It is an interesting (and possibly pathetic — I leave that to your measured judgment) truth about me that I still enjoy most of the musical artists I listened to as a teenager. I’ve expanded my repertoire considerably since then, of course, adding new artists and even whole new genres to the great, swirling mass of music I find pleasing, but unlike many people I know, I’ve never really shed the older stuff… with a handful of exceptions. One of those is the band Styx. Once upon a time, I thought they were the coolest. I had their albums on vinyl and cassette, I wore a t-shirt, I coveted the Velcro-flapped wallet bearing their logo I saw at the state-fair midway booths, the whole she-bang. But at some point over the past 25 years, I just got bored with their sound. Blame the near-constant airplay of “Come Sail Away” on classic-rock radio, I guess.<\/p>\n
Even so, there are a couple of old Styx tunes I still like, on the rare occasion I actually hear them anyplace. “Too Much Time on My Hands,” with its insistently throbbing bass line, is a catchy classic, and “Mr. Roboto” is a sublime masterpiece of 1980s kitsch. “Babe” is a lovely romantic ballad. And then there’s “Lorelei,” which is just a damn good rock and roll song. It was originally recorded in 1976, before the music video had fully materialized as a form, so here’s a live performance from 20 years later: <\/p>\n