Been listening alllll week to the 6 / that will be in the ranking from Grant and Pete. See you guys 10.00. AM Sunday 👍💯

Pete's interview with Dennis DeYoung is the best thing that has ever happened on Sea of Tranquility!!!!!!!

Thanks for these rankings. This was fun. I love Dennis DeYoung. Every time he comes to my neck of the woods, I go see him live. I still enjoy his corny jokes on stage. It's part of his persona. His voice is so pristine even after all these yrs. I do have the last 3 albums and Desert Moon. May have to see out the others as well. Fans should def get the last 3 albums in my mind. You won't be disappointed.

I see Grant is still doing a great job on the thumbnails!

Dennis is a master of melody and songs that have feeling. I agree that "Isle of Misanthrope" may be his best song ever!

My top 3 are 1.26 East vol 2 - 2.100 Years from Now -26 East vol 1 & the other 3 like Pete & Grant said take some 3 or 4 songs each of them it would make a GREAT Album. Another Great show!!!

I saw Dennis DeYoung solo & perform back in August of 2006 at the Bay City, Michigan's Pig Gig Festival BUT Dennis decided NOT to meet & greet the people afterwards. The backing group did however!! Dennis released "One Hundred Years From Now" on CD in 2006 when I purcithed that in the merchandise stand!!! I do have that CD & the last 2 studio download on Apple iTunes!!! I also have "10 On Broadway" from 1994 also on CD. I was working at the old Elder-Beerman department store when I heard the songs "Once Upon A Dream" & "On The Street Where You Live" while folding towels or clothing.

Totally spot on with the rankings I cannot disagree with anything said and yes I agree the Styx battles are done with and should have been done with but it keeps going. I think Dennis and his top 3 if they were Styx records could be their best work too. I agree with the notion that when a huge singer guitarist etc leaves a band or does a solo record it’s got to be good and be a huge success well Freddie Mercury Brian May and Mick Jagger are prime examples of how you need the group. Tommy Shaw definitely needs a group and that’s aligning him it’s just where he rises to the occasion more when doing the pop rock hard rock thing, Dennis on the other hand if left to his own devices and not in the limelight can kind of give you a lot with his visions.

1) 26 East, Vol. 2 2) 26 East, Vol. 1 3) One Hundred Years from Now 4) Desert Moon 5) Back to the World 6) Boomchild

I love Styx they are my favorite band all time. I do like the solo stuff from both DDY and TS. TS best for me was Ambition and DDY is 26 East Volume 1. I just really appreciate your support of this great band and these two really good song writers and thank God you agreed not to get into picking sides. Its heartbreaking to see the division in the fan base.

MCA wasn't called Music Cemetery of America by accident. Lol

"Black Wall" off of "Back to the World" 1986... is about the Vietnam War Memorial Wall... and the names inscribed on it... this is one of DDY's best solo songs... Top 5... the Lyrics are powerful and the chorus has that pure raw emotion in the voice that he can bring that sends shivers down your back... a special song and dedicated to his generation and the men who went to that war... those who returned and especially those who didn't...

You guys should (if you want) give some props to Joe Lynn Turner. A ranking of his solo albums would be great and his pre-Rainbow band, Fandango, too! Being that said, you are doing a great job together. ;)

Those two newest Dennis albums had some killer tracks. Isle of Misanthrope rocks!

There were 2 bonus songs on "One Hundred Years From Now" which are "Private Jones" & "There Was A Time" that were left out of the Canada CD!!

J.Y.'s solo albums are the best of the bunch. If you want to know who the rocker is in Styx, the answer is in the James Young solo catalog.

Desert moon was very good one

Looking forward to this . Big DDY fan , have collected all his albums on cd and vinyl from 1984. Here is my ranking 1. 26 East vol 1 2. Desert moon 3. Boom child 4. 26 East vol 2 5. 100 years from now 6.Back to the world . The first 2 are great albums

After numerous spins all week, probably going 1- 💯years from now /07. 2- 26 East. Vol 1/ 20. 3- Boomchild/88. 4- Desert MOON 🌕/84 5- 26 East vol 2/21. 6-Back to the WORLD 🌎/86. 👍💯

In fact Dennis didn’t want to do a third album and he asked A&M to let him go to another label and they amicably agreed. Irving Azoff (Styx’s manager during Kilroy) was President of MCA and signed Dennis for a one album deal. In fact Styx were to reunite with Tommy in 1989 but MCA sat on the album because of the dated video. Tom Petty fought MCA and he left for Warner Bros in 1994 and never looked back. Even The Who went to Warner Bros and Atlantic in the 1980s.

Boomchild died because of the video directors held the video hostage into 1989. Also MCA’s top priority was Bobby Brown, Tiffany and Tom Petty releasing Full Moon Fever. To be fair, Ambition by Tommy Shaw was released on Atlantic and they did nothing for the album and was busy promoting Debbie Gibson, White Lion and the pending release of AC/DC’s Blow Up Your Video.

Good show , good guest 👍.

Pleace do the it bites review

You're top 3 are Dennis' best albums, hands down. Isle/Misanthrope is the best Dennis solo song. I've got all 6 of his albums. Have no use for 10 from Broadway or Huntchback. But you are right, Dennis got better with age. 26 East 1 & 2 and the two latest Styx albums give us fans the Styx-like music we've been wanting for 30+ years.

"Call Me" is a popular DDY song in the Philippines.

