Dennis DeYoung was a Freddie Mercury rip-off faggot.

[rustoffa]

Exhibit 1:

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[rustoffa]

Exhibit 2:

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[FORD]

Exhibit 3:

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[Coyote]

Re:

As if you need to prove of that?

Styx vs. Queen = McDonalds vs. any steakhouse.

[Terry]

Coyote nailed it.

Styx I could always take or leave, and while I'm not a diehard Queen fan either, there's no question in my mind that Queen left behind a far more substantive body of work than Styx, who are pretty much a kitschy 70s act for me now at BEST.

[Diamondjimi]

There's simply no comparison!

Styx - American pop rock with a couple of decent albums (Cornerstone+Grand Illusion) DeYoung flushed their career down the shitter with his Mr. Roboto garbage. Nice move guy.

Queen - Rock innovators with legendary status. Only a couple of lame lp's to their name (Hot Space+ Body Language)Freddies fault....

Innuendo- Fuckin brilliant album+ single. Great classical break performed by Steve Howe .........

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Had Freddie lived they would have conquered America again...

R.I.P.

[The_KiD]

Yea, there really is no comparison between the bands IMO.. Styx had some great songs back in the day but what I liked was definitely from the Tommy Shaw side of the camp... Dennis turned the band into a ballad-hit making machine and ultimately ruined the band due to his quest for complete artistic control...

Tommy Shaw, JY, and the others are definitely talented musicians IMO.. It is a shame they could not have just kept on being a rock & roll band..

Are any them on Freddie Mecury's level.. Not a chance..

KiD

[Hardrock69]

Styx is a crappy, lame, half-wit, pale imitation of what they figure Queen was all about...

[Revan]

All of the flaming towards Dennis goes to show that nobody here really knows any actual history in regards to Styx, or what kind of success that album (Kilroy) was at the time. Proof towards that fact - what's happened with Styx since they kicked Dennis out?

Absolutely nothing. Tommy Shaw and James Young haven't been able to do anything with that band, and they've been relegated to complete joke status without Dennis' involvement.

The greatest hits albums of 1995 and 1996 sold very well, the Return to Paradise tour and album was a big hit with audiences and fans, and even Brave New World (as bad as that album was) actually sold pretty well at first, considering how much inactivity there had been on the Styx front over the years. Once word got out that it was a pile of doo, and that Dennis was out, oddly enough everything seemed to dry up for Styx.

They played local to me a few years back, and I went (with free tickets) just to see what was what - less than 30 people were there. Probably about 15 or 20. That's life in Styx post-Dennis DeYoung.

Styx had the number one album of 1981 (Paradise Theater), Kilroy Was Here also did good business and was actually a huge hit for them. It was a stupid concept, yeah, but Queen's guilty of just as much (if not more) stupidity over the years.

Examples?

Everything Queen recorded from 1981 and after was essentially garbage compared to everything that had come before it (Hot Space? Poop. The Works? The only thing on that worth listening to is I Want to Break Free, other than that the whole album's a toss. A Kind of Magic? Half-assed...very weak. The Miracle? Disposable fluff. Innuendo? Unengaging to say the very least. Mr. Bad Guy? You must be kidding...).

No denying that Queen was still really popular overseas, but considering the kind of crap they were releasing in the 80's, it's no surprise at all that America totally lost touch with them until Wayne's World brought them back into the spotlight.

The fact that Brian May's parading the name of Queen around these days (when it's basically nothing more than his solo band) is ridiculous. It's not even remotely Queen.

In regards to Styx, though....

The Roboto concept was a band decision that was made, meaning James and Tommy (and to a lesser degree, Chuck and John) got onboard with the idea as well. If they didn't want to pursue the Kilroy project, they could have shot it down at any time with a majority vote, as all parties in Styx past and present agree that everything was a decided on a majority vote basis. The fact is, they didn't shoot it down, they got onboard, and they had a huge hit with the singles and the album.

Yeah, it's silly to look at 23 odd years later, but to have James and Tommy sit there and talk shit about the project and put all the blame on Dennis for it is stupid, considering they all were involved with it. As usual, there's more than enough blame to go around in regards to Styx's mistakes, but the easy role is to dump it all on Dennis' head, since he's actually got enough decency and maturity not to stoop to their level of name calling and baseless insults (a la James Young).

Dennis' solo albums are the only outside-of-Styx albums worth listening to. James and Tommy can't write to save their lives on their own, unless you think Damn Yankees was something to write home about. Desert Moon was a hit in 1984 - neither James or Tommy or anybody else from Styx has ever had a solo hit on their own.

