The Styx "reunion" following the Return to Paradise tour was able to produce their 13th studio album in 1999 called Brave New World, but for Dennis DeYoung it would be his last with the band.
Once again, during work on the album, personality conflicts drove the band members apart. While Tommy Shaw's material attempted to bring the band into the next century and JY's songs attempted to convey a hard rock vein, Dennis DeYoung's more pop and Broadway-style leanings led to divergent sounds on the album. Arguments over which songs to release as singles, the album's artwork, the track sequencing, the slow album sales and the omission of DeYoung's vocals and keyboards from many of the Shaw-Young tracks fueled the fire.
I will get in to the results of all this when I cover side two, but for now I want to look at the music.
********************************************************************************
1) I Will Be Your Witness - Written by Tommy and his Damn Yankees buddy Jack Blades. Basically everything Tommy does is awesome at this point. Great song.
I woke up this morning wishing you were here
Another cup of coffee and then you appeared
A crystal vision shining through the rain
Smiling through my window pane
In the morning traffic I turn on the radio
And the song that's playing is one that we used to know
When we were dancing slowly under the mirror ball
You were singing to me I felt like we had it all
It was our adventure
I won't let it slip away
Gonna make it like it was before this day
I will be your witness
(That much I can do) That much I can do
(I wanna tell the world) I just want to tell the world
How much I'm missing you
I will be your witness
(Don't you know it's true) Don't you know it's true
(I wanna testify) I just want to testify
How much I'm loving you
Did you ever notice just what you mean to me
You're the piece of the puzzle that makes my world complete
I need your freedom
I need your company
Let me tell you how it's going to be
I will be your witness
(That much I can do) That much I can do
(I wanna tell the world) I just want to tell the world
How much I'm missing you
I'll be your alibi tonight
I'll make everything all right
I will be your defense when life makes no sense
Baby you just wait and see
It's a crazy crazy world
Woke up this morning wishing you were here
Poured a cup of coffee and then you appeared
Such a great adventure
I won't let it slip away
You know I need you every night and every day
I will be your witness
(That much I can do) That much I can do
(I wanna tell the world) I just want to tell the world
How much I'm missing you
I will be your witness
(Don't you know it's true) Don't you know it's true
(I wanna testify) I just want to testify
How much I'm loving you
I will be your witness (I will be your witness)
What else can I do (What else can I do)
I just want to tell the world
How much I'm loving you
********************************************************************************
2) Brave New World - Written by Tommy and JY (you'll notice a pattern eventually) and is the title track obviously. Another good song.
The lines are drawn in the sand across the caress of time
The lines are drawn in the sand across the caress of time
There's a face in the glass looking through the mirror
At the maze of my past it was never clearer
On the distant horizon the sun approaches
Better cover my eyes, better hide the roaches
In the best of my time there was something better
And the quest of my mind was to try and get her
Something simple and pure as the thoughts in my head
Not the tears in the rain over me she shed
We were almost there
Still I was unaware
Here in the Brave New World's embrace
I watch the parade begin
Searching for one familiar face
And I wonder where I fit in
How will I know if there's a place
For me in the Brave New World
To be calm in the eye of the human storm
In house full of dreams I am safe and warm
Looking back at a life filled with warm embraces
No regrets only memories of smiling faces
We were almost there
Now change is in the air
Until now I held the zone
I ruled the world
I called it home
I never saw the down side
See the now see the Zen, there is no division
Through the eyes of a child there is perfect vision
And the best of our lives resonate the hills
And the sun's gonna shine and you know that I will...
********************************************************************************
3) While There's Still Time - DDY gets the next song up and as usual it's a mood breaking love song. Like "Paradise" from Return to Paradise, this song was also co-opted from his Hunchback of Notre Dame musical. Actually this song isn't that bad.
How can I sleep tonight
When you know that tomorrow I'll be miles away
And how can you leave if you know when I kiss you goodbye
Baby you'll cry
Where do I find the words
To convince you that there's a secret part of me
That dies when I must pack up and walk out the door
When I'm wanting you more
So while there's still time
Know that I love you
Baby please hold me tight
Girl while there's still time
If I could stop the dawn
Make the moon and the stars shine on forever more
And never again have to say how much I'm missing you
But what can I do
So while there's still time
Say that you love me
Baby please hold me tight
Girl while there's still time
If I should go there's a chance I might lose the love of my life
Baby please don't make me choose
Believe me, trust me
Let me inside
And while there's still time
Forget about tomorrow
Baby please let's not fight
Not while there's still time
While there's still time
While there's still time...
********************************************************************************
4) Number One - Tommy doing what Tommy does.
