote, I guess the dude is happy being basically the figure head of a band that no one really cares about anymore while playing the same songs night after night. I'd think he for one would be up for a reunion with Dennis for that one last grasp at a big pay day and possibly making new music. Instead TS seems content on touring year round and releasing re-recorded songs of their hits and recording covers of other people's hits.

[RedWingFan]

That's it. Screw Styx. I'm done with them.

[Don]

That's it. Screw Styx. I'm done with them.

But..but...Jimi Jamison is getting back with Survivor. There's good times ahead for sure.

[Journey/Survivor]

That's it. Screw Styx. I'm done with them.

But..but...Jimi Jamison is getting back with Survivor. There's good times ahead for sure.

Now, Jim Peterik needs to as well.

[pinkfloyd1973]

I'm content with Dennis not being in the band.....his band is MUCH better than the current line-up, and Gowan sucks at singing his songs

[kgdjpubs]

That's it. Screw Styx. I'm done with them.

But..but...Jimi Jamison is getting back with Survivor. There's good times ahead for sure.

Now, Jim Peterik needs to as well.

get Peterik back, and I'll start getting excited. JP was probably 70% of the songwriting talent. Getting Jamison back is a step in the right direction as Robin MacAuley was a horrible fit for the band vocally, but he was never a songwriting force. It was always Sullivan and Peterik co-writing the vast majority of the material regardless of whether you had Bickler or Jamison on vocals.

[squirt1]

There is something about guitar players thinking they are who we pay to see. I pay my $$$$ to see the singers . Stop linging their pockets and they will figure it out.

[Rockindeano]

That's it. Screw Styx. I'm done with them.

But..but...Jimi Jamison is getting back with Survivor. There's good times ahead for sure.

Now, Jim Peterik needs to as well.

Dude, are you being serious about this? Survivor is an embarrassment of a band. My God, you must be high.

[The_Noble_Cause]

Styx, like Journey, released one album after regrouping w/out their iconic frontman. For better or worse tho, Journey keeps pumping out new material. STYX has thrown in the towel.

[kgdjpubs]

That's it. Screw Styx. I'm done with them.

But..but...Jimi Jamison is getting back with Survivor. There's good times ahead for sure.

Now, Jim Peterik needs to as well.

Dude, are you being serious about this? Survivor is an embarrassment of a band. My God, you must be high.

I don't even know why I'm bothering to respond to this, but.....for what it's worth, I think Survivor has a better overall back catalog than Journey does. Journey had more talented members, and I think Perry was a better singer (and frontman) than either Dave Bickler or Jimi Jamison, although both are very good singers in a studio environment. Bickler wasn't a frontman at all and had the presence of a brick singing live, but he was pretty close live to what he could do on record (and still had 90% of his range when he came back in the early 90s). Jamison was a decent frontman, but not as good of a live singer. Perry did very good as a frontman, and remains one of the best live singers on the planet. Schon is a more talented guitarist than Frankie Sullivan, Steve Smith was a much better drummer than anyone Survivor had, etc. From a pure technical talent aspect, Journey wins hands down.

The difference for me though is the songs themselves. Most all Journey albums have had their share of filler material, even the mighty Escape and Frontiers. I think the Rolie era albums have more filler than solid material, although I'm sure some disagree. Discounting the debut which I'm not all that fond of, Survivor had a pretty impressive solid run from Premonition to Too Hot to Sleep. If all you've heard are the radio hits, you've only heard Vital Signs, maybe a little bit of When Seconds Count (which BY FAR are the most pop albums the band recorded), and a song specifically written for a movie that bears little resemblance to the rest of the album that it appears on. The true comparison for Survivor would be closer to Foreigner than Journey. With the exception of Vital Signs and parts of When Seconds Count, Survivor was much more of a hard rock band than a Journey was and you'd never guess that from the couple of songs that got on the radio. I think some of the best of the Journey songs reach greater heights than the best Survivor songs, but they had much less filler. They may have had fewer great songs, but they had a lot more "solid" songs, so the average rating of the album goes way up compared to Journey.

What they didn't have was a decent record company and a Herbie Herbert who would push the band. Scotti Bros. records simply couldn't compete with the big boys, so Survivor never really broke out from the pack. Jim Peterik doing co-writing with other bands and writing a fair amount of hits that Survivor didn't benefit from didn't help either, although the other acts like 38 Special and Sammy Hagar didn't mind. Jamison couldn't sing quite as high as Bickler either, so that may have contributed to why almost all of the Bickler material was retired once he left and JJ came onboard. Either way, even though Survivor never achieved the popularity level that Journey did, I think the recorded legacy stands up pretty well.

[No Surprize]

That's it. Screw Styx. I'm done with them.

But..but...Jimi Jamison is getting back with Survivor. There's good times ahead for sure.