James Young can't give an interview anymore without trash talking Dennis and cutting him down at any given opportunity he can, it's like he's obsessed with degrading Dennis at any opportunity he can. Honestly, out of somebody his age, it makes him look awfully stupid and petty.

James is pathetic and the fact that Tommy puts up with it is even more so. The fact that there's even a "Styx" today without one single original member in it is ridiculous, and the world of Styx is even more screwed up and ridiculous than the world of Van Halen.

Frankly, though, at the bottom heart of it, James, Tommy and Dennis are all incredible musicians, great composers and spectacular songwriters. Queen was a more progressive-minded band than Styx was, but to insinuate that Styx was trying to rip off Queen is a somewhat foolish assumption and not really based in reality. Queen was great up until about 1981, as was Styx.

After that, in regards to recorded material, they both pretty well pooped out and the tank was mostly empty. But Queen and Styx both left behind a remarkable body of work, and there's absolutely no denying that. Both Queen's and Styx's back catalog still holds up to this day, and I'm a fan of both bands - to a point.

Having met Dennis...I can say that the man is real, genuine, very cool and quite the comedian. He has a upbeat personality and is a really engaging character. Very down to Earth and easy to talk to, doesn't have the "superstar" attitude that other musicians do.

Honestly, he's very friendly with everybody and I can't honestly think of one bad thing to say about him.

So, as the opposing viewpoint to this debate...there you go.

[bluemustard]

I don't know who de fuck Dennis deYoung is but knowbody can fuck with Freddie...I saw him once in concert with queen..
100% pure shit..uncutt

[Hardrock69]

Facts are Facts.
Dennis DeYoung RUINED a once great rock band.

Like REO Speedwagon, Styx began there career as a rock band.

Playing ROCK music.

Then they fell victim to the pressure from ther record label, and Dennis DeYoung was already sucking the cocks of everyone in the A & R department.

Much like Kevin Cronin, and his ruination of a good band.

I saw REO on the last tour where they could be considered an actual rock band, and that was in July of 1977, in Columbia, S.C.

After that they became a sellout pop band full of pussies, just like Styx did.

Anyone who defends Dennis DeYoung is a homo loser cocksucker.

[bueno bob]

Well...you can't blame DeYoung for all of Styx's faults. Like the guy says, there's plenty enough blame to go around, and both Tommy Shaw and James Young are complete assholes as well. Ever since they dumped Dennis, they've done nothing to re-establish Styx as a viable act, instead they've went the Beach Boys route, playing casinos and state fairs...it's pointless for them to keep Styx (or whatever remains of it) going, but yet they do. Nobody cares but them, I guess.

Moreover the general public doesn't care anyway, but without Dennis, Styx loses whatever credibility it had remaining in the eyes of whatever remains of it's fanbase. The average Styx fan from back in the day won't have any interest if Dennis isn't involved, because he was always the face and voice of the band.

Dennis was not a Freddie Mercury clone, though...just to throw that out there, because there's miles apart musically. Dennis does shit completely different, Dennis and Freddie wrote completely differently, although band against band there's a few similarities...not enough to merit an eye to eye comparison, though. It's like comparing Ozzy against Robert Plant...you can't really do it even though they're from the same sort of school...

Styx had a lot of great material, but it dried up in '81. They should have split after Paradise Theater - great album that it was, and the last thing they ever did that was worth anything.

Dennis is doing what suits him now, and that's a more orchestral sort of thing, which is cool if you're into that. He also goes out and plays oddball, non-hit Styx stuff from time to time, even stuff off of the first four albums, which Styx itself will never do apart from "Lady". So I'll give Dennis credit enough for doing something different, plus he's never talked any shit about either Tommy or James - by comparison, Tommy and James don't know when to shut their fucking mouths and they look like idiots.

Styx is a thing of the past, anyway...as is Queen...but I'm a fan of both bands on different levels, so I can't really pick a favorite between them. Have a lot of good memories with both bands, actually.

[bueno bob]

It'll be interesting to see what Vin has to say about this, he's a fairly big Styx fan as well...

[EbDawson]

Originally posted by Revan
neither James or Tommy or anybody else from Styx has ever had a solo hit on their own.

Are you insane? Don't you remember Shaw's "Girls With Guns"?

[EbDawson]

Originally posted by bueno bob
instead they've went the Beach Boys route, playing casinos and state fairs...it's pointless for them to keep Styx (or whatever remains of it) going

Regardless of how you feel how Shaw/Young's Styx, let's drop the "casino" card. Dave plays them, so do alot of great bands, fact is, those Injuns pay well.