One of the interesting elements of returning to listening to current music over the last four or five years is the realization that bands from when I was young are still making music, albums even.
When I stopped keeping up on new releases I guess I just assumed all those '70s and '80s bands and singers stopped playing, too. But, yeah, some of them are still going -- like did you know Robin Trower just released another album? He's 80! Good for him.
Most recently, the band Styx has released an album, it's their 18th. (Two members from the '70s, Tommy Shaw and James Young, are still with the band). The physical copy is available to buy now from the band's website. But it won't hit streaming services and other online sites until next month. That's a cool nod to those who like to own physical media. I suppose a "dinosaur band" would be in tune with that.
My Styx phase was very brief. A few years in high school, that's it. My introduction to Styx was "Babe" on the radio. I didn't know their prog rock heights, although I did pick up on their biggest earlier hits quickly (what high school yearbook then didn't have the lyrics to "Come Sail Away" in it?).
"Paradise Theater" marks a milestone moment in my music listening -- it took Styx's new release to realize that. It is the first album I purchased that was No. 1 on the charts when I bought it. I was 15 at the time, any previous album I bought had been out for a year, a couple years or more.
It was also the first real rock album I bought. Due to the times, being the oldest child with no older siblings to teach me Led Zeppelin, and parents who didn't even understand the Beatles, introducing stadium rock into the household was a gradual process.
So Paradise Theater was huge for me then.
It's also Styx's best-selling album. I think it deserves a Match the Title song tribute. I think I can handle that. There are really only eight songs on the album.
That's my copy of the album, purchased in 1981, that I still own. It's a concept album -- Styx does love a concept LP -- using the rise-and-fall of the Paradise Theater in the band's hometown of Chicago as a metaphor for the arrival of the 1980s and the changing times.
Because this album was such a big deal to me, I absorbed everything about it, much like I did baseball cards. I particularly was obsessed with the fact that the track listing along the bottom of the album cover did not match the order of the songs on the record.
The back cover. I thought this was very cool, showing the polar opposite experiences of the Paradise Theater (and again the songs out of order).
This is Side 1 of the record. Note that both sides of the album are listed on the front (Act One and Act Two)
According to wikipedia, initial version of the album feature the band's name laser-etched onto the vinyl. My copy does show that. It was difficult to photograph unless I held it up to the light.
I remember thinking this was pretty weird back when I got it -- but mostly because Side Two songs were listed on Side One and there was nothing on Side Two!
OK, now let's finally get to it. As you know, I'm going to try to find a trading card to go with each song.
Here is the Track List. (In the right order!)
"Match the Song Title:" Paradise Theater - Styx
Track 1: A.D. 1928/Paradise Theater
The Paradise Theater opened in Chicago on Sept. 14, 1928. It was a movie theater and considered the most beautiful theater in the world. The Chicago Cubs that year finished in third place, a year away from advancing to the World Series. Their best player in 1928 was slugger Hack Wilson, who hit 31 home runs and finished seventh in MVP voting. I wonder if he had VIP tickets to the Paradise Theater?
Track 2: Too Much Time On My Hands
My favorite song off the album at the time. I remember hoping it would reach No. 1 on the Billboard charts, which I paid attention to actively at the time. But, as difficult as it is to believe now, this song was probably too "hard" for a pop scene dominated at the time by the likes of Gino Vanelli, Air Supply and Juice Newton.
The current poster player for having "too much time on his hands" is the perpetually injured Kris Bryant. I wonder what he does with all his off-time, outside of rehabbing?
The third single released from the album, but it didn't make the top 40 in the U.S. I also recall liking this song.
Despite the loudest baseball fans squawking about team salary imbalance in the game, baseball can still produce unexpected champions like the Texas Rangers in 2023. The Rangers' odds to win the Series before the 2023 season began was 17th among all MLB teams. The team they played in the Series, the Diamondbacks, had even worse odds prior to the season.
(P.S.: I dislike that this is the "celebration shot" used in 2024 Heritage, starting with the celebration combined with Game 5, which is not something '75 Topps did).
Track 4: The Best Of Times
Oh I did not like this song in 1981 and it was all over the radio and went all the way to No. 3. I think this is when I started to dislike Dennis DeYoung (it would reach an all-time high when he released "Desert Moon").
It's really not all that bad listening to it 40-plus years later and the lyrics remain relevant. And it makes for an easy card comparison. The Best of Times for me as a fan is when the Dodgers win the World Series, which just happened last year. I think the 2024 win might rank higher than any Dodger experience for me aside from 1988.
Side 2 begins now. I had no memory of this song until I played it for this post. Anyway, how about a card from the Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band movie set from 1978?
This set is amazingly cheap, probably because the movie was one of the biggest bombs on record. It's crazy how many notable people were in the film and yet it still tanked.
A super poppy song (and the lyrics aren't great) from Tommy Shaw. I didn't remember how this one went either. ... Name a female fan who cares the most about baseball and why isn't it Sarah Langs?
A song about cocaine addiction and how it ruins everything. You could pick a lot of '80s baseball players but my first choice is Steve Howe.
Music fans from this time know that this is the song that was accused of being Satanic by anti-rock activists who said it contained hidden backward messages. It blew up in the media and I even remember trying to play it backwards to see what I could hear -- and then being freaked out I ruined the record. The controversy around this song led to the storyline for Styx's next album, "Kilroy Was Here".
A fairly hard-rocking epic by James Young, which apparently doesn't get played much in Styx concerts. For the song occasion I have a half-Brad Penny, left, that adds up to Two-Brad Pennys.
And that's where the needle comes off of the record.
I can't say Styx stayed with me once high school ended. Their songs are all right and I sure loved "Renegade" at one point in time. But times change, new wave and alternative took over for me. I won't be buying a physical copy of the new Styx record, but I'm sure I'll listen to it digitally at least once.
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