Now, Jim Peterik needs to as well.

Dude, are you being serious about this? Survivor is an embarrassment of a band. My God, you must be high.

I don't even know why I'm bothering to respond to this, but.....for what it's worth, I think Survivor has a better overall back catalog than Journey does. Journey had more talented members, and I think Perry was a better singer (and frontman) than either Dave Bickler or Jimi Jamison, although both are very good singers in a studio environment. Bickler wasn't a frontman at all and had the presence of a brick singing live, but he was pretty close live to what he could do on record (and still had 90% of his range when he came back in the early 90s). Jamison was a decent frontman, but not as good of a live singer. Perry did very good as a frontman, and remains one of the best live singers on the planet. Schon is a more talented guitarist than Frankie Sullivan, Steve Smith was a much better drummer than anyone Survivor had, etc. From a pure technical talent aspect, Journey wins hands down.

The difference for me though is the songs themselves. Most all Journey albums have had their share of filler material, even the mighty Escape and Frontiers. I think the Rolie era albums have more filler than solid material, although I'm sure some disagree. Discounting the debut which I'm not all that fond of, Survivor had a pretty impressive solid run from Premonition to Too Hot to Sleep. If all you've heard are the radio hits, you've only heard Vital Signs, maybe a little bit of When Seconds Count (which BY FAR are the most pop albums the band recorded), and a song specifically written for a movie that bears little resemblance to the rest of the album that it appears on. The true comparison for Survivor would be closer to Foreigner than Journey. With the exception of Vital Signs and parts of When Seconds Count, Survivor was much more of a hard rock band than a Journey was and you'd never guess that from the couple of songs that got on the radio. I think some of the best of the Journey songs reach greater heights than the best Survivor songs, but they had much less filler. They may have had fewer great songs, but they had a lot more "solid" songs, so the average rating of the album goes way up compared to Journey.

What they didn't have was a decent record company and a Herbie Herbert who would push the band. Scotti Bros. records simply couldn't compete with the big boys, so Survivor never really broke out from the pack. Jim Peterik doing co-writing with other bands and writing a fair amount of hits that Survivor didn't benefit from didn't help either, although the other acts like 38 Special and Sammy Hagar didn't mind. Jamison couldn't sing quite as high as Bickler either, so that may have contributed to why almost all of the Bickler material was retired once he left and JJ came onboard. Either way, even though Survivor never achieved the popularity level that Journey did, I think the recorded legacy stands up pretty well.

Now, I'm not a Journey dick-puller by no means, but I never bought not one Survivor cd in my life. After reading this, I think I need to.

[Andrew]

That's it. Screw Styx. I'm done with them.

But..but...Jimi Jamison is getting back with Survivor. There's good times ahead for sure.

Now, Jim Peterik needs to as well.

Dude, are you being serious about this? Survivor is an embarrassment of a band. My God, you must be high.

I don't even know why I'm bothering to respond to this, but.....for what it's worth, I think Survivor has a better overall back catalog than Journey does.

I agree. Almost faultless catalogue.

[Archetype]

I'm content with Dennis not being in the band.....his band is MUCH better than the current line-up, and Gowan sucks at singing his songs

I share this sentiment. If Styx ever reunites, I would want Glen Burtnik and Tom Sharpe holding down the rhythm section.

[marco17]

Whether Tommy Shaw or JY's egos can handle it or not remains to be seen, but since DeYoung was booted, they have achieved no success. Yes, they may tour as part of one of the many classic rock packages, but their success is pretty much tied to DeYoung. One person posted that they tour all the time... Well, without DeYoung, they certainly cannot command the take that they could without him, and so I am sure they have to tour their asses off to earn the living they are accustomed to.

Shaw just comes off like a bitter, power hungry asshole in any interview he does when the topic of DD comes up. And, I say that as a person who knows of Styx, but doesn't really care if they ever tour or write another song again.

[RedWingFan]

Styx, like Journey, released one album after regrouping w/out their iconic frontman. For better or worse tho, Journey keeps pumping out new material. STYX has thrown in the towel.

Exactly. Though I really liked Cyclorama, after that release they've seemed to say, "to hell with it." Now they're just content to open 3 band shows and collect a check. I used to really dig Styx. Sad that they've become a opening act traveling jukebox.

[Yoda]

I have had many opportunities to see Styx in concert - one concert was practically in my back yard! I'd rather hold out for a Styx reunion with DeYoung or just see DeYoung in concert with his band. I just don't like Gowan's singing on any of the DeYoung songs. I'd rather Tommy just do his songs in concert.

[Deb]

[Now, I'm not a Journey dick-puller by no means, but I never bought not one Survivor cd in my life. After reading this, I think I need to.

