I just heard Mr. Roboto on the radio (Thanks, XM!) and something that bothered me as a child surfaced like a bloated mob informant.
Two times in the song, the singer says something to the effect of, “I am the modren man.” Note the spelling: modren. I always thought that he was mispronouncing “modern” and that I simply didn’t get the meaning. But it sure doesn’t sound right and he mispronounces it identically twice.
So who’s got the straight dope on this?
iirc Mr Roboto and Paradise Theatre were both concept albums that were related to each other. (Paradise Theatre came out first).
The plot was something about the government becoming totalitarian and locking rock bands or something and maybe MR. Roboto helped him break out.
You just made me remember the fantastic album cover art to Paradise Theatre though. That was really cool.
Allow me to also note that, on the back of the KWH album there’s a shot of a bonfire where the followers of ‘Dr Righteous’ were burning albums the only one that can be identified is a copy of ‘Paradise Theater’.
As for the ‘modren’ (which Dennis DeYound does say) it’s of little significance to the overall plot or album except that it indicates the presence of baskward masked bits on the LP in a few spots.
And there’s no reason in the world that I would know any of this. None at all.
Domo Arigato.
Well, both Paradise Theatre and Kilroy Was Here (the actual name of the album) were both concept albums, but weren’t related. If you haven’t caught it, there’s also a film/extended video for Kilroy - it’s not The Wall, but it’s amusing. You can sometimes catch it on VH1, I don’t know if it’s on video or not.
I’ve still got both of them on vinyl, which includes the holographic artwork etched on side 2 of Paradise. 
I can’t believe I’m doing this…
At one point in life, I had every Styx album, even the laser-etched Paradise Theater. I gave them to worthy teenager quite some time ago, and I’m better now, although I confess to shushing others in the room when their “Behind the Music” aired… :rolleyes:
Anyhoo, the liner notes for Kilroy Was Here listed the mispronounced word as “modren”, with a backwards r, even. I hadn’t heard the claim that it was a giveaway to the backwards masking (the most noticeable bit of it opens side 2, which, backwards, says “Annuit Coeptus Novus Ordo Seclorum”, the phrase printed on the dollar bill. They were critical of the religiously-based hysterical calls for censorship that were on the rise at the time, and this was their attempt at wry social commentary on the issue.)
I never saw the Kilroy film, but the plot is spelled out in the liner notes (along with production stills, my favorite being the shot of a Roboto serving an imprisoned Kilroy a box of Dr. Righteous’ Fried Chicken. The climactic scene takes place in the old Paradise Theater, the only link between the two albums. This gave them a free pass to weave songs from that hit album into the stage extravaganza that was the Kilroy tour.