Can you tell me who was the first band to have four consecutive triple platinum albums? Your first thought was probably The Beatles, The Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin. I can’t fault you for thinking that, as those would be pretty solid guesses. But you’ve probably realized that since you are reading a countdown about Styx, that the answer is Styx. If you changed your guess to Styx, then you are correct. A lot of people don’t know that. Why would you even think to guess Styx? Sure they had a few songs you probably recognize, but to have four consecutive albums that each sold 3+ million copies, that can’t be.
When Styx is Gone, Gone, Gone from this world, a lot of objective music historians will look at Styx and probably be confused; or should I say a Man in the Wilderness? They had talent at each instrument, and they had two main songwriters, Tommy Shaw and Dennis DeYoung who could tell incredible stories. Headed in the mid-80s they were one of the biggest bands. In 1981 the Paradise Theatre album was the number selling album in North America. So headed into 1983, life was the Best of Times for the Chicago-based band.
Then the album Kilroy Was Here was released and it all came to an end. Oddly enough, one hit from that album was “Don’t Let It End”. But Kilroy Was Here was essentially the end of the road for Styx. They would have other albums and singles that did okay. But nothing compared to the success their success from 1976 to 1983.
Styx had the opportunity to be a much bigger-named band than they are today. I don’t say that as an insult. I love Styx and if you know me, you know that I have seen Styx 23 times in concert. I have done six meet-and-greets with the band. I’m as big of a fan as you can possibly get. I don’t say that to be elitist, but to simply say I want what’s best for the band because they are one my favorite bands.
At the end of the day Styx has sold over 20 million albums and has had 16 top Billboard top 40 hits. That’s nothing to discredit. They rock.
So like with Billy Joel and Journey, two other bands/artists that I love I wanted to create a list. In those lists, I had ranked all the songs worst to first. I’m not doing that with Styx. Why? Because quite frankly there is a lot of Styx that most people haven’t listened to. Plus, if I learned anything from the lists of Billy Joel and Journey it was I wouldn’t have listened to those songs either. So let’s skip the part of the bottom half of the list and let’s get right into the songs people know.
25. “I’m OK” – This was a deep track off the Pieces of Eight album. It has a wonderful organ solo that was recorded at a cathedral in Chicago. When I say solo, I mean solo in the truest form. There are no other instruments playing. It’s just the organ. Because of that I wanted to rank this song higher, but not many people know this song. So it starts off the list at 25, and I’m OK with that.
24. “Heavy Metal Poisoning” Another deep track, but this time off the Kilroy Was Here album. Guitarist James “JY” Young takes the lead on the song. He tended to be a bit heavier on his songs when compared to keyboardist Dennis DeYoung and co-guitarist Tommy Shaw. The guitar riff on this song is pretty good and fits the concept of the album. The concept being rock music being banned and a young musician (Shaw) is trying to get it back.
23. “Castle Walls” The first of several songs from the Grand Illusion album to make this list. Like most songs on the album, it talks about things not being as they appear Hence the grand illusion concept. Like “I’m OK” the song has a nice keyboard solo. In this solo, however, there are other instruments in accompaniment.
22. “Don’t Let It End” The second song off the Kilroy Was Here to make the list. This song went to number six on the top 40 Billboard charts. However this song was rarely played live. Even though it was written by Dennis DeYoung and Dennis would push for his Billboard hits to be played live, the song rarely made the live cut. Overall, the song didn’t quite meet the concept of the album (killing rock music) and in my opinion it was thrown in because Styx needed a ballad on the album.
21. “Why Me” The first song to make the list off the Cornerstone album. This song went to number 26 on the Billboard list. The lyrics are about someone is going through tough times and asks the question, “Why me?” That connects with a lot of people. This song also had a saxophone solo which was rare for Styx to have since there were no saxophone players formally in the band. In the rare times it was played live, a guest musician was brought on stage.
20. “One With Everything” The one and only song off the 2003 album Cyclorama. This was the first album to have Lawrence Gowan on keyboards after Gowan replaced DeYoung in 1999. For the albums that Styx created in this century, the music is more technically proficient. The problem was by 2003, Styx was far from their peak that occurred two decades prior Cyclorama. But this song packs a lot of punch. If this had been released in 1979, it probably would have been a big hit.
