My Music Monday: REO Speedwagon & Styx
Welcome to My Music Mondays. Each week I will be delving into my music collection and looking at a new artist going somewhat randomly currently but eventually from A to Z. I’ll examine why I first started listening to them, my favorite album and my top 10 songs for the artist. As my music collection is pretty extensive and I have a lot of one offs, I have set a qualification to be featured here. That is that I have to have at least two albums of the artist’s music before they can be considered. This week, due to their Rock Band DLC release tomorrow, I look at the bands REO Speedwagon and Styx.
I did not get into “classic” rock until the end of my high school years (‘95-’96) but I was introduced to both REO Speedwagon and Styx by a friend of mine who believed that music that came after 1983 was not any good (we cured him of that misnomer with a little album called Appetite for Destruction). Anyway I’ve always been a fan of power ballads and REO Speedwagon did them great, which explains my appreciation of their music. Styx on the other hand were far more theatrical in their musical presentation and I wasn’t instantly thrilled with their music, although I did like some of their stuff.
My wife, who at the time was my girlfriend, got me tickets to go see REO Speedwagon and Styx together and that was where I fell in love with Styx. REO Speedwagon was good but by comparison they were amateurs. Styx put on a fantastic stage show and their theatrical musical presentation made perfect sense when put in the context of their live show. I’ve since become a pretty big fan of Styx and the loss of singer / songwriter Dennis DeYoung (over a variety of issues) is a huge loss but they still put on a hell of a good show.
Favorite REO Speedwagon Album: You Can Tune A Piano, But You Can’t Tuna Fish
I am a fan of hard rock and Tuna Fish is REO Speedwagon’s hardest rocking album, and it contains two of my top three songs by them, Time for Me to Fly and the great rocking anthem Roll With the Changes.
10 Favorite Songs
10. That Ain’t Love
9. Here With Me
8. Dangerous Combination
7. Don’t Let Him Go
6. Take it On the Run
5. I Needed to Fall
4. Keep On Loving You
3. Time For Me To Fly
2. Roll With the Changes
1. Can’t Fight This Feeling
Favorite Styx Album: Edge of the Century
My choice is probably getting more than a couple of weird looks because Edge of the Century came out well after the band’s height of popularity and is generally considered to be one of their weaker albums but I think it is one hell of a solid release. It’s melodic hard rock with a nice mix of power ballads and rock opera theatrics as only Dennis DeYoung knows how to do it.
10 Favorite Songs
10. Suite Madame Blue
9. The Best of Times
8. Renegade
7. Too Much Time On My Hands
6. Don’t Let it End
5. Edge of the Century
4. Lady
3. Lorelei
2. Come Sail Away
1. Show Me The Way
So what do you think of REO Speedwagon and Styx?
1×07: Solo II
Brady is feeling uninspired, so instead we play Rock Band all night and don’t record. And then Jay V puts together a show that includes planets, DVDs, and Paula (for those who don’t read the blog).
Rock Banding Saturday
Over the weekend I played Rock Band and Rock Band 2. As I was told by DJ Solobuns, “Rock Band 2 > Rock Band 1,” and he’s right, I suppose. The layout is cleaner, there seem to be a ton of songs, and when I was playing with him and GC on Saturday night, the track list was laid out by decade. We coulda played the Monkees’ “Take the Last Train to Clarksville,” although I don’t know why we didn’t. We were up until about 2:30 in the morning playing “Everlong” and that Stephen Colbert song and then we played Dream Theater (or tried, but failed miserably), and a few 80’s songs.
I remember not liking the whole “Guitar Hero” fad, but when “Rock Band” came out, slightly different story. I realised why while playing the drums almost all night that night. People like these games because you don’t really need any musical talent to play. You need to have a sense of rhythm, and you need to know how to push buttons. And anyone who’s played Mega Man knows the importance of timing jumps and just how to mash buttons.
The New Rock Band Model?
I’ve spent way too much time today reading the whining of many people on both the Rock Band forums and the Guitar Hero forums. All the whining stems from the long rumored but now confirmed announcement that Rock Band: AC/DC will be releasing in early November. For all intents and purposes this amounts to an AC/DC Greatest Hits package, the stand-alone track-pack will contain 18 songs, which comprises the set list for the August 1991 Castle Donington show that has been immortalized on VHS, DVD, and most recently Blu-Ray. The package will only be available at retail in disc based form and if you live in the US it is only available at Wal-Mart for a price point of $39.88 for the 360, PS3, and Wii or $29.88 for the PS2.
