Customer Reviews

Paradise Theatre

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

You never do get over your first favorite album. "Paradise Theater" was mine. I was, oh, 11 or so when it came out, and I thought Styx, bangs and jumpsuits and all, were the coolest band ever. I'm pretty sure I bought the album with my own money - a first for me! And oh, did I wear the needle out on this one. Loved every track.

And you know what? Now that I've developed GOOD taste, now that I'm into the 'Mats and Tom Waits and the Lips and god knows what else, now that artsy progressive concept albums aren't even retro-cool anymore...I STILL love "Paradise Theater!" Sure it's pompous, but not nearly as bombastic as other Styx offerings. Most importantly, it ROCKS. Dennis DeYoung finds a new lyrical depth on "Rockin' the Paradise" and "Nothing Ever Goes as Planned," and offers their best ACL ballad, "The Best of Times." Tommy Shaw gives us some fun lyrics over great hooks with "Too Much Time," and JY even has his best moment with "Snowblind." Sure, it's a concept album, but who cares about that when the individual tunes rock this hard, and stand up on their own?

Even the production sounds good. The trendy new-wave production techniques really helped streamline the often blaring vocal triads, and the use of horns on "Lonely People" and "Nothing Ever Goes" is welcome. Dennis and Tommy have never sounded better. Most importantly, everyone sounds like they're having FUN, which is something Styx always struggled with. Despite some notable moments ("Renegade," "Shooz," "Angry Young Man" - all Shaw songs, now that I think about it), Styx always felt more like they were more interested in making art than music. But "Paradise Theater" is infused with the joy of pure rock and roll - despite the heavy-handed concept.

Styx remains one of my guilty pleasures. But I have no guilt over loving "Paradise Theater" - Styx can rock me any day!

Paradise Theater is a work of art, a labor of love, from vocalist, keyboardist, Dennis Deyoung. From the opening piano note, of A.D. 1928, to the closing note of A.D. 1958, Pardise will hold you in awe. Not since the Grand Illusion, has STYX made an album this good.
It all starts with A.D. 1928, witch goes into Rockin the Paradise, and that is what this cd does, ROCKS. It's not the heavy metal, of Grand Illusion, or the hard rock of Peices of Eight, but it comes over strong, even on the slow songs. With the fist pumping anthems of Rockin the Paradise, a song about America needing to stand up and be counted, to Half Penny; Two Penny, which deals with the decay of the American dream. The Best of Times, which starts out like A.D. 1928, and the disco-rock flavored Too Much Time on my Hands, have sing-a-long chourses, that has you humming along them all day. Snowblind, a rock radio classic, written by Dennis and JY, and sung by JY and Tommy, is a good song about drug abuse, and JY's singing on the beginning of it, is very haunting. The lesser known songs on this disk, Nothing Ever Goes as Planned, and She Cares, are both very good, and deserve repeated listenings, as does this whole cd.
This is the last "true" Styx classic, with the line up of Dennis, Tommy, JY, John, and Chuck. There would be other STYX cds with this line-up, and different line-ups, but no other cd this great, has come out since. GRADE A

If you are looking for a little bit of everything from Styx, this is it. From Snowblind to Best of Times, there's a good mix. Unfortunately, it IS just a taste of the different styles so if you are into a mood album, this might not be the right one. Still, it's classic Styx with a good concept. Someting that I would definitely take to a desert island.

I can still recreate the very moment I purchased and opened the Paradise Theater album. I can still feel the fresh smell of the new vinyl record, I was 13 then, and I walked for miles and back to get it.
I can still see the new, shining theater on the front and the dirty abandoned one on the back; as I opened the album to read the lyrics, I was caught forever.
Few records can take me back to the very essence of my musical beginnings as this one, to me, this was the very "virginal" essence of an art form free from the jaws of the media (of course it wasn't like that, but believing it was part of the magic)
For a young kid starting up on Rock, nothing could have been more promising; The ambition of the art rock is here in the form of a conceptual thread, a smart production, the direct rock sound screaming in rebellion against the hollow society, the absence of meaning on everybody's life, plus, of course, the emotional powerful notes of the power ballad.
But let's not lose the perspective here; if we talk about Styx today, things fall under a completely different context, their music keeps its place in history as corporate rock (rather an unfair statement) and the pompous rock productions grew out of fashion really fast. Is the honesty behind this record what we need to preserve, not the sound or the "naïveté" of the proposal. Paradise Theater is the perfect example of a time when The Beatles and Led Zeppelin collided. A generation of rock and rollers that was about to die and give way to decadent music and therefore, renovation. Rocking the Paradise, Nothing ever goes as planned, Snowblind, Lonely People...all these songs remain a true statement of an iconic and powerful American rock band. Sadly, Styx only had 2 or 3 solid efforts, this is one of them.
I will never forget that phase in my life, listening endlessly to this album, fighting my school teachers who labeled the record as satanic (stupid affirmations of stupid times), discovering the greatest modern way of expression and finding that Rock and Roll was about to become the only real school of my life, as it remains, as well as the vehicle to discover many other forms of expression.
Music has changed, I have grown old, cynical and concerned about money, Styx and Dennis de Young have now become tribute acts of their younger years, but two things remain; one honest, straight and creative Rock and Roll record, a landmark of a time that is never out of fashion, and a child in me who is still finding new things in my old world, ready to enjoy a simple thing for at least three minutes every day, or a couple of songs...

