# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/41 "2011-07-11T12:57:20Z")
I’m not a Styx fan, although I like Tommy Shaw. I don’t like DeYoung’s voice at all. But I’m thankful for the reminder this thread has provided about Lester Bangs. I have a copy of Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung that I need to dig up. He was an entertaining and totally undisciplined writer who could be hilarious. I will never agree with him about James Taylor or Astral Weeks, but his essay on The Troggs was priceless, and I’m sure there are other ones I have forgotten. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/42 "2011-07-11T14:51:40Z")
I’ve given variations on this screed before, but I’ll do it again. Critics loved to call Styx “pompous” and “pretentious.” Hell, they loved hurling those epithets at ALL art-rock and prog-rock bands. But did Styx really merit those epithets? Let’s see… 1. Even if you accept the critics’ basic, flawed premise (that rock songs have to be under 3 minutes and have to address real world issues), Styx was NOT a pretentious group. They weren’t rich English art-school wankers, after all- they were blue collar guys from Chicago. And they didn’t write 30 minute songs about the Meaning Of Life, either. Their most popular songs were about mundane things like girls (“Lady,” “Babe,” et al.) or serious working-class concerns like unemployment and layoffs (“Blue Collar Man,” “Too Much Time on My Hands”). 2. “Pompousness” and “Pretentiousness” are NOT styles of music. They are states of mind. Hence, you don’t become pompous when you add an organ or mellotron to your band, nor is simple music necessarily less pompous than elaborate music… Let’s face it, coffee houses are FILLED with unbearably pompous musicians who play 2 minute songs on a mere acoustic guitar. Bruce Springsteen’s “Nebraska” album was stark and simple. It was also pompous and arrogant and preachy and boring beyond description. On their worst day, Styx could never record anything as pompous as “Nebraska” or “The Ghost of Tom Joad.” ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/43 "2011-07-11T15:06:41Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > 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?” Heh…I still remember the letters that article generated – teary fanboys shredding the reviewer for being _soooo meeeeeean!!_ in a “if you didn’t like it, just say so up front wah wah wah!” manner. Hilarious stuff, it was… ---
**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 11, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/44 "2011-07-11T15:18:11Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I’ve given variations on this screed before, but I’ll do it again. > > Critics loved to call Styx “pompous” and “pretentious.” Hell, they loved hurling those epithets at ALL art-rock and prog-rock bands. But did Styx really merit those epithets? Let’s see… > > 1. Even if you accept the critics’ basic, flawed premise (that rock songs have to be under 3 minutes and have to address real world issues), Styx was NOT a pretentious group. They weren’t rich English art-school wankers, after all- they were blue collar guys from Chicago. And they didn’t write 30 minute songs about the Meaning Of Life, either. Their most popular songs were about mundane things like girls (“Lady,” “Babe,” et al.) or serious working-class concerns like unemployment and layoffs (“Blue Collar Man,” “Too Much Time on My Hands”). > > 2. “Pompousness” and “Pretentiousness” are NOT styles of music. They are states of mind. Hence, you don’t become pompous when you add an organ or mellotron to your band, nor is simple music necessarily less pompous than elaborate music.. Let’s face it, coffee houses are FILLED with unbearably pompous musicians who play 2 minute songs on a mere acoustic guitar. > > Bruce Springsteen’s “Nebraska” album was stark and simple. It was also pompous and arrogant and preachy and boring beyond description. On their worst day, Styx could never record anything as pompous as “Nebraska” or “The Ghost of Tom Joad.” Well spoken, sir or ma’am! I agree with everything you said, save your assessments of the Springsteen albums, which I do love (especially _Nebraska_). ---
**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, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/45 "2011-07-11T15:22:28Z")
I bet there is room for a "Do you like Styx and what does this say about your definition of Rock?’ type of thread. If Rock is the music of teenage rebellion, then it \*must \*have some pomposity in it - have you dealt with a rebellious teenager? 😉 The question is if your pomposity overlaps with that artists’ pomposity. Folks who love Nebraska - or Dylan, etc. - are likely \*not \*going to be the ones who dig the rockin’ commentary contained with Renegade or Paradise Theatre… To me, this thread was just about RS nicely reporting on Styx, then leaving a whoopie-cushion link in the middle of the article… ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/46 "2011-07-11T15:22:37Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > ♪ ♫ _I’m sailing away_… ♫ ♪ > > OT, one of the most hilarious things I’ve ever seen was Cartman singing “Come Sail Away” on South Park. Why are you mentioning a Christopher Cross song in a thread about Styx? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/47 "2011-07-11T15:43:27Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > I. I will never agree with him about James Taylor or Astral Weeks, but his essay on The Troggs was priceless, and I’m sure there are other ones I have forgotten. Did he like _Astral Weeks_ or hate it? Because if he hated it, that would really be inexplicable and weird. ---