Ditto, I usually take note of most of his posts. I don't own even one, either. But do like the few songs I've heard. I do prefer Jamison's vocals to Bicklers tho. And Kev, knowing my tastes, has never steered me wrong on other vocalists and/or cds he's recommended. The HLS one he recommended gets regular play on my IPOD.

But regarding this thread..........not much of a Styx fan at all.

[S2M]

[Now, I'm not a Journey dick-puller by no means, but I never bought not one Survivor cd in my life. After reading this, I think I need to.

Ditto, I usually take note of most of his posts. I don't own even one, either. But do like the few songs I've heard. I do prefer Jamison's vocals to Bicklers tho. And Kev, knowing my tastes, has never steered me wrong on other vocalists and/or cds he's recommended. The HLS one he recommended gets regular play on my IPOD.

But regarding this thread..........not much of a Styx fan at all.

Even though DDY's voice smokes EM's....and it is not even close....

[Deb]

[Now, I'm not a Journey dick-puller by no means, but I never bought not one Survivor cd in my life. After reading this, I think I need to.

Ditto, I usually take note of most of his posts. I don't own even one, either. But do like the few songs I've heard. I do prefer Jamison's vocals to Bicklers tho. And Kev, knowing my tastes, has never steered me wrong on other vocalists and/or cds he's recommended. The HLS one he recommended gets regular play on my IPOD.

But regarding this thread..........not much of a Styx fan at all.

Even though DDY's voice smokes EM's....and it is not even close....

Sorry, not for me baby! For some reason I just don't favor those high vocals anymore, I like my male vocalists to sound like males. That's why I much preferred Perry's vocals from Frontiers/ROR forward. There has to be at least a little texture to the vocals for me, I just don't listen to alot of the early REO, Styx, etc. as much anymore. Egad, Air Supply, I can literally feel the syrup dripping out of my ears.

Mind you I haven't really heard any current DDY, so maybe his voice isn't quite as high any more? Don't know?

[hoagiepete]

I'm content with Dennis not being in the band.....his band is MUCH better than the current line-up, and Gowan sucks at singing his songs

I share this sentiment. If Styx ever reunites, I would want Glen Burtnik and Tom Sharpe holding down the rhythm section.

No need to dump Sucherman. He's a great drummer.

[verslibre]

Gramm-era Foreigner kicks all these bands' asses (Styx, Survivor, Journey, REO).

[Slander]

Gramm-era Foreigner kicks all these bands' asses (Styx, Survivor, Journey, REO).

I couldn't agree more! Kelly is awesome.

[conversationpc]

Gramm-era Foreigner kicks all these bands' asses (Styx, Survivor, Journey, REO).

I agree with them being better than Styx, Survivor, and REO but not Journey. That being said, Lou Gramm is my favorite singer of all-time.

[verslibre]

Gramm-era Foreigner kicks all these bands' asses (Styx, Survivor, Journey, REO).

I couldn't agree more! Kelly is awesome.

Dude, I said Gramm. As in Lou Gramm.

[verslibre]

Gramm-era Foreigner kicks all these bands' asses (Styx, Survivor, Journey, REO).

I agree with them being better than Styx, Survivor, and REO but not Journey. That being said, Lou Gramm is my favorite singer of all-time.

If you rate the musicians (Schon vs. Jones, Smith vs. whoever), then yeah, Journey will come out on top.

But when it comes to AOR that's alternately rockin' and smooth, I find that Foreigner's music has aged better, especially across the first five albums.

Journey was awesome as a fusion band, but the Perry era has too many stinkers that annoy me, like that damned lovin' & touchin' song, and that shit called "Cryin'"!

I'm also different in that I think Frontiers is the best album of the Perry era (get it? Perry era? Pereira? LOL), and not Departure or (gasp) Escape.

And I'm sorry, but I think Gramm's voice, in its prime, is better than Steve's. I like Steve's for its high pitch, but Gramm's is a better all-around voice for pure rock.

[kgdjpubs]

I like Steve's for its high pitch, but Gramm's is a better all-around voice for pure rock.

I agree with that. I'd say Perry was the better singer, but Gramm was the better rock singer. Same with the Survivor situation. Jamison is the better singer, but Bickler had an edge and attitude that Jamison didn't have.

[jestor92]

Gramm-era Foreigner kicks all these bands' asses (Styx, Survivor, Journey, REO).

IMO after 4 Foreigner went down hill until Unusual Heat, then they went down hill again. Actually after Head Games their music started going down hill (IMO 4 started the slide) and the albums after that nailed the coffin in terms of bad Foreigner music.

[hoagiepete]

Cyclorama and Can't Slow Down are pretty damn good albums, post real lead singer.

When Perry dropped down to a lower register, he sounded fricken' awesome. Captured by the Moment blew me away. Don't know why he didn't do more of that.