During its half-century existence, Styx has recorded 23 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, eight of which reached the top 10. It's also a wide range of music, from the workouts of “Come Sail Away” and “Fooling Yourself ( Angry Young Man)” to the hard rock of “Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)” and “Renegade” to power up ballads like “Babe” and “The Best of Times.” Then there's whatever you want to call “Mr .Robot.”
There's more than one greatest hits album of tunes in the Chicago-born band's Hot 100 canon. And it's important to understand the range represented. Due to Dennis DeYoung's prominent keyboards, some bigger tracks, theme works and album art, Styx have prog credentials, but most of their repertoire falls into the simpler categories of rock and, in some cases, pop. It is in many ways the epitome of classic 70s AOR, touching enough bases for a substantial and diverse core audience.
Picking Styx's best Hot 100 act — from their single No. 1 (“Babe” for two weeks in 1979) to No. 88 (“You Need Love” four years earlier) — is tough. There are iconic tracks like “Mr. Roboto, “Show Me the Way” and “Babe” that are more popular than amazing, and there are some songs on the lower end of the Hot 100 spectrum that have more creative value. A long history begets many choices, and to their credit Styx never shied away from drifting down different lanes that surprised, even polarized, their audience.
With the band gearing up for a summer Renegades & Juke Box Heroes tour with Foreigner and special guest John Waite — kicking off June 11 in Grand Rapids, Mich., and featuring new bassist Terry Gowan (brother of the singer-keyboardist Lawrence Gowan) — we're giving you these picks as Styx's Top 10 Hot 100 Entries. (Each song is listed with the album it's from, the year it hit the Hot 100, and the Hot 100 in parentheses.)
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“You Need Love” (Styx II1975, No. 88)
The opening track from Styx's second album wasn't of a high standard and was eventually replaced by “Lady”, but it showcases a free-range set not far removed from the bar-band days, still brimming with exuberance. The bah-bah-bah The intro harmonies created “Welcome my friends!” by Dennis DeYoung! greeting, and the group starts through the track with guitar solos from James “JY” Young and John Curulewski and a walk on the organ from DeYoung. It wouldn't sound out of place on Boston's debut album a year later. Styx are having a ball here, and the exuberance is contagious. Listen here.
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“Lorelei” (Equinox1976, No. 27)
Styx mastered the sparse beginnings that launch into rock arguably better than any other band of the era, and many of their best songs follow that pattern. Written by DeYoung and Young, this urgent and earnest appeal to a lover to live together (forever, of course) showed a developing sense of momentum. It flowed more than it ebbed and used its grandeur for moderate degrees of melodic invention. It will be usurped in the catalog by other anthems, but it holds up next to any of them. Listen here.
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“Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)” (Pieces of Eight1978, No. 21)
The engine on Tommy Shaw's boat failed to start one day, and the ensuing crash gave him the musical inspiration to start this song. The result was a stunning rock anthem, with DeYoung's guitars and organ combining in arena-sized glory. It all added weight to the lyrics, which were drawn from a friend of Shaw's struggling with unemployment. Listen here.
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“Mademoiselle” (Glass sphere1976, No. 36)
Then-new member Tommy Shaw's first single for Styx was a dynamic composition of a boppy Merseybeat melody (the song even mentions London in its chorus) and twin guitar patterns that spanned Britain and southern California. It has the harmonies that make anything sound like a Styx song, but it was clear that he had brought something fresh to the party that would help the band climb the charts soon. Listen here.
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“Don't Let It End” (Kilroy was here1983, No. 6)
Styx's seventh and penultimate top 10 hit fits the bill Kilroy narrative as an ode to love to another person but also to music — specifically rock n' roll. Of the many romantic ballads that Styx (especially DeYoung) released, this one was the best, with some of the touches tempered by an edge from the guitars and a soaring solo from Shaw. It was even considered the first single from Kilroy but, at the band's insistence, they switched to 'Mr. Robot.” The irony here, of course, is that something ended for Styx here, as Shaw left the band after touring to support the album. Listen here.
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“Lady” (Styx II1975, No. 6)
Styx had to wait for their first top 10 hit. “Lady” was originally released as the first single from Styx II in September 1973. went largely unpromoted and stiff, but a DJ at Chicago's WLS-AM subsequently championed the track—DeYoung's first love song for his wife Suzanne—and it built enough of an audience to spark a significant most successful reissue, entering the Hot 100 in 1974 and peaking in 1975. Short and sweet at less than three minutes, it's the original for that aforementioned silent start/blast accord that became Styx's stock in trade and wartime transition in a dead end was a strong distinguishing feature. Listen here.
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“Apostate” (Pieces of Eight1979, No. 16)
Oh mother, there was a world of wounds – and a hangman's noose – awaiting the subject of this Shaw song. The wanted story was turned into a coveted tune in the Styx canon. It launches from its foreboding opener into a ferocious rocker that has become a trademark of Pittsburgh Steelers home games in the Iron City. And while Shaw usually played guitar solos on his own songs, he turned to Young for this one, and his partner did it like a seasoned and reliable gunslinger. Listen here.
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“Too Much Time on My Hands” (Paradisos Theatre1981, No. 9)
Shaw again drew on the frustration of the unemployed for his only top 10 single for Styx, reflecting the anguish of a man leaving his days on a stool and seeing a future in crime and insanity. This, of course, is contrasted with a lively track that begins with a popcorn synth meter and leads with muscular guitar energy. And if you can't nail the two claps during the opening chorus line by now, we can't help you. Listen here.
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“Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)” (The Grand Illusion1978, No. 29)
Shaw's pop work from Styx's rousing seventh album hosts one of his sturdiest melodies and most heartfelt lyrics—a nod to DeYoung's enthusiasm at the time—into a suite-like arrangement. A bombastic synth opening gives way to an acoustic guitar motif that leads the song into its lyrics, with Get up! chorus and a building instrumental break straight out of Prog 101 (including bassist Chuck Panozzo's simple but signature moment). You're still humming it after five and a half minutes, a testament to the tune's abundant power. Listen here.
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“Come Sail Away” (The Grand Illusion1978, No. 8)
An obvious choice, but if one were to ask which song best represents Styx, this is it. The six-minute epic — which was cut in half (!) for the AM radio single — boasts a proggy, hushed-to-bomb structure and accompanying sci-fi lyrics (we're sure “a gathering of angels” appeared and to Syd Barrett at some point). The chorus is a bona fide arena rocker, and the instrumental sections gave songwriter DeYoung room to tinker with his synthesizer. South Park you might have been mocking it, but you won't find too many top 10 hits that work Glee, The Virgin Suicides and My little Pony. Listen here.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/lists/best-styx-songs/