19. “Miss America” Another song off the Grand Illusion album. This song is also by JY. He’s calling out the participants of the Miss America Pageant. Like a lot of JY songs, there’s a nice driving guitar riff that carries the song. DeYoung’s keyboard solo also adds a lot to the song. While Styx does this song live quite a bit, they don't the melodic keyboard keyboard intro that also has Shaw on a 12 string guitar.
18. ”Crystal Ball” The title track off the Crystal Ball album. This was Styx’s first album with Tommy Shaw. Styx had been an entirely Chicago-based band before John Curulewski left the band. Tommy was living in Alabama at the time when he was discovered by Styx. He had Crystal Ball mostly written at the time he joined the band just prior to the album coming out. The song was a great melodic acoustical guitar introduction. The song blends nicely into the harmonic solo and rhythmic keyboard solo.
17. “Radio Silence” This song was off the 2017 album The Mission. As mentioned with ”One with Everything” this song is technically proficient. This song also could have been a hit, had it been released 40 years earlier. But here’s how I know this song isn't half bad. My friend Ben Howard was with me at a Styx concert. Let’s just say he’s not really a fan of Styx at all. He was just there being a good friend. He looked at me during a 2017 tour and said, “Wow that was actually a good song.”
16. “Half Penny Two Penny” The first song to make the list from the Paradise Theatre album. It wasn’t a hugely successful song on the charts. But this song has a dynamic feel that’s driven by JY’s riffs and the melodic keys of DeYoung. The guitar solos and fills really help the feel and progression of the song.
15. “Lights” The second song off the Cornerstone album to make this list. Another one of Shaw’s melodic pieces that really grabs you from beginning. The lyrics are well done. A song about finding yourself through whatever gives you light and peace. The back and forth both lyrically and melodically add to this song.
14. “Lorelei” This is the first song off the Equinox album to make this list. This song peaked at number 27 on the Billboard list in 1976. It’s an upbeat song written by DeYoung and JY about a girl named Lorelei. I don’t think anyone if their lives were named Lorelei. Unless they were foreshadowing Lorelai Gilmore. I only know that that factoid about the Gilmore girls because when I was trying to learn this song on the keyboard in 2007, I’d get references to the Gilmore Girls.
13. “The Grand Illusion” The title track off the Grand Illusion album. We will see two more songs off this album make the list. Simply said, the Grand Illusion was Styx at their peak. The knew it too. There’s video of Shaw recalling that the bandmates were afraid to cross the street, (joking I believe) because they knew had something good when they were putting this album together in 1977. Fun fact this was the 7th album of Styx. They released 7 songs on the album on 7/7/77. The song itself starts off with an upbeat guitar/keyboard riff. The main message of the song is something that stands out. The chorus goes, “If you think you’re life is complete confusion… just remember that it’s a grand illusion and deep inside we’re all the same.”
12. “Rockin’ The Paradise” The second song to make this from the Paradise Theatre album. A rocker that the three main stars of the band (DeYoung, Shaw and JY) wrote together. It’s an upbeat song about rocking out. Some people stay that Styx is just cheesy ballads and can’t rock out. Listen to this song and get back to me.
11. “Fooling Yourself” Another song off the Grand Illusion album. The song starts with an upbeat keyboard arrangement. The song is referred to as the angry young man. It’s written by Shaw based on his views of DeYoung. However as time would go on from 1977 song, Shaw realized that it was also about him. This song features a rare bass solo of founding member Chuck Panozzo. Chuck was with four other very talented musicians and rarely gets credit. Here’s my shoutout to Chuck. That solo fits the song perfectly.
10. “Show Me The Way” The only song off the Edge of the Century album to make this list. This is one of those songs that benefited from timing. The song was released in November of 1990. Shortly after the Gulf War broke out and some news stations began incorporating this song into their coverage. It eventually became a top 5 Billboard hit by March of 1991. It would be the third decade that Styx had a top-10 single.
9. “Blue Collar Man” I can’t believe we’ve hit number 9 on the list and we’ve only talked about 1 song from the Pieces of Eight album. That song was number 25. (I’m OK) This song written by Shaw has a great guitar/keyboard intro which sets the stage for the song. The song is about the hard working man who is living life on the “unemployment line” but hopeful that he lands a job. Tommy heard the intro riff in his head when he was starting a lawn mower. If you know the riff, try starting a lawn mower and seeing if the riff comes into your head.