Grant, I read an interview with Dennis in 2009 and revealed the biggest inspiration for making a Styx like album was hearing David Gilmour’s On an Island album and loved it and reminded Dennis of the 1970-75 era of Pink Floyd and reminded him of Wish You Were Here and Meddle. Plus The Who made Endless Wire which also impressed him. Rounder (who released his solo band with orchestra live album) signed him to a deal and I bought after hearing on Rockline and I got to speak with Dennis and I told him he is my favorite keyboard player and appreciated the comment and joked that Keith Emerson was on his way to Chicago to slice Dennis’s throat and I laughed and asked him about Castle Walls which is my favorite Styx song and Bob Coburn was shocked and Dennis kindly explained everything. The middle section of Castle was inspired by The Exorcist and in a strange twist of fate, in the fall of 1979 to early 1982, Tommy Shaw was in a romantic relationship with Linda Blair and Dennis called her a sweetheart and a wonderful woman and on a day off Linda and Tommy took Carrie Ann (Dennis’s daughter) to see Roller Boogie and also adored Dennis’s then newborn son Matthew. She left Tommy over his lying about drug addiction (he poured his cocaine into his alcohol while she served probation for her 1977/78 arrests and was sober when dating Tommy and the final straw was Linda was competing at an equestrian showjumping event which she won and Tommy was fooling around with Linda’s horse groomer. They did make up and remain friends today but Tommy’s rock and roll shenanigans ruined their relationship.

Now it's time to rank the albums of Lawrence Gowan...he had some pretty big 80's hits here in Canada way before Styx. Thanks for the passion gents!!!

2 of my favs. Pete is my number 1 for abt 4 yrs, but im on Contrarians alot and im in ohio. Cleveland. Grant is here in ohio. !

Never bought a DDY Album but enjoyed your rankings discussion

NOT The Steve Miller Band 1969 song "Your Saving Grace"!! That's a different song!!!

Fun discussion, as usual. I like all the albums discussed. This is how I'd rank them: 1. 26 East Vol I - 5/5 2. Desert Moon - 5/5 (Love what Dennis did with Fire, a song I don't desperately like in its original form) 3. One Hundred Years From Now - 5/5 4. 26 East Vol II - 4/5 5. Boomchild - 4/5 6. Back To The World - 3/5

Great video guys. I think it's really tough to rank Desert Moon and Boomchild here, especially if you didn't listen to them when they came out..when the dreaded synth and fake drums were in most of the music at that time. Harry's Hands is one of the best songs Dennis has ever penned. Amazing songwriting. The songs (and guitar work) on both of these records are mostly very strong. And, sales is a tough way to judge this work...especially solidly in the era of hairbands as some of our favorite "prog" type bands had already peaked and were on their way down. Additionally, Dennis says in some interviews that the label did absolutely nothing to promote Boomchild. If you don't like formulaic ballads and storytelling that comes off as more "theatric" like Who Shot Daddy (which I find to be very strong), then you won't like these albums.

MCA music cemetery of America

Please to an EWF ranking!

Wow just finishing listening to your listed top 3 - holy moly, they are truly outstanding

Dennis has consistently said he never wanted to be a solo artist. He made albums cause he was offered deals after Styx broke up/he left the band. I don’t think this necessarily meant he phoned it in on some albums/songs, but it showed that what made Styx great was not one person’s singular talent, but rather the combined talents of everybody in the band (which Dennis has always preached).

Yeah,...do Poco soon!

MCA = Music Cemetery of America.

Dennis has been clear as to why the majority of his solo projects veered away from the style he used in Styx. He felt that part of him belonged to Styx so he made a conscious effort not to make his solo works a copy of what he did in Styx. This was up until he was ousted from Styx in '99. Starting with the OYFM album, he felt OK with creating solo material in the style he would do in Styx. He has also been very vocal about the fact that he never really wanted to be a solo artist and preferred to collaborate with others in a band. As to how he got signed to MCA, Irving Azoff was president of the label at the time and offered Dennis a one album deal. Azoff had managed Styx after they fired Styx' long time manager Derek Sutton.

😄👍

Enjoyed the vid, guys, thank you. Pete, you had a fair amount of echo in your audio.

A DeYoung solo album is a dreadful thought. Styx would be adult contemporary without Shaw. Snowblind is great song though.

The "sappy" stuff, ironically to my ears, tends to be the more harmonically and melodically interesting. Sometimes rockers sound boilerplate and predictable, with respect to the latter Styx

Dennis last 3 albums are indeed the ones worth having & hearing!! His first 3 albums (1984 - 1989) don't bother!!!

I've grabbed first two Dennis DeYoung lps almost the same time as James Young's "Out on a day pass". Remember I was so much excited with James solo album. It sounds like late 70s earlier 80s Styx what I love (Kilroy was a disaster of course). But with DeYoung albums I would have to spend time persuading myself that I like it. No questions he is a professional but out of 16 songs just one "Desert Moon" is sort of worth listening. Have to admit I missed his last albums. Now listening on youtube. They are awesome!!! thank you for the tip. Definitely need to buy for my collection!

Looking forward to the BOA ranking. They’re an acquired taste, but I’m a big fan. And for me, the Richie Furay years of Poco are some of the finest, most melodic, catchiest California country rock ever produced.

Ranking Dennis DeYoung albums? Sorry, but…Really?

Enjoyed the show. I really like the last two albums. There is however another Styx member you could do a ranking of : Larry Gowan.