# Hilarious Styx "dis" via Rolling Stone **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 8, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337 "2011-07-08T17:53:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/21 "2011-07-09T02:11:58Z")
The best line about Styx was when their manager was interviewed for “Behind the Music” and remembered a reviewer who compared them to a parking lot full of whale vomit. The manager said something like “if they compared us to a small amount of whale vomit then I wouldn’t have been upset”. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/22 "2011-07-09T02:32:25Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > The best line about Styx was when their manager was interviewed for “Behind the Music” and remembered a reviewer who compared them to a parking lot full of whale vomit. The manager said something like “if they compared us to a small amount of whale vomit then I wouldn’t have been upset”. There actually was a band called Ambergris (ca. 1970) whose ad campaign boasted “Ambergris is whale puke!” ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/23 "2011-07-09T03:25:36Z")
IMO, music first and foremost is supposed to sound good. But for some people, rock-n-roll has to be all about rebellion. So bands that make music that’s a bit more sophisticated than a load of angry punk are “whale vomit” and so on. I think Styx managed to strike the right balance between all the elements that make up good pop music and usually avoided the blatant pretentiousness that Pink Floyd and Yes often succumbed to. ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/24 "2011-07-09T05:28:27Z")
I like Styx with Larry Gowan a lot better than with that douche DDY. Of course I’m a LG fan anyway so I might be a bit biased, but hey… ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/25 "2011-07-09T05:48:38Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > The best line about Styx was when their manager was interviewed for “Behind the Music” and remembered a reviewer who compared them to a parking lot full of whale vomit. The manager said something like “if they compared us to a small amount of whale vomit then I wouldn’t have been upset”. It was actually some other whale’s vomit. The police said it was best left unsolved. You see, you can’t really dust for whale vomit. ---
**Author:** ![Roseanne\_Valerie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e95f7d/32.png) [@Roseanne\_Valerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roseanne_Valerie)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/26 "2011-07-09T13:33:33Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > I’m with Lester, but then we share a similar aesthetic. Styx might be, in my opinion, the worst band ever. If a soulless corporation could write songs, I’m pretty sure they’d sound like Styx. Or Foreigner. Or Journey. > > Best Styx review I read was in Creem magazine (not available online, sadly). The reviewer wrote a whole page going overboard praising their “Kilroy Was Here” live video. Then, the very last line: “Did I forget to mention I’m functionally retarded?” Just curious, and maybe this isn’t the right place to pose this question (sorry, I’m a newb), but is it any less pompous to manufacture a double concept album about a boy and a video game arcade? ---
**Author:** ![beartato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@beartato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beartato)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/27 "2011-07-09T18:20:06Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > HA, in an odd connection I used to manage the video store where **his replacement, Lawrence Gowan** and his family lived. Larry was always friendly and polite but his daughter had a bad case of entitlement syndrome. She was young though and the one time I saw her try something while he was present he very quickly put a stop to it. Wait. What? What?! This is a thing that happened? Lawrence “… but you can call me Larry” Gowan sung lead for Styx? /mind blown This must have happened sometime after I was listening to CanCon adult contemporary radio stations against my will (thanks Dad), I imagine. And looking at wikipedia, yup, it was, and he’s still with them, my God. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/28 "2011-07-09T19:02:17Z")
> [@Roseanne\_Valerie](#): > > Just curious, and maybe this isn’t the right place to pose this question (sorry, I’m a newb), but is it any less pompous to manufacture a double concept album about a boy and a video game arcade? Not if the music itself isn’t pompous, I’d say. ---
**Author:** ![Roseanne\_Valerie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e95f7d/32.png) [@Roseanne\_Valerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roseanne_Valerie)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2011, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/29 "2011-07-10T13:20:32Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > Not if the music itself isn’t pompous, I’d say. Understood. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mr.Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Me)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2011, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/30 "2011-07-10T14:56:01Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > No, no, for proper shock and awe, you must deliver the line: “I know who your father _was_.” > [@WhyNot](#): > > This board really needs a like button. Consider your post Liked. 😉 Some message boards that use VBulletin have a 'This" function, which lists all users that agree with a post. This. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/31 "2011-07-11T01:51:21Z")
> [@sqweels](#): > > IMO, music first and foremost is supposed to sound good. But for some people, rock-n-roll has to be all about rebellion. So bands that make music that’s a bit more sophisticated than a load of angry punk are “whale vomit” and so on. Rebellion, or obvious “blues influence”. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/32 "2011-07-11T02:10:54Z")
The least the OP could have done is warn us that the link to the Rolling Stone review contained an image of that hideous Styx album cover, one of the most repulsive rock album covers of all time. Worse yet, I regularly run across it when searching through stacks of LPs in used record stores, and between that album cover and the one of a naked Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, you could generate several parking lots full of whale vomit. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/33 "2011-07-11T02:30:19Z")
I detest Styx, but: > [@Jackmannii](#): > > The least the OP could have done is warn us that the link to the Rolling Stone review contained an image of that hideous Styx album cover, one of the most repulsive rock album covers of all time. > > Worse yet, I regularly run across it when searching through stacks of LPs in used record stores, and between that album cover and the one of a naked Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, you could generate several parking lots full of whale vomit. [This](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B000002GBB/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=5174&s=music)? It’s an image of an woman’s head with moai earring, times 3. What’s so offensive/hideous about it? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/34 "2011-07-11T02:55:54Z")
> [@Roseanne\_Valerie](#): > > Just curious, and maybe this isn’t the right place to pose this question (sorry, I’m a newb), but is it any less pompous to manufacture a double concept album about a boy and a video game arcade? Over the top pomposity was sorta the intent. IIRC, Townsend said a pinball playing messiah was the dumbest sort of messiah he could think of. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/35 "2011-07-11T03:01:18Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > This? It’s an image of an woman’s head with moai earring, times 3. What’s so offensive/hideous about it? Hey, if she’s _your_ dream woman, my apologies. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/36 "2011-07-11T03:04:01Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Hey, if she’s _your_ dream woman, my apologies. :dubious: Do you seriously vomit if you see someone _from the neck up_ over the age of 22? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/37 "2011-07-11T03:13:55Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > Do you seriously vomit if you see someone _from the neck up_ over the age of 22? It’s not the age. She looks like a less-attractive version of Mrs. Robinson who’s glaring as if she just smelled a whole parking lot full of whale vomit. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/38 "2011-07-11T03:14:43Z")
Thanks for this thread; it allows me to confess my love for _ **Light Up** _. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/39 "2011-07-11T03:29:31Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > It’s not the age. She looks like a less-attractive version of Mrs. Robinson who’s glaring as if she just smelled a whole parking lot full of whale vomit. 🙂 Well, sure, she does look pretty pissed off, I get that vibe. But hideous? And fer chrissakes, that’s nowhere in the same league – or planet! - as naked Kristofferson. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/40 "2011-07-11T12:37:45Z")
The chain of posts in this thread are why I didn’t really take a position on Styx in the OP - merely pointed out the dissonance between the original article and the helpfully-linked-to, slamming review. Arguments for the soul of rock typically breakdown quickly. Lester Bangs needed a better editor - well, and to get a life - but some of his passions and frustrations were insightful. Styx brought a level of commercial theatre and spectacle to big rock and sold a lot of vinyl. I don’t listen to them much, but I don’t feel viscerally invested in hating them the way I might’ve as a junior in high school… …but I still find RS innocently offering up Bangs’ review within a little fanboy touring update to be…impish. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337.md?page=3)