JM

Rock and Roll!!!!!
I played the heck out of this album when I first got it in the early 80's and practically wore it out! I loved this album back then and still do. Reminds me of great times and turning 21. Glad I no longer have to deal with all the expected "skips" I had on the original black vinyl one, lol!
Some of the songs are still quite relevant, (except for maybe "Snowblind") ;)
My 10 year old son is enjoying it too--he even asked to have "Too Much Time on My Hands", "Rockin' the Paradise" and "Best of Times" on his iPod!
Mom is raising him right!

I have been a Styx fan for a long time. I grew up listening to
the follwing albums.
1) Corner Stone
2) Pieces of Eight
3) Paradise Theater
4) Kill Roy Was Here

Paradise Theater is the all around best of those.
Now if you want a good dose of Styx pick up their
Greatest Hits
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000002G3Y/sr=8-1/qid=1140830467/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-2938381-2919210?%5Fencoding=UTF8

They just dont make music like this anymore. I hope it's cyclical and real bands come back.

Oh, and if you get a chance to see Dennis DeYoung in concert I highy recommend it. I saw him a couple of years ago and he was terrific. I saw him when he was traveling w/ an orchestra.
Live he sounds just like his recorded voice. Nice.

I have so many fond memories associated with Paradise Theater that it still resonnates strong for me. It has been a number years now since I had Styx among my active playlists, but I have to say that after recently rediscovering Styx and a new albumn due out May 2005, I enjoy it as much as ever. The albumn probably has special sentiment for me as I was in college when I caught Styx practice at the Granada Theatre close to Loyola University in Chicago. The Granada, like the Paradise, were classic Movie Houses, elegant and proud. It was ironic that only a few years after the release of Paradise Theater, the Granada itself fell victim to the wrecking ball only to be replaced by a megalithic building of high priced condos, retail shops, and offices.

Paradise is by far my most favorite Styx albumn, and its sequel "Return to Paradise" tries to recapture its essence, but doesn't go far enough. Though, it was good to see Styx try.

I wish the band would put aside the personal infighting that has really done the band a disservice. Dennis' voice is STYX, and substitutes may sound similar, but are not Dennis.

"Paradise Theater" is, unfortunately, one of the few Styx albums that a majority of critics and musical historians will give a positive mention. It marked both the height of the band's creativity, and a time when their musical stance was as follows: an arena "corporate rock" group (that is, a band that fans love but critics hate) that managed to touch prog/art-rock themes without crossing the border into full-blown theatrics. And sure enough that stance would change when Styx released their next album, the brilliant but much-abhored "Kilroy Was Here," which found them staring into the barrels of critics who deemed their bloated use of the concept album "absurd."
Using the neglect and eventual destruction of Chicago's "Paradise Theater" as its extended metaphor, Dennis DeYoung and crew offer a solid portrait of the decline of American values, with a longing for better days (the enduring ballad 'The Best Of Times,' 'A.D. 1928'), placed in perfect tune with more blistering songs like 'Rocking the Paradise' and 'Snowblind.' The biggest hit from "Paradise Theater," guitarist Tommy Shaw's 'Too Much Time On My Hands,' can be seen as the anthem for aimless, unfocused teenagers.
All told, "Paradise Theater" is the Styx album that new fans should hear first. It boasts all of the ingridients that make Styx such a truly unique band to this day--pompous stadium-filling rock matched with artsy conceptual theatrics.

This is definatively their best album (in spite of a couple of weak songs in She Cares and Lonely People) and in fact, forms the basis for the Best of Styx that is on my iPod as follows:

1. AD 1928 / Rockin' the Paradise 2. Snowblind 3. Nothing Ever Goes As Planned
4. Too Much Time On My Hands 5. Half-Penny, Two-Penny 6. Come Sail Away
7. All in a Day's Work 8. Eddie 9. The Best of Times 10. Renegade 11. Mr. Roboto 12. Boat on the River 13. Midnight Ride 14. Suite Madame Blue 15. Lights 16. Miss America 17. Babe 18. Crystal Ball 19. Love is the Ritual 20. AD 1958 21. Blue Collar Man 22. Music Time

And while I was at it, I also put together a further compilation built around the Kilroy Was Here story with the following tracks which works really well:

1. Mr. Roboto 2. Cold War 3. Double Life 4. High Time 5. Love in the Midnight
6. Into the Fire 7. Why Me 8. Just Get Through This Night 9. Show Me the Way
10. City of Holy Faith 11. Haven't We Been Here Before 12. Not Dead Yet
13. Still Feel Your Love 14. Girls with Guns 15. Don't Let It End
16. Man in the Wilderness 17. Heavy Metal Poisoning 18. Castle Walls
19. Little Girl World 20. Don't Let It End - reprise 21. Back to Chicago

Just one of the greatest albums of time, a true mark if greatness for Styx the apex of their careers, a true classic for any music fan if you don't own this CD you should really consider buying this masterpiece.