**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 11, 2011, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/48 "2011-07-11T16:49:42Z")
He loved _Astral Weeks_. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/49 "2011-07-11T16:50:15Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Thanks for this thread; it allows me to confess my love for _ **Light Up** _. One of my favorites, too. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/50 "2011-07-11T16:59:12Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > He loved _Astral Weeks_. OK, my worldview is intact. I couldn’t imagine Lester Bangs not liking that record. (Which is an awesome record, indeed.) ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/51 "2011-07-11T17:09:00Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > …but I still find RS innocently offering up Bangs’ review within a little fanboy touring update to be…impish. 😉 As impish as closing with this comment from Shaw? > [@Shaw via RS](#): > > “… Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. We’re crazy, but we’re not insane.” It was said in the context of re-inviting DDY to tour again, but I can’t help feel it speaks to dedicating your career to recording covers of Aerosmith songs and touring with your old band. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/52 "2011-07-11T17:26:53Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > 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. > … > …but I still find RS innocently offering up Bangs’ review within a little fanboy touring update to be…impish. 😉 I think you may be giving RS too much credit. I suspect it was linked formulaically by someone who didn’t even read the Bangs, and the dissonance was accidental. I assume they use a search utility to find news items and reviews in their archives relating to the subjects of all their articles, and that links to these are inserted as a matter of course. ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/53 "2011-07-11T17:42:46Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Why are you mentioning a Christopher Cross song in a thread about Styx? You’re thinking of “[Sailing](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQeqmNbA2Hs)”. “[Come Sail Away](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm-Vh3j8sys)”, is, in fact as Styx song. And yes, the [Cartman version](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcmOe2geZ4Q) of it is pretty special. It’s on my iPod in regular rotation. **woodstockbirdybird** will surely give me shit for this the next time I see him, but I don’t mind Styx so much. I’d take them over Journey any day of the week. Yeah, they could be over wrought and showy, and decidedly un-rock and roll. But they could write a damn catchy melody, and that counts for something, I think. ---
**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 11, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/54 "2011-07-11T17:48:43Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Their most popular songs were about mundane things like girls (“Lady,” “Babe,” et al.) or serious working-class concerns like unemployment and layoffs (“Blue Collar Man,” “Too Much Time on My Hands”). The NY Times recently credited Styx with composing “arguably the finest song ever written about robot prison guards.” Domo arigato! ---
**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, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/55 "2011-07-11T17:49:27Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > I think you may be giving RS too much credit. I suspect it was linked formulaically by someone who didn’t even read the Bangs, and the dissonance was accidental. I assume they use a search utility to find news items and reviews in their archives relating to the subjects of all their articles, and that links to these are inserted as a matter of course. I suspect you are right - i.e., they didn’t intend it - but I still thought it was funny - kinda like reading Google ads at the bottom of an SDMB thread that are related to the OP, but somehow off… ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/56 "2011-07-11T18:53:41Z")
> [@beartato](#): > > 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. Yup, I’ve seen him on tour with them several times in the past couple of years. He’s pretty hammy on stage – he plays a synth keyboard mounted on a turntable / pedestal, allowing him to swing and twirl around while he plays. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/57 "2011-07-11T19:47:09Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > He loved _Astral Weeks_. I haven’t read the essay on Astral Weeks for many years, but my memory tells me that love is too mild a word. ---
**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 11, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/58 "2011-07-11T19:52:52Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > I haven’t read the essay on Astral Weeks for many years, but my memory tells me that love is too mild a word. Yes, Bangs was downright in _awe_ of _Astral Weeks_. I do think his interpretations of some of the lyrics were a bit on the imaginative side. ---
**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 11, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/59 "2011-07-11T20:17:36Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Yes, Bangs was downright in _awe_ of _Astral Weeks_. I do think his interpretations of some of the lyrics were a bit on the imaginative side. Well, to be fair, he was almost certainly high when he wrote it. **Anamorphic** , we all have our uncool musical preferences. I have too much Rush and Britney Spears on my iPod to judge anybody else. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337/60 "2011-07-11T23:33:14Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > **Anamorphic** , we all have our uncool musical preferences. I have too much Rush and Britney Spears on my iPod to judge anybody else. That’s nothin’. I had a Partridge Family song pop up on mine today. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-styx-dis-via-rolling-stone/588337.md?page=2)