Hidden Treasures - James "JY" Young

[Scott]

In bands certain members seem to always stick out and differentiate themselves from the whole of the band while at the same time remain an integral part of the whole. James "JY" Young is such a band member. Putting aside all the in-fighting that continues to this day witin Styx, theres this sub-culture of rock and roll thart gets missed in all the ballads and Top 40 radio hits. When Young and DeYoung wrote together it was magic, but also when Young wrote with others it was pure Hard Rock magic. I believe Young is the only original member of Styx to appear on every album. Lets look into a few of his contributions...


PLAYLIST --> http://www.podsnack.com/CA69EFD9E8C/a1je1qw2

	Styx The Serpent Is Rising 1974 1 - Witch Wolf With the Top Ten pop hit "Lady" under their belts, Styx continued to blend interesting conceptual progressive elements into The Serpent Is Rising, their third LP and first band-co-produced offering. Although James "J.Y." Young had contributed significantly to Styx' self-titled debut, his compositions were conspicuously absent from the John Curulewski- and Dennis DeYoung-dominated Styx II, which had been issued only months earlier. Young's upbeat and commanding opener "Witch Wolf" firmly re-establishes him as a formidable writer, not to mention an intricate and skilled instrumentalist. While their progressive leanings would remain prominent in Styx' musical evolution, perhaps eager to build upon the national exposure afforded them by "Lady," much of the disc is less arty and more straight-ahead album rock.
	Styx Equinox 1975 2 - Midnight Ride Equinox produced Styx's first single with A&M, the highly spirited "Lorelei," which found its way to number 27 on the charts. Although it was the only song to chart from Equinox, the album itself is a benchmark in the band's career since it includes an instrumental nature reminiscent of their early progressive years, yet hints toward a more commercial-sounding future in its lyrics. "Light Up" is a brilliant display of keyboard bubbliness, with De Young's vocals in full bloom, while "Lonely Child" and "Suite Madame Blue" show tighter songwriting and a slight drift toward radio amicability. Still harboring their synthesizer-led dramatics alongside Dennis De Young's exaggerated vocal approach, the material on Equinox was a firm precursor of what was to come.
	Styx Pieces of Eight 1978 3 - Great White Hope Styx's feisty, straightforward brand of album rock is represented best by "Blue Collar Man" from 1978's Pieces of Eight, an invigorating keyboard and guitar rush -- hard and heavy, yet curved by Tommy Shaw's emphasized vocals. Reaching number 21, with the frolicking romp of "Renegade" edging in at number 16 only six months later, Pieces of Eight maintained their strength as a front-running FM radio group. Even though these two tracks were both mainstream singles, the rest of the album includes tracks that rekindle some of Styx's early progressive rock sound, only cleaner. Tracks like "Sing for the Day," "Lords of the Ring," and "Aku-Aku" all contain slightly more complex instrumental foundations, and are lyrically reminiscent of the material from albums like The Serpent Is Rising or Man of Miracles, but not as intricate or instrumentally convoluted. While the writing may stray slightly from what Styx provided on The Grand Illusion, Pieces of Eight kept their established rock formula in tact quite firmly.
	Styx Paradise Theater 1981 4 - Half-Penny, Two-Penny What had once been a healthy competitive spirit within the band quickly deteriorated into bitter co-existence during the sessions for 1980's Paradise Theater. As for JY, his edgier compositions include the desolate tale of drug addiction, "Snowblind," and the rollicking opus "Half-Penny, Two-Penny," which infuses a graphic depiction of inner city decadence with a final, small glimmer of hope and redemption. The song also leads straight into the album's beautiful saxophone-led epilogue, "A.D. 1958," which once again reveals MC DeYoung alone at his piano. A resounding success, Paradise Theater would become Styx's greatest commercial triumph; and in retrospect, it remains one of the best examples of the convergence between progressive rock and AOR which typified the sound of the era's top groups (Journey, Kansas, etc.). For Styx, its success would spell both their temporary saving grace and ultimate doom, as the creative forces which had already been tearing at the band's core finally reached unbearable levels three years later.

Next week I simply must take a look at Glenn Freys songwriting, the news broke too late for me to react this week...

[Scott]

I would love to see some Deluxe treatments of some of these albums, The Grand Illusion through Paradise Theater would be way cool!!!  Alas, I dont think we'll see them unless DeYoung and company can flush Gowan down the sewer and come to terms again.  We can always hope...