You can't be still
You're such a nervous fellow
Like a yo-yo up and down
Take this little pill
And life will be so mellow
You'll feel the world start slowing down around
Who's that rushing out the door
Who's not taking any more
Who's been down this road before without you
You tell me who's number one
Who's not here, who's having fun
Who's the one who cares so much about you
You won't feel the pain
You won't mind the rain
You can be happy all the time, all the time
One dose twice a day
The world will go away
You'll be smiling through the worst of times
Who's that rushing out the door
Who's not taking any more
Who's been down this road before without you
You tell me who's number one
Who's not here, who's having fun
Who's the one who knows so much about you
I believe I believe there is something more
I believe it's just beyond the door
I believe there's something better out there
I Wanna leave this world so far behind
I can see your face there in my mind
I believe there's something better somewhere
Who's that rushing
Who's not taking
Who's been down this
You tell me who's
Who's not here who's
Who's the one who
Who's that walking through the door
Who's not wasted anymore
Who gave up that crazy war inside you
I believe I believe there is something more
I believe it's just beyond the door
I believe there's something better out there
I Wanna leave this world so far behind
I can see your face there in my mind
I believe there's something better somewhere
Something better...
********************************************************************************
5) Best New Face - Another Shaw/Blades composition sung by Tommy. Yeah, I think they work well together.
Let's go.
I don't know where I found you
I don't know where you been
All I know is you got me in the shape I'm in
You're the message in the bottle
You're the deluxe model
I haven't been so affected since I don't know when
Yeah (yeah), Whoa yeah (whoa yeah)
You're the best new face
In the human race
(I said) Yeah, Whoa yeah
You're the best new face
In the human race
You look so real
When you ask me to feel
Yeah you're so damn convincing, digging in your heels
If your persuasion attack
Leaves me flat on my back
You can ride me off to ruin while the whole world cracks
(Said) Yeah (yeah), Whoa yeah (whoa yeah)
You're the best new face
In the human race
(I said) Yeah, Whoa yeah
You're the best new face
In the human race
Speak of the devil and look who appears
He's cranking up the level in between your ears
But he's so frustrated cause he can't get a rise
Out of someone who's reflecting heaven in their eyes
I see heaven in your eyes.
(You look so good)
Yeah (yeah), Whoa yeah (whoa yeah)
You're the best new face
In the human race
(I said) Yeah, Whoa yeah
You're the best new face
In the human race
********************************************************************************
6) What Have They Done to You - Here we get our second song from Tommy and JY. They even share the vocals on this one. Great song.
There must be something out there,
There must be something real
Well this mystery's a nightmare
And I don't know what to feel
Well I heard you had a hell of a time there
I guess it chilled you down to the bone
If there's one thing I can tell you
It'll never leave you less than alone
In spite of everything you told me
In spite of everything I've heard
There's nothing here that I call holy
Not a solitary word
Could you tell me what it's like on the outside
Were you really lost and out of control
Were you reaching for your freedom
When the gatekeeper called for the toll
Oh-oh, what have they done to you
Where, where have you gone
Oh-oh, I wanna run to you
In spite of what you're saying
I still can't let you go
Well they say you witnessed some kind of life there
Was it something real or nothing at all
Or is your imagination all that's there to catch you
If you start to fall
Oh-oh, what have they done to you
Where, where have you gone
Oh-oh I wanna run to you
In spite of what you're saying
I still can't let you go
Oh-oh, what have they done to you
Where, where have you gone
Oh-oh I wanna run to you
In spite of what you're saying
I still can't let you go
What have they done to you
********************************************************************************
7) Fallen Angel - Another song written and sung solely by DDY. To me, this is like "Show Me The Way" part two, but on Broadway with doo wop backup singers. And like before it's a good song, but does it fit?
Hell nobody's perfect
One hundred percent
No saint, no Pope, no King no Queen, no President
But our hunger for heroes has made us blind
We seek salvation from the cup of human kind
But every time we hear the voice of some new Abraham
We wake too late to realize it was just another scam
Fallen angel, fallen angel
Well I guess you were no angel after all
Fallen angel, fallen angel
You always take us with you when you fall
I said nobody's perfect
From head to toe
Not Einstein or Elvis or Lenin or Marx or Marilyn Monroe
Cause it's mostly illusion in flesh and bone
An image, a look, a song or a book that we all claim for our own
But even in the best of us there lies beneath the skin
The tragic flaw in nature's law that's bound to do us in
Fallen angel, fallen angel
Well I guess you were no angel after all
Fallen angel, fallen angel
You always take us with you when you fall
Pretty faces up on the silver screen
Flawless bodies on covers of magazines
They all look perfect to us so rich and cool and bored
But hold the presses boys they've checked into Betty Ford
Turns out nobody's perfect
From "A" to "Z"
It's best to follow your heart than to follow me
Cause I'm only a singer playin' a song
And I've just been making it up as I went along
See I met a man who told me once "Sincerity's the key
And once you learn to fake it son you're gonna be home free"
Fallen angel, fallen angel
Well I guess you were no angel after all
Fallen angel, fallen angel
You always take us with you when you fall
********************************************************************************
The first thing I noticed when I bought this CD was the sheer number of songs on it. 14! That's a lot of material.
This is also the first album for Todd Sucherman who sadly had to replace John Panozzo following his death. Bassist Chuck Panozzo had also been sidelined due to health issues and his battle with HIV/AIDS. His public "coming out" occurred in 2001 at the annual Human Rights Campaign banquet, with James Young in attendance for support. Our good buddy Glen Burtnik filled in on bass when needed.
Next up: side two and a "my way or the highway" decision.
********************************************************************************
Thank you, love this album. Nice review.
ReplyDelete