Proof of DeYoung: Heavenly!

Today's post is from our friend HIM. 

Styx is an acquired taste. A mix of AOR and garish showmanship. You like them. Or you don’t. It doesn’t seem to be a case of middle ground.

So my opinion of the current Styx is “meh.” They do the hits. They do their thing. I like Shaw and the rest of the band. The new singer, Gowan, does justice to the classics. But I am not in any hurry to see them.

Reason being? DeYoung is the man! He is a bit of a prima donna. He is clearly hurt about how the band handled his departure. His overtures to rejoin the band for one last stand have, thus far, been rebuffed. But I admire him. I also think he has a great set of pipes.

So imagine my surprise (not really) when I heard the recent release by Jim Peterik & World Stage:

“Proof of Heaven” is the song Styx should release. Leave it to Peterik (go take a look at the songs he has co-written . . . now . . . I will wait) to coax DeYoung back into a Styx-like mood. The fact that he is also involved in DeYoung’s next solo album is good news.

Peterik’s hair color? Not such good news. But the video reads like you thought it would. It looks like an updated version of Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe’s “Order of the Universe” (1989). But with younger band members rounding out the ensemble. It is cheesy. It is light-hearted. Did I mention Peterik’s hair? It is also a good time and well executed. It takes the theme of spirituality, a no-no for so many nowadays, and makes it palatable with just a few lines.

Listen. This will not convert newcomers to the Styx-style of music. It won’t win over fans that are on the bubble about DeYoung. But, for the right audience, this should be a delight.

Styx. DeYoung calling. Maybe you should pick up the damn phone.

Comments

[GNR]

Wow. Jim Peterik... just a flash back to February 2013. I take my prego wife to see Tom Keifer and his band at a small place in Chicago. Crazy dressed dude with hair color different than shown here, believe some loud cowboyish boots, hat, jacket, etc... just jammin when it begins. Get to talking to him and he talks about how we help write a couple of songs on Tom's album (Flower Song is one I believe) and introduces himself - Survivor, etc. Good to see he's still rockin' in the free world.

[EddieLongHair]

I'm trying not to be too harsh here. It's just that watching that video I kept feeling like Alex Trebek was trying to sing a 1977 Christian spiritual to me and the rest of the CYO. In all honesty I've always had a soft spot for Styx. "Paradise Theatre" tour was my first concert back in the summer of "81 in East Rutherford, NJ. But this. No. Just, no.

[Gogmagog]

Boy, I did not like that at all.

The best thing I can say about DeYoung is that he's a Sox fan and not a Cubs fan. Honestly, I can't look at him any more without thinking of Mr. Roboto, which, if it weren't for We Built This City, would be the worst song ever recorded. IMHO.

Peterik, on the other hand, was just a hit maker extraordinaire. He was even in Chase for a bit, and even though it was only for the third album, which had more misses than hits, he did write one of my all-time favorites:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9u0CeQ_4PVw

[Metalboy!]

Welcome back, HIM, though we do miss you in the trenches of BBG! Comments!

WOW!, man, I feel like I’m walking through the annals of The AOR Museum!

I’m with Gogmagog, aside from “Lady”, STYX can take a stoning for all I care. But as much as I’d like to agree with Gog that “We Built This City” is the worst song ever recorded, I think the Death Match is really a battle between “Seasons In The Sun” and “Billy Don’t Be A Hero” ... or, ... wait ... what about “The Night Chicago Died”?

Actually, somebody should do a compilation of Metalized versions of all the sh*t songs that graced 80’s and 90’s radio. After all, Saxon proved it can be done in spades with their Metallization of one of the crapiest songs out there to great effect, “Ride Like The Wind”.

[Bob]

"A bit of a prima donna?" Did you ever watch the "Behind the Music" about Styx? DeYoung, although he had then, and still has now, tremendous pipes, had probably the biggest case of LSD in rock history. He is the reason why we all have to live with Mr. Roboto. Back in the mid 70s, I actually liked what Styx was putting out then. As DeYoung began to assert his power within the band, the quality of their music went right down the crapper. Once I heard, "Babe", I knew it was the beginning of the end for them.