8. “Suite Madame Blue” The second song off the Equinox album to make this list. There’s no hidden meaning to this song. It’s about America and how America has changed. “Once long ago, a word from your lips and the world turned around. But somehow, you’ve changed.” The song is an anthem. A drawn out story telling machine. So this song is Rush’s “Xanadu” and Billy Joel’s “Scenes from and Italian Restaurant.” It’s a song that I wanted to rank higher. But based off feedback from my list about Billy Joel, it did not.
7. “Babe” This is Styx’s biggest song off the Cornerstone album and their only number 1 Billboard hit. I mentioned earlier about Styx being cheesy ballads. “Babe” adds to that. But going to number one overall on the charts is pretty good. What’s interesting, is this song hasn’t been played live since DeYoung was fired from the band in 1999. Can you imagine going to a Journey concert and not hearing “Faithfully” live for 26 years? But the current lineup (With no DeYoung) essentially refuses to honor this song. Right or wrong it’s how the band the feels.
6. “Mr. Roboto” A song off the Kilroy Was Here was album that Styx also refused to play live for decades. In 2018 Styx brought this song back on their live sets. The song hadn’t been played since 1983. The song peaked at number 3 on the Billboard charts. For a long time, Shaw and JY refused to even acknowledge this song existed, much like they do with Babe. My guess is they were getting pressure from promoters and venues to bring it back. Many Styx historians have said this song broke up Styx. I disagree with that. I think the band was already on a path to breaking up and this was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. A breakup was imminent, but Mr. Roboto just made it quicker. That said, Mr. Roboto is a cleverly written song that really fits the concept of the album well.
5. “The Best of Times” A song off the Paradise Theatre album that like Mr. Roboto went to number 3 on the Billboard charts. Also like Mr. Roboto, this song hadn’t been played live for over two decades until Styx brought it back in 2024 tour with Foreigner. Prior to this DeYoung song, it hadn’t been played since 1999. Are you seeing a pattern here? That said this song is simplistically complex. When you here this song, you may think it’s simple or easy to play. Far from it. This song has unique chord changes and progressions.
4. “Too Much Time on my Hands” The last song off the Paradise Theatre to make this list. It’s an upbeat synth bass driven song. While Shaw’s vocals and guitar fills help, the song is made by that base melody on the synthesizer. Shaw came up with the melody when he was driving to record some songs. He said he didn’t have anything to record the melody because this was before phones, so he had to hum the melody for 30 minutes straight to keep it in his head while driving to the studio.
3. “Lady” The only song off Styx II. But this song is DeYoung in a nutshell. He wrote the song for his Suzanne. He was on a mission to write as simple and pop-like ballad as he could. Which if you think about it is a lot of songs he wrote. So I think he was successful in doing so with "Lady". The song alternates between D and C chords. If you listen to “Come Sail Away” you will notice some similarities between the intros of those two songs. This song is a great example of keeping it simple when necessary.
2. “Renegade” This is arguably Shaw’s biggest hit. A song off the Pieces of Eight album that is a rocker. It starts off with a cappella harmonies much like” Carry on Wayward Son”. Then it goes into a driving rock riff with lyrics about a man who is trying to escape the law. The guitar solo is perfect for this song. Although this is one of Shaw’s song, JY asked Shaw to do the solo. Perhaps a prudent move by JY as it has been the encore song for Styx for decades now. Meaning JY gets to the solo to close out every Styx show since 2003.
1. “Come Sail Away” (Grand Illusion album) Yes you guessed it if you made it this far and didn’t see this song. How could I leave this song off this list? Furthermore, how can you not have this song in your top 3 Styx songs? To me this song is everything Styx. It has keyboard intros, the soaring vocals and harmonies, the synth solo that goes right into a driving guitar solo. Styx threw everything they had into this song, and it worked. It’s one of their most well-known songs. Some say this song is weird because of the synth solo becoming aliens. But that was exactly the concept of the Grand Illusion album, that things weren’t as they appeared to be.
I hope you enjoyed this list. If not, I’ll buy you a Styx song 😊
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