For starters, the band was already basically split up by this point. This was the album Tommy Shaw wanted his live version of "Cold War" to be on, and when it wasn't he refused to have "Haven't We Been Here Before" released as a single. The rest of the music itself was recorded in concert in New Orleans.
As a matter of fact, the only reason I am covering this album at all is because of the one studio track, "Music Time". It peaked at #40 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. When the concert was released on DVD, the video for this song was included. The theme is cartoonish and cheerful, with bright pastel sets and oversized props. The video features Dennis DeYoung in various costumes (including a classic hobo look, and a fast food uniform), singing and acting out the lyrics. The opening and closing scenes show aliens watching the main body of the video, and singing a refrain of "Hey everybody, it's music time!"
Tommy Shaw made no secret of his dislike of the song, and by the time the video was shot, Shaw had in fact left the band. This is why most of the scenes appear to depict a four-man group, and the guitarist playing Shaw's solo is only shown from the torso. Though he was no longer an official member of the band, Shaw allowed himself to be filmed separately from the others, in New York (where he was working on his first solo album), while the rest of the production was filmed in Los Angeles. Shaw's most prominent appearance in the video occurs near the end, where he dances alone and appears to wave cheerfully at the rest of the band, as if from a great distance.
"Music Time", to date, was the last Styx Billboard Top 40 hit featuring all three of the Styx songwriting core of DeYoung, Shaw, and James "JY" Young.
Tommy Shaw made no secret of his dislike of the song, and by the time the video was shot, Shaw had in fact left the band. This is why most of the scenes appear to depict a four-man group, and the guitarist playing Shaw's solo is only shown from the torso. Though he was no longer an official member of the band, Shaw allowed himself to be filmed separately from the others, in New York (where he was working on his first solo album), while the rest of the production was filmed in Los Angeles. Shaw's most prominent appearance in the video occurs near the end, where he dances alone and appears to wave cheerfully at the rest of the band, as if from a great distance.
"Music Time", to date, was the last Styx Billboard Top 40 hit featuring all three of the Styx songwriting core of DeYoung, Shaw, and James "JY" Young.
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